Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney celebrate Wrexham AFC’s promotion with bus parade

Published

2 years ago

May 3, 2023

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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 Wales city to 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.

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.

Reynolds and McElhenney had previously tried to convince former Wales captain Gareth Bale to come out of retirement and play for 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.”

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.”

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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.”

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.

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Wrexham AFC chief executive Fleur Robinson said that it was an opportunity to thank the community of Wrexham “for their incredible support”.

“We are looking forward to commemorating a truly memorable and record-breaking season together,” she added.

Wrexham Council’s lead member for the economy and re-generation, Cllr Nigel Williams, said it was “a fantastic momentous occasion for Wrexham”.

Entertainment

Comedian Milton Jones reveals he’s cancer free

Published

7 hours ago

August 15, 2025

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Comedian Milton Jones reveals he's cancer free

Comedian Milton Jones has revealed he is cancer free after being treated for prostate cancer.

In April, the 61-year-old, who is known for his appearances on Mock The Week, announced he was cancelling a number of UK tour dates to undergo surgery.

Jones said in a statement: “A few months ago, I had to stop my tour HA!MILTON because I needed treatment for prostate cancer. I’m glad to say I’ve had that treatment and am now cancer-free!

“So, many thanks to all the doctors and nurses who helped me get better – I couldn’t do their job (I tried, but apparently you have to be qualified).”

Thanking his family, friends and fans, he went on to joke: “I have to admit there were a few dark moments when I wondered if anyone would ever see me again, but then I realised that I was leaning against the light switch.

“Thankfully, I’m now in a completely different place, and if you look at my website, you’ll see that very soon I’ll be in lots of other different places on tour too”.

Jones picks up his tour on 15 September in Stafford, touring until the end of November 2025.

The show, whose name is a play on the title of the hit musical Hamilton, promises laughter and unforgettable comedy moments, as well as jokes about giraffes and tomatoes.

The Richmond-born comedian has been hailed as the king of the one-liner, basing his jokes on clever wordplay and surreal humour.

He has performed on Live At The Apollo, Lee Mack’s All Star Cast, and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.

Entertainment

Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

Published

2 days ago

August 14, 2025

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Taylor Swift reveals release date for new album

Taylor Swift has revealed the release date for her new album, The Life Of A Showgirl.

The pop megastar announced her 12th studio album earlier this week but didn’t give many details.

Now, in social media posts and an appearance on boyfriend Travis Kelce’s sports podcast, Swift revealed just what fans can expect from the new album.

The Life of Showgirl, written during the European leg of her record-breaking Eras tour, will be released on 3 October.

It consists of 12 songs, including the title track that features pop star Sabrina Carpenter.

The full track list is:

1. The Fate Of Ophelia
2. Elizabeth Taylor
3. Opalite
4. Father Figure
5. Eldest Daughter
6. Ruin The Friendship
7. Actually Romantic
8. Wi$h Li$t
9. Wood
10. Cancelled!
11. Honey
12. The Life Of A Showgirl (featuring Sabrina Carpenter)

Long-time collaborators Max Martin and Shellback, two Swedish producers who worked with Swift on some of her biggest hits, joined the pop star for this album.

Within four hours of posting the full podcast episode on YouTube, it had already gathered 4.7m views.

‘The hardest-working star in pop’

The album follows last year’s The Tortured Poets Department, which was released during the Eras tour.

That tour, with shows on five continents and in 51 cities, raked in more than $2.2bn (£1.62bn) and was the highest-grossing tour of all time.

“This album is about what was going on behind the scenes in my inner life during this tour, which was so exuberant and electric and vibrant,” Swift said during her podcast appearance.

Sky News culture and entertainment reporter Gemma Peplow said after her globe-trotting tour and a swathe of re-releases over recent years, the new album cemented Swift’s reputation “as the hardest-working star in pop”.

Entertainment

Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

Published

2 days ago

August 13, 2025

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Harvey Weinstein to be tried for third time in New York after mistrial on rape charge

Disgraced US film producer Harvey Weinstein is to be tried for a third time in a sexual assault case.

A jury in New York could not reach a verdict in June against the 73-year-old who was accused of raping actress Jessica Mann, and a mistrial was declared.

Judge Curtis Farber has said he wants the new trial to happen before the end of this year.

The same jury found Weinstein guilty in June of sexually assaulting former Project Runway production assistant Miriam Haley in 2006 and not guilty of assaulting Polish former runway model Kaja Sokola the same year.

Weinstein will be sentenced for the guilty verdict in Ms Haley’s case on 30 September.

He denied all of the charges. Throughout the retrial, his lawyers insisted the sexual encounters with his three accusers were “transactional” and “consensual,” and labelled the women as opportunists.

Weinstein was originally convicted of rape and criminal sexual act by the same court in 2020 and sentenced to 23 years in prison for the crimes.

Last year, however, New York’s highest court overturned the conviction, prompting Weinstein’s retrial this summer.

Weinstein was once one of the most powerful people in Hollywood – the co-founder of film and television production companies Miramax and The Weinstein Company, who produced films such as the Oscar-winning Shakespeare In Love, Pulp Fiction, and The Crying Game.

In 2017, a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him propelled the #MeToo movement.

Some of those accusations later led to criminal charges and his convictions in New York and California.

Before the retrial, Weinstein was also serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty of rape in California in December 2022. He has also denied this charge.