Ryan Reynolds jokes he'll "sell one of his children" to solve Wrexham "problem"

13 September 2023 , 14:15

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Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds was visibly left disappointed after the club was landed with a major funding blow (Image: Matthew Ashton - AMA/Getty Images)

Ryan Reynolds joked that he would sell one of his children to fix a £20 million problem after Wrexham were landed with a major funding blow.

The Hollywood actor is known for his tongue-in-cheek outlook and it appears that he can even see the amusing side of things after a big professional disappointment. One such setback is documented in the upcoming second season of the hit docuseries "Welcome to Wrexham."

The "Deadpool" superstar's hands-on approach to the role as co-chairman of the Red Dragons was a major takeaway from the first series and it is clear that his dedication has not waned. In fact, in the first episode of the FX show, his discontent is plain to see after the club was denied Levelling Up funding.

The National League champions had lodged an application to the Government pot in a bid to get work started on the refurbishment of the Racecourse Ground. Specifically, the money would have been used to redevelop the western side of their Kop stand.

Essentially, the scheme includes plans for a hotel, potential conference facilities and car parking in the area surrounding Wrexham's home ground. In terms of the stand itself, this would see a 5,500-capacity stand erected at the historic stadium to raise its capacity to 16,000.

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In the footage, the strategic advisor to the club's board, Shaun Harvey, was tasked with breaking the news to co-owners Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. During a video call with the world-famous duo, he told them: "18 months' worth of work trying to get funding for the Kop has just gone up in smoke."

Clearly feeling disappointed at the revelation, Reynolds failed to shield his unrest and sarcastically replied: "Great. Is this like a political thing?" He then added: "Still, this is a huge problem, this is a cornerstone of our long-term Wrexham plans. This is huge."

Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will again feature in series 2 of FX's "Welcome to Wrexham" (Leon Bennett/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

As the news began to sink in, McElhenney was next to give his own stance on the situation as he admitted that the lack of finances presented a major issue for the club's plans. The "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" legend said: “I don’t have £20milion lying around.

"I don't know if Ryan does, but I don’t think so. He might say he does but I would talk to Blake [Lively], because I would bet you he f****** doesn't."

As the tensions settled, Reynolds then asked the bearer of bad news how the situation could be saved, saying: "What is it that we can do to help see this through?" After being told alternative sources of funding would be needed, he then joked: "I’ll sell one of my children. I have four, I mean I don’t even know their names!"

Following the rejection of the application, there was some relief for the Hollywood duo as it was subsequently revealed that funding could be found via another source. It has since been reported by The Athletic that a portion of a previous £25million ($31m) grant from the Welsh government for the Wrexham General Station a couple of hundred yards could be used to fund the redevelopment.

Tom Beattie