Mark OgdenApr 26, 2025, 02:20 PM ET
WREXHAM, Wales -- Wrexham sealed a historic promotion to the EFL Championship with a 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic in front of Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at the Stok Cae Ras on Saturday.
Two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half from Ollie Rathbone and Sam Smith set Wrexham on the way to victory. Then £2 million record signing Smith scored a third on 81 minutes to secure second spot in League One and the final automatic promotion berth behind runaway champions Birmingham City.
Wrexham's promotion sees the club return to English football's second tier for the first time since they were relegated from the division at the end of the 1981-82 season.
No team in English football history, dating back to the first competitive season in 1888, had ever achieved three consecutive promotions in the top five divisions.
But Wrexham's success has written Phil Parkinson's side into the history books to leave the club, who ended a 15-year stint in the National League two years ago, just one promotion away from the Premier League.
"Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer, this coaching staff -- we have the greatest dressing room in sports, in any category I have seen before. It's all for one," Reynolds said.
"And then this community, I am speechless by their passion, emotion and transformation they have helped make. You can look at so many beating hearts at this club and it all starts with Phil.
He added: "Our goal is to make it to the Premier League."
Charlton had gone into the game as one of only two teams, alongside Wycombe Wanderers, who could deny Wrexham the second spot in the division.
But with Wycombe losing 1-0 away to Leyton Orient earlier in the day, Wrexham knew that a win in their final home game of the season would clinch a record third successive promotion.
Reynolds and McElhenney, who bought the club for $2.5 million in 2021 and turned it into a household name around the world through the docuseries "Welcome to Wrexham," were part of a full house of nearly 13,000 fans packed into the club's historic stadium to celebrate.
"Ryan and I have the easiest job in the world," McElhenney said. "We just sit back and watch this incredible football team and incredible staff."
The final whistle sparked mayhem as thousands of fans poured onto the pitch carrying banners saying "Back to back to back" and hoisting grinning players on their shoulders amid clouds of red smoke.
"This will mean so much to those two," Parkinson told Sky Sports of the club's famous owners. "They deserve it because they've let us manage, they've been brilliant."
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
