Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham Soccer Team Just Had Another FA Cup Upset Win Wrenched Away
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Season 2 of “Welcome to Wrexham” is going to have plenty of drama, as the underdog Welsh soccer team owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was minutes away from another upset victory in the FA Cup tournament, only to give up a game-tying goal in the final minutes. Earlier this month, Wrexham made headlines in both the U.K. and U.S. by upsetting Coventry in the third round of the FA Cup. For those who don’t follow English footy, the FA Cup is the U.K. domestic tournament, in which all the country’s teams from the Premier League down through the minor leagues take part.
By this point in the tournament, most of the teams left are from the Premier League or the second-tier EFL Championship, but Wrexham, currently fighting for promotion out of the fifth-tier National League, is the Cinderella of the tournament. A victory today against EFL Championship side Sheffield United would have given Wrexham a strong chance of facing a Premier League team in the round of 16.
And with Reynolds watching from a sold-out crowd at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground — which is getting long overdue renovations thanks to investments from the team’s Hollywood owners — it looked like Wrexham was going to pull it off. After Sheffield United suffered a red card that left them down a man, Wrexham scored a go-ahead goal in the 86th minute thanks to forward Paul Mullin.
But then, with less than three minutes to go in injury time, Sheffield United scored the equalizer to make the game a 3-3 draw. Per the FA Cup rules, there will be a rematch in the coming two weeks with Sheffield United as the home team.
Despite the disappointing ending, it’s clear that Wrexham and its famous owners have captured the attention of sports fans on both sides of the Atlantic. McElhenney, who is in Philadelphia to watch the Eagles play for a spot in the Super Bowl today, hosted a Wrexham watch party for fans in Philly and could be seen talking with Reynolds on the phone during the game. The Wrexham fans, meanwhile, serenaded Reynolds with a chant of “There’s only one Ryan Reynolds!” a supporters song they always break out whenever the “Deadpool” star is in attendance.
“Welcome to Wrexham” is available to stream on Hulu.