Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney awarded Freedom of Wrexham

Wrexham AFC Football Club has awarded owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny the Freedom of Wrexham honour.

The Deadpool and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor set out to take over the struggling National League team back in 2020.

The unlikely duo thought by injecting some cash into the oldest professional football club in Wales - the third oldest pro club in the world - they could bring it back from the 'brink of dissolution' and make it the ultimate underdog team.

Yesterday, (Monday 11 April) ahead of the Wrexham Dragon's game against Notts County at The Racecourse - Wrexham coming out victorious 3-2 - the football team bestowed the Freedom of Wrexham upon Reynolds and McElhenney, during a ceremony at the city's Guildhall. The actors were awarded the county's top civic honour in December last year.

PA

At the event, Reynolds said, as per the BBC: "I think back to that first moment. We were on Zoom speaking to the Wrexham Supporters' Trust and I don't think I have ever been as nervy as I was in that exact moment.

"I'm so touched I get to be a part of this story. I know that we are here so that you guys can thank us for some reason, but I feel like it is the other way around.

"We want to thank you for what you have given us. Words are too clumsy to quantify what it means to me."

FX

Joking on Twitter he 'can't believe there was a time when [he] thought football was boring,' McElhenny also addressed the team at the event.

He added: "I firmly contend that connection of the people of Philadelphia, the people of Wrexham, I think you can find that in the middle of the United States, in the middle of Saskatchewan (in Canada), in Brazil, in China, I believe we are all the same.

"Very specifically working class people. If you saw in the show someone who looked like you or sounded like you, it's because they are you."

Twitter/@RMcElhenney

The acting duo have been active in their new roles as the owners of the club, spotted attending their first Wrexham Game back in October 2021.

Their plans for the future? Reynolds said: "We've been surprised how emotionally invested my friends and family are in this. It's something incredibly contagious.

"It's been tough as it's been a year plus (since making their bid to buy Wrexham in September 2020) watching from afar and following on social media.

"I don't profess to be a football expert, but I see the beauty of the fan and I see it through others.

"We'd be lying if the dream wasn't the Premier League. We want to get back in the Football League and continue our way upwards."