Underdog Welsh soccer team Wrexham United edges closer to Britain’s Premier League as Hollywood owners celebrate

It’s life imitating art imitating life, with artists at the center of this soccer story.

The very real Wrexham United Welsh football team bucked the odds and moved one step closer to being promoted to the English Premier League on Monday with a win against archrival Notts County.

Ryan Reynolds, left, and Rob McElhenney. (Patrick McElhenney/AP)

It beat out County 3-2 as owners (and Hollywood stars) Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney celebrated. Reynolds punched the air and enveloped McElhenney in a hug after a gripping game capped by a plot twist in the form of a last-ditch penalty save during the seventh minute of stoppage time.

“I don’t think I have a heart anymore,” Reynolds said after it was over. “I think I used all the beats I had left during that match. That was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.”

The team is now three points closer to the top of the National League.

Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds, center left, and Rob McElhenney, center right, react during the National League match between Wrexham and Notts County at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham, Wales, Monday April 10, 2023. (Barrington Coombs/AP)

Reynolds and McElhenney’s 2021 purchase of the team put it on the world radar and spawned a television show, “Welcome to Wrexham.”

The team’s saga also mirrors the fortunes of the fictional players portrayed in the Emmy-winning “Ted Lasso,” in which an American college professor is hired to coach a fictional team to the big leagues, succeeding against all odds.

Four games are left in Wrexham’s season.

With News Wire Services