Featured Image Credit: Jan Kruger/Getty Images
Topics: Ryan Reynolds, FA Cup, Football, Rob McElhenney, Wrexham
Ben McCrum
Topics: Ryan Reynolds, FA Cup, Football, Rob McElhenney, Wrexham
Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds' was spotted carrying out strange pre-match ritual before Wrexham's win over Nottingham Forest - and it's not the first time he's done it.
On Friday night, Championship side Wrexham secured an unlikely win over Nottingham Forest in an FA Cup third round clash at the Racecourse Ground.
The hosts took a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Liberato Cacace and Oliver Rathbone but a comeback from Forest, including an 89th minute equaliser from Callum Hudson-Odoi saw the two sides go into full-time at 3-3.
With FA Cup replays scrapped as of last season, this meant that the teams played out an extra 30 minutes on extra-time, before Wrexham held their nerve and amazingly progressed having won a penalty shootout 4-3.
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The dramatic win will no doubt be a memorable one for all Wrexham fans and especially for owner Reynolds who was seen taking an unusual souvenir before the match even began.
Since Reynolds and co-owner Rob Mac bought Wrexham in November 2020, their rise through English football has been nothing short of extraordinary.
The Red Dragons recent performances have seen them rise all the way from the national league up to the championship, where they currently sit ninth in the table.
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Throughout their meteoric rise, Reynolds is regularly spotted attending matches at Wrexham's home stadium, showing his support from the stands of the Racecourse Ground.
And the FA Cup clash with Forest was no different, as fans spotted the Deadpool star walking on to the pitch before the match got underway to perform his typical pre-match ritual of kneeling down and grabbing some of the grass to put into his pocket.
Fans first noticed Reynolds carrying out his superstition back in October 2021, and he isn't alone as co-owner Mac does the exact same thing.
Speaking to The Athletic in November 2023, McElhenney admitted: “I’m staring right now, in my office, at a thing my wife made for me for my birthday.
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"When I get down on the pitch, I have a tendency to take some of the grass and put it in my pocket, so I have a keep-sake of the event."
He continued: "I’d keep them in these little plastic bags and put a piece of paper inside with the occasion [written on each]. She stole them from the drawer I keep them in and took them to a [picture] framer.
"Now they are behind this air-sealed glass. They put some kind of chemical in the grass to keep [preserve] it, and then there is a little plaque underneath each one."
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Wrexham will now have to wait until Monday evening to discover who they will face in the next round of the FA Cup, with the draw set to take place at Anfield following Liverpool's meeting with League One side Barnsley.