Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in talks with Wrexham as Hollywood stars look to invest in non-league football club

Hollywood you believe it: Shock move to invest in National League side
REUTERS
Richard Parry24 September 2020

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney want to invest in National League side Wrexham and realise the "fantastic potential" of the football club.

Talks with Reynolds and McElhenney will continue after Wrexham Supporters Trust Board members voted overwhelmingly in favour to continue talks with the Hollywood stars at a special general meeting.

The vote led to the club revealing the identity of the two proposed bidders - 'Deadpool' star Reynolds and American actor, director, producer and screenwriter McElhenny, who is best known as the creator of 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'.

Reynolds, who has varied business interests, took to Twitter on Wednesday night to reply to a 2012 tweet that stated: "You never know when Ryan Reynolds is going to turn up in Wrexham."

He told his 16.5million Twitter followers: "Yep, you never know."

Wrexham director Spencer Harris, who is also a director of the Supporters Trust, told the Press Association of the proposed Hollywood investment: "It's still at the stage where we have to finalise the deal and bring it back to the members at a second AGM.

"But I would like to think that Rob and Ryan think Wrexham is an attractive prospect with fantastic potential.

Ryan Reynolds - In pictures

1/30

"People with the professionalism of Rob and Ryan do not come around very often and news of their interest is quite exciting for the supporters I'm sure.

"They are very driven individuals and very successful people in their industry.

"But from our discussions I can say they are both down to earth and want what is best for the club.

Yep, you never know. https://t.co/PuIghab8Mg

Harris said he had spoken to the two Hollywood stars on a Zoom call on Wednesday night after the AGM backed the club to hold further investment talks.

He said contact had originally been made with representatives of the two actors before McElhenny and Reynolds had personally spoken to Wrexham officials.

"I'm sure people will consider it a remarkable story," Harris said. "But I would ask for people to give us time to complete the story.

"Hopefully we can bring another amazing chapter to the history of what is the third oldest professional club in the world and the oldest professional club in Wales."

Wrexham play in the fifth-tier of English football Photo: Getty Images
Getty Images

A Wrexham Supporters Trust Board statement said: "As confirmed this morning, 97.5 per cent of voters (1,223 members) voted in favour of the resolution.

"As a result, talks with the proposed bidders will now continue and we are in a position to confirm the two people interested in investing in Wrexham AFC.

"In due course, Mr McElhenney and Mr Reynolds will put forward their vision for Wrexham AFC and proposal for members to vote on at a second special general meeting."

Additional reporting by the Press Association

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in