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Wrexham's Hollywood rise continues with third promotion in a row
Reuters • April 27th, 2025 8:29 am
Co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrate Wrexham's promotion | Photo: AP
Wrexham have earned promotion for a record third-straight season with a 3-0 home win over Charlton Athletic in League One, the latest chapter in a stunning rise under the ownership of Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Sam Smith struck twice after Ollie Rathbone opened the scoring on Saturday to send the Red Dragons up to the Championship next season in front of a jubilant Racecourse Ground crowd that included Canada's Reynolds and American McElhenney.
The Welsh club are the first team ever to enjoy three successive promotions in the top five tiers of English football and they'll return to the second tier of the country's football pyramid for only the second time after relegation in 1982.
Wrexham players celebrate with fans on the pitch at the Racecourse Ground | Photo: AP
Phil Parkinson's side clinched second place with 89 points with one game remaining in the season. Birmingham, who top the League One table with 102 points, had already sealed promotion as champions.
"When the big games come and you produce one of your best performances, we did it last week at Blackpool (5-1 win) and backed it up today with a really strong performance, that makes me very proud," a beer-drenched Parkinson said.
The final whistle sparked mayhem as thousands of fans poured onto the pitch carrying banners saying "Back to back to back" and hoisting grinning players on their shoulders amid clouds of red smoke, while Parkinson cracked his first smile of the game.
Fans were undoubtedly cheering on the other side of the Atlantic as well on Saturday as the team is wildly popular there thanks to the "Welcome to Wrexham" documentary and the team's North American owners, who bought the club in early 2021.
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