Wrexham row with rivals erupts again live on air after Ryan Reynolds dig
The bitter war of words between Wrexham and Accrington Stanley continued on Thursday with club bosses fighting their corners live on air.
The League Two clubs rubbed each other up the wrong way on Saturday after Wrexham took action following Accrington's ticket price hike. Accy owner Andy Holt sanctioned an increased ticket price of £25 – £5 more than usual – for all general admission tickets at the Wham Stadium.
The Lancashire club said the price rise was to mitigate the heightened costs of stewarding and policing, with Wrexham taking almost 2,500 away fans on the 75-mile journey from North Wales. But the Red Dragons, owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, were irked by the decision and moved to reduce ticket prices by £5 for the return fixture at The Racecourse Ground in March.
The decision was announced by Wrexham on social media shortly before kick-off on Saturday and it was retweeted to Reynolds' tens of millions of followers, but Holt was left raging, believing his club had unfairly been put in a negative light by publicity stunt.
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So when Accrington toppled big-spending Wrexham 2-0, knocking them out of the automatic promotion places in the process, Holt gleefully hit back with a social media post of his own. He posted: "Accrington 2 Hollywood 0. I think Ryan Reynolds should cut prices by a tenner. Safe journey home folks, get that on Netflix, Ryan lad."
The rift continued on Thursday with Holt and Wrexham CEO Shaun Harvey invited onto talkSPORT to get their points across. Holt doubled down, saying Wrexham's actions were "out of order".
He said: “I’ve got nothing against Wrexham, the Hollywood owners and the rest of it, but if they think they’re going to get their kicks by tweeting about my club, one of the smaller clubs in the league, just because they’re in a good space, then it’s not going to work.
Wrexham CEO Shaun Harvey (left) has defended the club after Accrington owner Andy Holt blasted Ryan Reynolds. (Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)"It was mistimed because you don't want any aggro before the match starting. There is an unwritten rule you don't put anything out before the match, you don't do anything inflammatory. This isn't a fight, this is how I run a business. I can charge what I want for tickets to anybody and everybody, it's my club."
Harvey, the former chief executive of the EFL, was grilled by TalkSPORT panelist and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, accusing Wrexham of "being facetious and virtue-signaling" at Accrington's expense.
“Andy’s made conscious decisions as well and Accrington have made decisions to increase the price and we’ve responded in a way that we felt was appropriate," Harvey replied. "I think we’re as entitled to make our decisions and announce those decisions as Accrington are.
"Our fans have been making the point (about the ticket prices) for a considerable period of time, as have Accrington fans who were also making the point, so this wasn’t just created on the morning of the game, this must have started when the conscious decision was made to increase ticket prices."
Harvey insisted Wrexham will "absolutely" stand by its decision to cut ticket prices for the reverse fixture, adding: "They shouldn’t have put the ticket prices up.”
Wrexham sit fourth in League Two after 18 games, level on points with third-place Notts County, while Accrington occupy the final playoff place in seventh. The teams meet again on March 2.
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