Another Hollywood face appeared in Wrexham on Saturday as Paul Rudd arrived at the Racecourse Ground to watch the team try to seal promotion back to the Football League.
The club’s owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are hoping they can get the victory over Boreham Wood they need to seal a return League Two after 15 years away, as the fairytale continues in North Wales.
Wrexham eased past Yeovil 3-0 on Tuesday to move to the brink of glory, with manager Phil Parkinson lauding his side’s “patience” and now history awaits. Reynolds has promised a “monster” party if his team get over the line, and there could be some famous faces in attendance.
Rudd was pictured before kick-off drinking at The Turf pub over the road from the stadium, which has been a major beneficiary of the arrival of Wrexham’s famous owners with a huge uplift in visitors.
Images shared on social media showed the Ant-Man star drinking beer and singing songs.
Paul Novielli, a fan from Kentucky in the US on his fourth trip to Wrexham, took a selfie with Rudd and Sandy, a fan from Canada, at the Turf and described the actor as “super nice”.
“(I) just said hi, can you take a picture he said yeah. I asked if he’s having a good time and he said ‘amazing’,” the 37-year-old told PA.
Mr Novielli, who runs a podcast called Up The Town dedicated to Wrexham AFC, said Rudd joined in with songs including Super Paul Mullin and Allez Allez Allez at the pub as he shared drinks with fans.
“He sat with (the owner) Wayne (Jones) from the Turf for a bit and did some sing songs,” Mr Novielle added. “(He) engaged with a lot of people, took pictures – he was super nice.”
Wrexham have reached 107 points to already break the National League record with two games remaining, leaving them four points clear of second-placed Notts County.
The Red Dragons are in the National League, the fifth tier of English football, and will achieve promotion with one more victory to move to 110 points, an insurmountable total for Notts County, who can only earn 109 points if they win both of their remaining games.
There is only one automatic promotion place in the National League, meaning Notts County will have to navigate the play-offs if Wrexham hold their nerve.
If Wrexham lose or draw following Notts County’s win, then they will have another chance on 29 April away to Torquay United, needing victory or the same result as Notts County, who face York City in their final match.
Once in the EFL, Wrexham can dare to dream and will be three promotions away from the Premier League. Should they achieve promotion this weekend, a top-three finish next season in League 2 would take them up automatically to League 1, while finishing between fourth and seventh will earn another chance at going up via the play-offs.
Additional reporting by PA
