Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney along with Wrexham AFC’s players and staff have celebrated their recent success with an open-top bus parade.
Thousands of fans lined the route in the northeast Walescityto cheer both Wrexham AFC’s men’s and women’s teams gaining promotion in their respective leagues this season.
The men’s team are returning to the English Football League for the first time in 15 years – they will play in League Two in the forthcoming campaign.
Wrexham Women have been promoted from the Adran North League and will next play in the Adran Premier, the highest league for women’s football in Wales.
Image: Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrate with the National League trophy
The three-bus trophy parade started and finished at the Racecourse Ground stadium as it toured the city on a loop, allowing supporters to celebrate the efforts of players and staff.
The celebrations come after co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney, who bought the club in 2021, told Welsh-language broadcaster S4C this week that their aim is to reach the Premier League, even if it takes 20 years.
The stars, whose takeover and reported £10m investment in the Red Dragons has helped transform the club’s fortunes, joined the women’s team on the second bus, with manager Phil Parkinson alongside his staff on the third.
The men’s team soaked up the adulation from the top of the first. Fans chanted “One more year” at ex-Premier League goalkeeper Ben Foster, who came out of retirement to sign a one-year deal in September, and several of his team-mates joined in.
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Open-top bus parade goes through Wrexham
‘It’s a Cinderella story’
A US couple joined hundreds of fans who set up camp in a pub car park alongside the Racecourse Ground, having taken time out from a holiday in Ireland to experience the celebrations for a club they discovered during lockdown.
“With COVID happening all around the world we heard this story and we watched them on the streaming services,” said Robin Beattie. “We fell in love with it.”
“We happened to be on vacation in Dublin and said, ‘Let’s hop on over’. We’re very happy to see the excitement in the town. It’s a Cinderella story. We love it.”
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‘It’s the beating heart of the community’
It will be down to Phil Parkinson to advise the celebrity owners on what realistic reinforcements are likely to be needed for next season.
Asked about the club’s transfer plans for the summer window, McElhenney said: “We defer to Phil. We are actively talking about that right now. I know for a fact he feels as though we have a very strong side.
A sea of red and white as fans celebrate Wrexham and its star owners
Tonight, thousands of fans lined the streets of Wrexham to catch a glimpse of the team and its star owners during an open top bus parade.
The route was turned into sea of red and white by supporters of all ages. Some waved flags, while others held flares aloft, all anxiously waiting for the three buses to come into sight.
When they did move off, slightly later than planned, the convoy was greeted with rapturous cheers – the kind of noise you’d expect on a match day.
On the first bus were the players with the trophy, while on the second, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney came into view, waving as they went along.
The pair have brought investment and international attention to the club, but it’s clear they’ve also reignited a strong sense of local pride too.
“What these two guys have done to team and the town, absolutely brilliant,” one fan told me, while another said, “with the bigger budget we’ll be able to attract better players”.
A woman from Reynold’s native Canada explained she’s been supporting Wrexham since 2000, when she first moved here. But it’s only in the last year that her family realised who the club were because they’d seen them in the Disney documentary series: Welcome to Wrexham.
Outside The Turf, a pub in the shadow of the team’s Racecourse Ground, landlord Wayne Jones was just as proud.
“Wrexham’s not alone as a town that’s struggled in the last decade or so. Austerity has kicked in. You know what this does do, is it brings people into the town, it gets people spending. It gets businesses earning a little bit more which gets us jobs, and everybody knows the knock-on effect of that.”
“No decision that we have made over the last two years hasn’t kept the future in mind, so we never make a short-term decision.
“Any player that we have signed, we have signed to at least a three-year deal, except for one [goalkeeper Ben Foster].
“He is the guy we are going to work on, but other than that, I think we have a very strong side.”
Image: Ryan Reynolds was on one of the buses. Pic: AP
Deadpool star Reynolds stressed Wrexham’s long-term future would always remain front and centre.
“Ultimately, like any business, you want it to be able to self-perpetuate and continue growing. You don’t want to lose money, but I don’t think either of us are in this to make money either,” he said.
“It’s just about growing the best possible club and finding value in any place that we can find value, whether that is financial or emotional, sometimes it can be indistinguishable.”
Image: Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds celebrated together
North Wales Police had warned fans to support the club safely by spreading themselves out along the 3.5-mile route.
Superintendent Nick Evans encouraged people to “take advantage of the whole parade route to avoid any potential overcrowding”.
“There will be plenty of room for everyone to catch sight of the parade on its hour-long journey through Wrexham,” he added.
The 1975 and Olivia Rodrigo will be among the stars headlining Glastonbury Festival this year, it has been announced.
Glastonbury organisers have revealed the line-up for this summer’s event, taking place between 25 June and 29 June, after months of speculation.
The 1975 will take to the iconic Pyramid Stage on the Friday to headline, then Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young will perform on Saturday and Olivia Rodrigo on the Sunday.
Other big names performing include British pop sensation Charli XCX, rapper Loyle Carner electronic group The Prodigy.
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Young’s announcement in January came amid some confusion, as he had days before told fans he was pulling out of the festival because the BBC’s involvement was a “corporate turn-off”.
The Canadian singer-songwriter later said this decision was down to “an error in the information I received”.
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The 1975 will be headlining for the first time, having made their Glastonbury debut in 2014.
