Ryan Reynolds gifts Rob McElhenney personalised urinal as Wrexham pair suffer heartbreak

Ryan Reynolds gifted Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenny a personalised urinal before the Welsh side lost 5-4 to Grimsby Town in the National League play-off semi-final. Former Wrexham player Luke Waterfall scored the winning goal in the dying embers of extra time to seal a dramatic win for the visitors and end Wrexham’s promotion hopes.

Reynolds, who co-owns the club with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia creator Rob McElhenney, were both at the Racecourse Ground to support the side from north Wales as they attempted to get out of non-league. The Deadpool star surprised McElhenney with a personalised urinal before the game, with his picture on it and the engraving: “This urinal is dedicated to Robert McElhenney

“On his birthday – April 14th. With love from Wrexham AFC. Paid for by Ryan Reynolds.”

McElhenny tweeted at Reynolds prior to kick-off, and said: “Took this baby for a test spin and it was magnificent. @VancityReynolds”. In the first social media posting after Wrexham’s defeat, Reynolds replied to McElhenny with: “I find the heavy eye contact soothing.”

It has been a tough footballing week for the Hollywood stars and Wrexham, with the club also having lost at Wembley in the FA Trophy to Bromley just under a week ago. In a thrilling back and forth game on Saturday, centre-back Waterfall scored the second of his two goals in the 119th minute to send the travelling Grimsby fans, which included comedians Rob Beckett and Lloyd Griffith, into hysterics.

Wrexham took the lead in the 13th minute from the penalty spot through National League top scorer Paul Mullin, but Grimsby equalised just two minutes later when man-of-the-match John McAtee curled in an effort from 25 yards. Then in a second half which saw six goals, Waterfall gave Grimsby the lead in the 47th minute. Wrexham then scored two goals inside three minutes to take the lead once again, through Ben Tozer and Mullin.

In an unprecedented game of football, which saw more goals than any other National League play-off game in history, Grimsby then got two goals in quick succession from Ryan Taylor and substitute Emmanuel Dieseruvwe to put the visitors ahead once again. Wrexham midfielder Jordan Davies then equalised with ten minutes remaining to send the game to extra time, where another 29 minutes were played before Waterfall’s second goal sent Grimsby through to the play-off final.

Wrexham will now have to spend a 15th year in the non-League after their play-off heartache on Sunday. Reynolds and McElhenney, who were in the stands to watch their heartbreaking defeat, are making a docuseries for FX on their time as owners of Wrexham, but this season won’t have the Hollywood ending they were hoping for after missing out on promotion and losing in the FA Trophy final.