Ryan Reynolds’ football team was promoted to the English Football League

It was the Hollywood ending they had been hoping for.

Three years after A-list actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham Association Football Club, a small north Wales football team, it secured promotion to the English Football League on Saturday for the first time in more than a decade.

And Deadpool and Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars led the celebrations on Saturday as Wrexham beat Boreham Wood 3-1. McElhenney cried after the game, but was later seen smiling at his achievement.

The game started badly for Wrexham, who conceded a goal 43 seconds into the 90th minute when Lee Ndlovu beat the keeper. But Elliot Lee’s header leveled the game and two second-half goals from star striker Paul Mullin saw the team win comfortably.

Despite being in Wales, Wrexham play in the English Football League and next season will ply their trade in League Two, the fourth and lowest division of England’s main professional football system.

Founded in 1864, the club, which claims to own the oldest international football stadium in the world, has never reached the heights of football. English Premier League and has played in the Vanarama National League, which averages just over 2,000 fans and players often supplement their income with part-time jobs.

The small town of Wrexham was once a center for coal and lead mining and was formerly an industrial power station. Its decline was reflected in the team’s fortunes until the takeover by Reynolds and McElhenneys, which was completed in February 2021.

Their attempt to change the team is documented in Welcome to Wrexham, a limited series produced by Disney+ and FX. McElhenney said in the series that he was initially drawn to the club and the city because it reminded him of Philadelphia, where he grew up.

Since then, the series has followed the team as they narrowly missed out on promotion last year, focusing on various fans and local characters in the city.

The success of both the team and the series has sparked an unlikely tourism boom in the city, which is about two and a half hours from London and three from the Welsh capital, Cardiff.

In February, Will Ferrell was pictured enjoying a pint with fans on his first visit to watch the team, while McElhenneys It Always Sunny in Philadelphia stars Charlie Day, Glenn Howerton and Kaitlin Olson were in the stands at Tuesday’s game against Yeovil Town.

Promotion to the English Football League could have huge financial benefits for a football club, which is usually paid a fee of $1.25 million by the Premier League, as well as additional income from broadcasting opportunities and increased ticket sales.

However, if Reynolds and McElhenney are to take the club to the highest echelons of the English game, it is likely to cost significantly more than what they have suggested.

The average playing team value of a Premier League team is nearly $2 billion Sporty website.