Wrexham seals third straight promotion and will play in English soccer’s second tier

By Canadian Press on April 26, 2025.

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Wrexham is one step from the Premier League.

The Welsh soccer team’s remarkable rise under celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney continued when it sealed promotion to English soccer’s second tier on Saturday.

A 3-0 win against Charlton ensured Wrexham will go up as the third division runner-up behind champion Birmingham.

It means that from next season it will be playing one level below the Premier League — something that was unthinkable just four years ago when it was a struggling non-league team.

Reynolds and McElhenney were part of a full house of nearly 13,000 fans packed into the club’s historic Racecourse Ground to celebrate a third consecutive promotion.

Who knows what’s next for a team that has defied the odds since the actors bought it for $2.5 million in 2021 and turned it into a household name around the world.

Raucous celebrations greeted the final whistle, but the party began much earlier after promotion rival Wycombe lost to Leyton Orient 1-0.

Wrexham just needed victory then to clinch the second promotion place in League One.

Reynolds posed for selfies with fans outside and served drinks behind the bar in a marquee set up outside the nearby Turf pub, which has earned world renown from the docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham.”

Fans erupted in cheers after the final whistle of Wycombe’s loss, which was shown on a big screen.

Wrexham just needed to finish the job off against fourth-placed Charlton and eased any nerves with two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half. Oliver Rathbone’s long shot in the 15th minute was followed by Sam Smith’s volley.

When Smith headed in a third in the 81st the outcome was in no doubt and Wrexham’s fans serenaded the players with chants of “We are going up.”

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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

James Robson, The Associated Press