EFL extends a welcome to Wrexham

And, as so often the case with a club that does drama like no one else, the win against Boreham Wood was achieved the hard way after falling behind inside 44 seconds.

Wrexham equalized in the 15th minute before Paul Mullin, the team's star striker, earned victory with two superbly taken goals in the second half.

"Paul Mullin is one of the greatest football players in the world," McElhenney said.

With the title in the bag, Wrexham fans lapped up the final few minutes of a match that ended more than a decade of hurt. The club fell on such hard times since the turn of the century that its supporters' trust twice had to save the team from going out of business.

"We can feel what it means to the town," McElhenney said on the field. "This is a moment of catharsis for them and celebration. For us to be welcomed into the community, and to be welcomed into this experience, has been the honor of my life."

Since their unlikely takeover, Reynolds and McElhenney have used their large Twitter followings to promote the club and brought in sponsors such as TikTok, Aviation Gin and Expedia, global brands that typically have no place at this level of the game.

The actors are also living up to the promises they made when taking over, like making improvements to the stadium and investing heavily in the women's team. They brought in board members and advisers with experience of top-level soccer and who have made good, sensible decisions.

The industrial town of about 65,000 people, located in northwest Wales, near the border with England and close to the soccer hotbeds of Liverpool and Manchester, has been abuzz with excitement for the past two years.

Last season, Wrexham lost in the playoffs to narrowly miss out on promotion, but made no mistake a year later to escape non-league soccer, where some teams are semiprofessional.

Wrexham finished the game to a backdrop of fans joyously singing "We are going up" — with Reynolds and McElhenney joining in. Rudd also seemed to enjoy the occasion — he was seen drinking with locals before the game in the neighboring Turf pub.

"I'm not sure if I can actually process what happened tonight," Reynolds said.

"I'm still a little speechless."

Agencies via Xinhua