Ryan Reynolds-owned soccer team Wrexham ascends to higher league after 15-year drought

Wrexham Association Football Club — a Welsh soccer team co-owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney — will be promoted back to the English Football League for the first time in 15 years.

Wrexham’s 3-1 win over Boreham Wood on Saturday, bagging them the National League title, means that the team will now rise the ranks of the U.K.’s football tiers.

Unlike many sports, teams that fare poorly in European soccer tournaments are downgraded to the rank below. Since 2008, Wrexham has languished in the fifth-tier National League — a division which is difficult to leave, The Guardian notes. For perspective, the Premier League, which hosts giants like Arsenal FC, is four tiers ahead of the National League.

Reynolds and McElhenney have poured money into Wrexham — the world’s third-oldest soccer club — since they purchased it in 2021, propelling the team onto the global stage with Welcome to Wrexham, a documentary series chronicling their takeover.

Both actors attended Saturday’s game, accompanied by fellow Hollywood star Paul Rudd. Reynolds, who crashed a post-game press conference and stole the goal-keeper’s jersey, said he and McElhenney “kinda blacked out during this moment, but somehow we’ll never forget it.”

“Everything I own smells like champagne, beer and grass. I’m still somewhere between giggling and sobbing. This town and this sport is one of the most romantic things on earth,” tweeted Reynolds.