Featured Image Credit: PA/Alamy
Topics: Celebrity, Sport, Football, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Wrexham FC
Jess Hardiman
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are lining up one last present for the Wrexham lads after they secured their historic promotion last weekend – and it’s a big one.
The Welsh side managed to pip rivals Notts County to the National League title on Saturday (22 April).
As it’s been 15 years since the club was last in the football league, having dropped out of League Two in 2009, the 3-1 win came as a truly groundbreaking moment for the team and owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Advert
The Hollywood A-listers have splashed out around £370,000 in bonuses for the players’ efforts over the past season, and are also reported to have spent £40,000 on whisky for fans as they celebrated.
But now they’re planning to go all out by whisking the team across the pond for the bright lights of... you’ve guessed it, Vegas.
In an interview with The Athletic, Wrexham board advisor Shaun Harvey was asked about the club’s plans after their final match of the season against Torquay United on Saturday.
“There is a trip to Las Vegas being mooted,” he said.
Advert
While the players live it up in Las Vegas, the club is set to begin work on the onboarding process into the EFL.
Harvey continued: “The EFL contacts every club in the National League around Christmas to effectively ask them to make an application to join the EFL.
“That application only comes to fruition if you get promoted, but the process is about if you can meet a fixed set of criteria that includes a self-certification process regarding stadium capacity, dressing-room size, floodlights and so on.
"The Racecourse Ground meets all the criteria comfortably.
“The way that we’ve organised our business and our affairs, based on my understanding of how the industry and, in particular, the EFL works, is to ensure that it fits seamlessly into what the EFL requires.”
Advert
And it seems like the Wrexham boys should have plenty of cash to play with as they head over to Sin City, as they’ve been handed hundreds of thousands in bonuses throughout the season.
They’ve been a guaranteed share of a £250,000 pot that was to be their reward for promotion back, as confirmed by the club’s chairman Humphrey Ker, who said that awarding the bonus pot was ‘the right thing to do’.
Ker told the Wrexham AFC official website: “Rob and Ryan wanted to recognise the players’ confidence that they can reach this season’s play-offs and provide an added financial incentive to achieve this.
"There was no obligation to address this, but it felt like the right thing to do in order to support the existing playing squad who are all playing for their futures at the club."