The misadventures of Ryan Reynolds as the owner of an English club, from the insults in the first game to the resistance of his wife: “Football is a legal poison”

He is not the only personality of Hollywood who has dabbled in the football industry, but the famous actor Ryan Reynolds He has been more involved than anyone with his new acquisition. Her colleagues Eva Longoria, Will Ferrell, Natalie Portman or Matthew McConaughey -who together could form a brilliant cast- have also ventured into the purchase of equipment, although they have not opened their hearts as the protagonist of dead pool. “It’s one hell of a ride”he acknowledged.

Reynoldsof 45 yearsone of the most famous faces in American cinema, officially became the new owner – along with his partner Rob McElhenney– of Wrexham A.F.C.a modest Welsh club that competes in the fifth division of English football (National League) and is nothing less than the third oldest professional team in the world.

The announcement was made in February 2021 as a formality, since the purchase had been approved in November of the previous year. His vision is to convert the Red dragons into a global power and have chosen to document this first experience in football with a TV series.

Your arrival at Wrexham, entity founded in 1864, was feasible after the fans voted in favor of the sale of the club. The business group of the Canadian actor who also played Green Lantern on the big screen replaced the previous board of directors formed by the investment group Wrexham Supporters Trust, that belonged to the fans.

together with his friend McElhenneyan American actor who created the television comedy series ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, have embarked on an adventure that has green shoots: their arrival at the club made multiply the number of credits and the sale of t-shirts. Every weekend, more than 10,000 viewers come to the oldest stadium in use in the world.

Their experience as owners has been recorded in a documentary called ‘Welcome To Wrexham’ to be broadcast on the channel fx in United States (It can be seen by Star + or Disney + in Latin America). Both recount there the adventure of changing the film sets for the spectacle on the soccer fields. “If everything suddenly goes to hell, hopefully it will be in 25 years and we will be in the Premier League”explained Ryan Reynolds in a part of the documentary that advanced The Sun.

“Now I’m obsessed with him. Wrexham. I admit he wasn’t skeptical at first, but he wasn’t as hooked as he is now. A part of me wishes I hadn’t found football, I feel like it’s legal poison. My joy lives and dies on Saturdays when the club plays. I try not to get totally wrapped up in it, but I feel like it’s chewing up my organs and spitting them out every week, win or lose. It’s one hell of a ride”, he explained in dialogue with ‘Today’ radius 4 who in 2010 was chosen by the American magazine People as the sexiest man of the year.

Reynolds Y McElhenney have invested more than $2.5 million for the development of a team that is struggling to move up in category and was already very close: last season, the Wrexham came within two goals of achieving promotion, losing the semi-final of the playoffs in view of Grimsby Town and finishing second in the league. In a moment of self-reflection in the series, Ryan says: “I’ve only owned a football club for a short time. But so far I have found that it is very time consuming, it is emotionally draining, financially idiotic and completely addictive.”

Their families, logically, are very involved in this ambitious project of bringing to Wrexham A.F.C. to the elite of English football. Reynolds revealed that the relationship with his father marked his path: “The main area of ​​life where I got the most support from my father was when he was good at sports. So I played sports way past the point where I was really motivated to do it just to get their buy-in. My father has been dead for years, but these things don’t go away.”

He can’t help but feel that his dad “I would have thought this was all crazy” but he also considers that he would have understood it as his wife does, the actress Blake Livelywho does not appear in the documentary but it is known that at first he was not very in agreement with the purchase of the Wrexham A.F.C.. A few months ago, on the Jimmy Kimmel show, Reynolds revealed how he told his wife: “I remember looking at Blake saying ‘I have bad news and some very bad news.’ The bad news is that I went back to private messaging someone. The really bad news is that it was to buy a fifth division team in Wales.”.

At first Lively didn’t understand why her husband was so motivated about the project, but then She was captivated by her partner’s new role. “We went to see the FA Cup final with David Beckham and it was crazy to see it through his eyes.. It was interesting to hear his analysis. Blake is obsessed with this now too. After the game we were lying in bed and she said: ‘Now I understand’”, said the actor.

A Ryan Reynolds Y Bob McElhenney It was not easy for them to gain the support of the fans of the Wrexham A.F.C.who are naturally his harshest critics. “There is a version of the story where we are villains. It doesn’t work, we have to sell it, and we are the bad guys.”admit Ryan genuinely terrified, although after a brief pause he shows his enthusiasm again: “Fuck it. It will work”.

Comedian Humphrey Kerwhom Reynolds Y McElhenney appointed executive director of Wrexham A.F.C.recognized in the last hours that the fans were not always friendly and that they insulted them in the first game they attended: it was a draw 1-1 against maidenheadconceding a goal in the 92nd minute. “They received insults and I think they really enjoyed it,” he revealed. Keroriginally a Liverpool fan and well aware of that love-hate relationship with the owners. Today they live a completely different present and they have already been applauded in their home games.

“None of us in this is for the money. We want to build something sustainable. We love sports. We love telling stories through sport. You have to run it like a business, but mostly with businesses like this, you’re just trying to make them pay. I think this is a club that can go very far, hopefully in a short time.. We believe that Wrexham can be a world power.” Reynolds.

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