As it turned out, not only Hollywood studios are used to making films almost always with a happy ending. The same thing happens in everyday football, as long as two movie stars from Los Angeles are at the helm of the team.

For three years now, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have taken the fate of Wrexham, a team based in the North Wales town of the same name, into their own hands. It all started as a joke when, due to quarantine in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, two Americans tried to find ways to break the monotony of the lockdown as all filming was cancelled. The idea to buy a football team also came to mind, and the last “lucky one” was Wrexham.

The club was run by the supporters of the team themselves, who tried to keep him alive, despite the fact that he had fallen into the lower echelons of English football. The two potential owners revealed their plans to fans via video conference without initially revealing who they were. They were considered satisfactory and eventually, with a success rate of 98.2% among the 2,000 members of the club, Wrexham passed into their hands. The initial investment amounted to only 2.2 million euros in order to carry out the process of reforming the organizational structure of the club, the stadium and the facilities in general before the restoration of competition.

But how did two stars from sunny Los Angeles end up in rainy and foggy North Wales? There were three reasons, according to analysts. First, because Wrexham is the third oldest club in the world, with a history dating back to 1864. Secondly, that the locals cheer for the hometown team like crazy, creating a large core of fans that follow them to every match. And thirdly, that because of his self-management, they did not need to give money to the management of the team for the takeover, so all resources were invested in elevating the club.

Thus, American-Canadian Ryan Reynolds and American Rob McElhenave turned out to be Wrexham’s wealth managers, as well as the dreams of his fans. The former was more associated with his lead role in Deadpool, a Marvel movie for which he was awarded by the Critics Association and received a Golden Globe nomination. His total net worth is $150 million. On the other hand, McElhenave is an actor, producer, and director whose biggest success came with the black comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. His fortune reaches 50 million dollars.

Now Wrexham is gearing up for one of the biggest weekends in its history. On Saturday (April 22nd) they will host Boreham Wood and if they win they will effectively seal their promotion from the National League to the Second Football League, which was the first goal of the two new owners.

What they did not count on, however, was that her presence at the club put the city on the tourist map, dramatically increasing the number of their compatriots arriving there. At the same time as the team, the business of the city flourished, which was in the spotlight like never before. Wrexham’s VIP fans were joined by Will Ferrell, Blake Lively (Reynolds’ wife), David Beckham and Hugh Jackman. But besides the famous ones, there are many other Americans on the side of the team. Like Sarah Jane Gardner from Portland, Oregon, who has never watched football in her life but has been in Wales since last week trying to find a way to get into a racetrack that can only hold 10,000 fans. The reason to pay attention to silverware in Wrexham’s hometown, in addition to the involvement of Reynolds and McElhenve, was the documentary “Welcome to Wrexham”. “I have found it gives me some joy to be relieved of the tension and stress at work during the pandemic,” she said, adding that other than her partner, most of her family and friends have no idea she is in North Wales. In the end, her suffering was not in vain, as she, albeit with difficulty, but found a ticket for the last two matches of Wrexham. However, in addition to this, several Americans traveled to the city during the racing season, as indicated by the owners of catering establishments and tourist offices.

“It goes without saying that there was no way we could buy the publicity that the American owners had given the area,” says Jim Jones, North Wales tourism executive, adding: “The club was a great entry point for tourists who visit Wrexham back then. discover the beautiful side of North Wales.
I think we don’t really have much to do because Rob and Ryan do everything for us.”

The evening of 22 April could be a special one for Wrexham, who need three points from their two remaining games to secure promotion to the top flight from which they were relegated in 2008. The best finale this season has yet to come up with. even Hollywood itself could not imagine …