Wrexham, the upstart fifth-tier Welsh soccer club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, lost Tuesday in the fourth round of the FA Cup, ending its improbable run in one of soccer’s most famous club tournaments.
The team, one of the oldest professional football clubs, lost 3-1 in its replay with Sheffield United, with the outcome, like in the first meeting between the two, decided in the final minutes. On Tuesday, Sheffield, three tiers and 72 spots above Wrexham in English football, scored twice in extra time to pull away and reach the final 16.
Neither Reynolds nor McElhenney, who acquired the club for $2.5 million in November 2020, were at the game in Sheffield. But both tweeted about their upstart squad after the final whistle blew.
The Red Dragons have been on a hot streak this season, having gone unbeaten in their previous 22 league and non-league matches heading into today, when they suffered their first loss since October. The success will certainly be documented in FX’s docuseries Welcome to Wrexham, which had cameras on the pitch at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane shooting Season 2. (The series, which already has an 18-episode Season 1, airs on Disney+ overseas.)
Wrexham will now turn its focus on winning the National League which means automatic promotion to the EFL for the first time since 2008. It is currently second in the standings.
“Now let’s go win this [f*cking] league,” McElhenney tweeted today after the loss.
