Reynolds gives Wrexham locals early Christmas gifts and watches team play with famous guests

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — Ryan Reynolds treated Wrexham’s locals to an early Christmas gift on his latest trip to north Wales — and he brought more Hollywood celebrities along for the ride.

Reynolds, who co-owns Wrexham’s soccer club with Rob McElhenney, watched the team draw with Cambridge 2-2 on Saturday in the company of actor and producer Channing Tatum, who appeared in the latest “Deadpool and Wolverine” movie alongside Reynolds.

Also at the match was Brandon Sklenar, who co-starred with Reynolds’ wife, Blake Lively, in romantic drama “It Ends With Us,” and Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong.

The previous night, Reynolds went to a pub in the center of Wrexham and said he would be buying a round of drinks for everyone there. He joked the pub “might be bussing in another hundred people” to benefit from his generosity.

In video footage shared on social media, Reynolds took to the microphone in the pub and said: “If I don’t come visit each and every one of you tonight in your homes, I just want to say happy holidays.”

He said he couldn’t stay long because he wanted to make the most of his “night off” away from his children.

Reynolds and McElhenney have owned Wrexham since 2021 and have overseen the team’s rise from the fifth tier of the English game. The team’s notoriety has increased since the owners launched a popular fly-on-the-wall TV series, “Welcome to Wrexham.”

After the draw with Cambridge, Wrexham was third in League One, two points off the lead.

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