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“I got out of the car and I had about 50 messages with links coming through.”
Back in January, before he had even went through his full medical, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney had whipped up a brilliant video that ended up getting over six million views.
The skit, showing McElhenney teaching Reynolds how to properly pronounce Eoghan’s first name, was well received and, thankfully, not in vain. O’Connell passed the medical and was now an official part of the Wrexham story:
Hmmm 🇮🇪 ⚔️🏴 pic.twitter.com/JyBlMuGojd
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 31, 2023
On the latest episode of House of Football, Eoghan O’Connell was the special guest and spoke about his time at Wrexham so far under Hollywood stars, and owners, Reynolds and McElhenney. The Cork native helped Wrexham earn promotion to League Two, in May, ending a 15-year absence from the Football League.
On the show [from 42:00 below] O’Connell spoke of settling in at the Welsh club, the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary, the arrival of Ben Foster and hanging out with the Hollywood heavyweights.
‘The way they run it is incredible’
Eoghan O’Connell started off his professional footballing career with Celtic before moving on to play with Bury, Rochdale and Charlton. The 27-year-old about his life since joining the club and the relationship he has with the star chairmen.
‘Obviously people think they’re American [and, in Reynold’s case, Canadian] but they’re very clued in about everything now,” he said.
“So we were kind of discussing things, the game and just everything in general and they knew the ins and outs, obviously, at the club and were just explaining that side to me.
“The way they run it is incredible,” he added. “There’s no ego from them, they’re there for us. They come over as much as they can for games and they’d be in the dressing room after having a chat.”
“But the way they run it is incredible. And at the same time, you kind of think, coming from the outside like that, they’d be putting their nose in it – they literally just let the manager do his job and it’s really incredible the understanding they have for it. The way they run the club and just, speaking to them about it, they’re definitely in it for the long haul.”
“The way they run the club is incredible…”
Irish defender Eoghan O’Connell on playing for @wrexham_afc under @vancityreynolds and @rmcelhenney and getting texts from the two Hollywood stars 🤯
Together w/ @williamhillhttps://t.co/QJg1PNJxfC #ad pic.twitter.com/3boqZSAQnc
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 21, 2023
Eoghan O’Connell on Ryan Reynolds invite
Ryan Reynolds was very keen to get Eoghan O’Connell quickly up to speed when he joined Wrexham, and invited him along to watch the women’s team in action, along with others from the men’s senior squad.
“He asked me to come along and meet the lads, and everyone,” O’Connell recalls. “So I brought my wife and little one along, and we spent the day with him and a few of the lads, Ryan and his family. It was so natural.”
“Dangerous move,” host Eric Lalor cut in, ‘bringing your wife to meet Ryan Reynolds!”
“Ah yeah, I said that,” O’Connell joked. “It looks like he is walking around in 4k!”
The club are now set for more adventures in League Two, next season, and have already lined up friendlies with the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United as part of their summer preparations.
You can check out our full conversation with Eoghan O’Connell below.
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