The Hollywood owners of Wrexham are still learning the vernacular of British soccer.
They dont need guidance, though, to set the scene for this weekends FA Cup match against second-division Sheffield United.
Rob McElhenney, who co-owns the fifth-tier club with fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, joked that hes visited Sheffield and likes the people but they of course are the enemy now and their tyrannical reign through the Championship must be stopped a la Goliath.
Wrexham is the lowest-ranked team left in the worlds oldest soccer knockout competition, 71 places below its opponent in English soccers pyramid.
The teams play on Sunday at Wrexhams sold-out Racecourse Ground in northeast Wales, about 28 miles south of Liverpool.
McElhenney says hes still getting used to British soccer sayings like squeaky-bum time made famous by former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson when describing the tense late moments of a game. He said that one is his absolute favorite so far.
The celebrity owners, who completed a $2.5 million takeover of the team in November 2020, might pick up some more colloquial phrases if Wrexham can pull off another big upset in the FA Cup.
Wrexham beat second-tier Coventry City 4-3 to reach the fourth round of the competition for the first time since 2000. Reynolds, a Canadian best known for starring in the Deadpool movies, said the win over Coventry left him totally speechless after the team built a 4-1 lead and held on at the end.
We have got a huge tradition in the FA Cup, said Chris Jones, a member of the Wrexham Supporters Trust. Its a great atmosphere at the grounds. The crowd is always very vociferous. When we do play those big games, theres a real advantage.
Wrexham achieved one of the FA Cups greatest upsets by beating then English champion Arsenal in the third round in 1992. Wrexham also reached the quarterfinals in the 1996-97 season, when it was in the third tier.
The club leads the National League standings and is on course for promotion to League TwoEnglish soccers fourth tier.
Its a complete turnaround, said Jones, who credits Reynolds and McElhenney. Theyre really doing everything that they promised to do. Theyre very keen to listen to the fans.
Not all sunny
Wrexham, the worlds third-oldest professional club, has torn down a portion of its stands and will replace it with new and expanded seating capacity.
But the clubs hopesthrough the multi-stakeholder Wrexham Gateway projectfor U.K. government support on the construction of a new Kop stand were dashed last week when a proposed grant was rejected.
Humphrey Ker, a British actor who is Wrexhams executive director, said the news was received with bitter disappointment but he said the club has a Plan B.
The Kop will rise again, it will just have to do so via a different method to the one for which we had so long planned. More to come on that, he said in a statement on the clubs website.
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