WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Hugh Jackman watched an eight-goal thriller which had an unhappy ending for the Hollywood stars as Welsh soccer club Wrexham lost its first match back in England’s Football League on Saturday.
Host Wrexham was beaten 5-3 by MK Dons at the Racecourse Ground in the opening round of matches in the fourth tier.
Co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney have made Wrexham one of the most talked-about teams in Britain after buying a down-on-its-luck club for $2.5 million in 2021 and making it the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary — entitled “Welcome to Wrexham” — that's charted the journey of a team run by a couple of actors learning the ropes of sports club ownership.
Wrexham is playing in the Football League — the three divisions outside the Premier League — for the first time in 15 years following promotion from the National League in April.
Wrexham’s profile has risen so much that the team played preseason games in the United States against Premier League clubs Chelsea and Manchester United last month.
Wrexham and the Dons were two divisions apart just three months ago and the visitors quickly showed their quality, taking a two-goal lead 10 minutes into the game. Jacob Mendy reduced the deficit just before halftime as Wrexham celebrated its first EFL goal in 5,572 days.
Wrexham was without injured star striker Paul Mullin and new signing James McClean.
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