The Cheshire band, known for hits such as Somebody Else and Chocolate, have regularly made headlines due to the antics of frontman Matty Healy.
Glastonbury, which takes place at Worthy Farm in Somerset in the summer, has worked closely with the BBC – its exclusive broadcast partner – since 1997.
Image: Neil Young performing at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival last May. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Appetite for the esteemed festival saw standard tickets sell out in 35 minutes in November.
They cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, up £18.50 from the price from the 2024 festival, and were sold exclusively through the See Tickets website.
The date for the resale – where tickets not fully paid for are put back up for purchase – is set for some time in spring.
The headliners last summer on the iconic Pyramid Stage were Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, who made history as the first act to headline the festival five times.
2026 is likely to be a year off for Glastonbury, with the festival traditionally taking place four out of every five years, and the fifth year reserved for rehabilitation of the land.
Ofcom received 825 complaints over the Brit Awards, with the majority relating to Sabrina Carpenter’s raunchy performance and Charli XCX’s outfit, the media watchdog says.
US pop star Carpenter, 25, sported a red sparkly military-style blazer dress for her performance at the awards show on Saturday night, paired with stockings and suspenders for a rendition of Espresso.
The song was mixed with a Rule Britannia mash-up, as dancers in military parade dress followed her.
She then switched to a red sparkly bra and shorts for her next song, Bad Chem, which she performed alongside dancers in bras and shorts while sitting suggestively on a large bed.
Image: Sabrina Carpenter performing her second song. Pic: Reuters
Carpenter later received the global success award at the ceremony, and was also nominated in the international artist and international song of the year categories.
But much of the buzz on social media surrounded her performance, which took place before the 9pm watershed.
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The singer addressed the concerns during her acceptance speech for artist of the year, saying: “I heard that ITV were complaining about my nipples. I feel like we’re in the era of ‘free the nipple’ though, right?”
Carpenter paid tribute to the UK in her acceptance speech, saying: “The Brits have given me this award, and this feels like such an insane honour in a very primarily tea-drinking country… you really understood my dry sense of humour because your sense of humour is so, so dry. So I love y’all more than you even understand.”
Actor Noel Clarke begins his High Court libel case against The Guardian’s publisher today.
Clarke, 49, is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over a series of articles it published about him in April 2021.
They were based on the claims of 20 women Clarke knew “in a professional capacity” who allege his behaviour towards them amounted to sexual misconduct.
Clarke, known for his roles in the Kidulthood trilogy and Dr Who, “vehemently” denies “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.
What will the trial cover?
Clarke is suing GNM for libel, sometimes also referred to as defamation.
It’s a civil tort – not a criminal offence – defined as false written statements that have damaged the person’s reputation. This means Clarke can seek redress or damages but no one will face charges or prison.
Clarke claims the articles The Guardian published in 2021 altered public opinion of him, damaged his reputation, and lost him work.
He said after the allegations emerged: “In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me.
“If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations.”
The Guardian is defending the claim on the basis of truth and public interest.
It said in its statement: “Our reporting on Noel Clarke in 2021 was based on the accounts of 20 brave women. After we published our first article, more women came forward.
“At trial, 32 witnesses are set to testify against Mr Clarke under oath. We look forward to a judge hearing the evidence.”
The trial will only focus on liability – not the amount of damages to be paid if Clarke is successful.
The actor tried and failed to get the case struck out in January, with his legal team saying it had “overwhelming evidence” of “perversion of the course of justice”.
His lawyers told the High Court three of the journalists involved in the articles had “deliberately and permanently” deleted messages, which meant he could not get a fair trial.
Lawyers for GNM told the court there was “no adequate evidential basis” for Clarke’s application for a strike out and said it sought “to smear Guardian journalists and editors without any proper justification”.
The trial, which will be presided over by judge Mrs Justice Steyn, is expected to last between four and six weeks.
Image: In July 2015. Pic: PA
What has happened since the articles were published?
A month before the articles about him were published in April 2021, Clarke received BAFTA’s outstanding contribution to British cinema award.
However, once the allegations against him emerged, he was suspended by the organisation and the prize rescinded.
His management and production company 42M&P told Sky News they were no longer representing him and Sky cancelled its TV show Bulletproof, starring Clarke and Top Boy actor Ashley Walters as the lead roles.
ITV also decided to pull the finale of another of his dramas, Viewpoint, following the Guardian articles.
The Met Police looked into the allegations against Clarke for any potential criminal wrongdoing, but in March 2022 announced they “did not meet the threshold for criminal investigation”.
Clarke filed the libel claim the following month and has attended several of the preliminary hearings in person.
He says he has faced a “trial by media” – and that the ordeal has left him suicidal and in need of professional help.
Image: At the UK premiere of Kidulthood in London’s Leicester Square in 2006. Pic: PA
‘Rising star’
Clarke made his TV debut in a revived version of Auf Wiedersehen Pet in 2002.
Soon after he played Mickey Smith in Dr Who and Kwame in the six-part Channel 4 series Metrosexuality.
He wrote and starred in the film trilogy Kidulthood, Adulthood, and Brotherhood, which were based in west London, where he grew up, and explored the lives of a group of teenagers given time off school after a bullied classmate takes their own life.
It was a box office success and eventually saw Clarke given BAFTA’s rising star prize in 2009.
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.