22 February 2023 , 16:13
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Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman has revealed he was offered the opportunity to take on ownership of a non-league football club for as little as £1, after his friend Ryan Reynolds became owner of Wrexham.
Reynolds and co-owner Rob McElhenney completed their takeover of Wrexham in 2021, and have the National League side pushing for promotion this season after narrowly missing out last term. The team was also within minutes of a place in the fifth round of the FA Cup before eventually losing a replay to Championship high-flyers Sheffield United.
Jackman and Reynolds have been known to engage in back-and-forths on social media, and the pair have a friendship going back years. Despite having more than one offer, though, the Australian actor opted to leave football investment to others.
"I will admit to you that when Ryan bought that team, I did get more than one offer from rivals to that team for £1 to come in as a co-owner and that did seriously tempt me," Jackman said on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. "Michael B Jordan, I was with [him] last night, and he's a co-owner of Bournemouth, and I was like, this whole thing of outsiders coming in and buying football teams, it feels a little, I don't know...easy."
Jackman is a Norwich City fan, and the 54-year-old joked about attempting to begin a playing career. "So I've decided to go one step further, I'm actually going to try out for the team," he said.
Ryan Reynolds mispronounces name of new Wrexham signing in hilarious video
"Delia Smith, Stephen Fry, I'm coming to try out. I think if I really want to stick it to Ryan Reynolds, then if Wrexham get to play Norwich - because obviously there's a different level here - I think it would be best if I was heading in the winner."
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Hugh Jackman has spoken about his potential route into football (PA)
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson was appointed by the club just a few months into the new owners' tenure, and has spoken of how the club has progressed since Reynolds and McElhenney came on board. In addition to the cup run, Wrexham are fighting with Notts County for an automatic promotion spot, having suffered an extra-time defeat to Grimsby Town in last season's promotion play-offs.
"I have been a manager for a long time but the minute you lose that ambition, that determination and that drive to succeed is the time to stop," Parkinson said in early February. "But I am probably enjoying the job now more than I have for a long time and I came here because it is a club I can progress with.
“We are ambitious, we want to go up the leagues and this is a group with huge potential. Every manager wants to manage at the highest level.”