The Welsh club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will host Premier League giants Chelsea in the FA Cup fifth round, marking their deepest cup run in nearly three decades.
Sometimes the FA Cup writes its own scripts better than any Hollywood screenwriter could. Wrexham, the Welsh club that’s become a global sensation thanks to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, just landed the tie of their dreams – and nightmares – when they were drawn to host Chelsea in the fifth round.
The draw, made Monday evening ahead of Macclesfield‘s fourth-round clash with Brentford, paired the Championship promotion hopefuls with the eight-time FA Cup winners. It’s the kind of matchup that makes the competition special – David versus Goliath, but with better production values and celebrity owners in the stands.
Mickey Thomas, the Wrexham legend who knows a thing or two about FA Cup magic, thinks the Chelsea tie could actually help his old club. ‘Is [the Chelsea tie] a distraction? It is in a way, but it could be a good distraction to keep the momentum going,’ Thomas told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.
The 71-year-old should know. Back in January 1992, at the ripe old age of 37, Thomas produced one of the FA Cup’s most iconic moments when his thunderous free-kick helped Wrexham stun reigning champions Arsenal 2-1 at the Racecourse Ground. That goal, struck from 25 yards out in the 82nd minute, went on to win Goal of the Season and remains etched in FA Cup folklore.
‘Eight times winners of the FA Cup – they don’t need to win it any more,’ Thomas said of Chelsea with typical dry humor. ‘Chelsea will be favourites, no question about that, fifth in the Premier League and they’ve got some wonderful players, probably the best player in the Premier League in Cole Palmer.’
But here’s where it gets interesting. Wrexham aren’t the same plucky underdogs they were in 1992. Currently sitting sixth in the Championship with 54 points from 34 games, they’re firmly in the playoff picture and dreaming of reaching the Premier League for the first time since 1982. The Reynolds and McElhenney revolution has transformed not just the club’s finances, but its entire identity.
The FA Cup run has been nothing short of magical. Wrexham knocked out Premier League side Nottingham Forest on penalties after a thrilling 3-3 draw in the third round, then beat Championship rivals Ipswich Town 1-0 to reach the fifth round for the first time since 1997.
Manager Phil Parkinson will need to keep his players grounded, though. With a crucial Championship fixture at Bristol City looming, the Chelsea tie – scheduled for the weekend of March 7-8 – could easily become a distraction. Thomas is confident Parkinson will handle it: ‘Phil Parkinson will have them up and ready for that game, no question about that.’
The numbers tell the story of how far Wrexham have come. The Racecourse Ground, one of the world’s oldest football stadiums still in use, can only hold 12,600 spectators. As Thomas noted, ‘Unfortunately, only 10,500 can get inside the stadium, so we could sell that three times over for sure.’
For Chelsea, managed by Liam Rosenior, this represents a potential banana skin. The Blues cruised past Hull City 4-0 in the fourth round, with Pedro Neto grabbing a hat-trick, but cup football has a way of leveling the playing field.
The last competitive meeting between these clubs came in February 1982, when they drew 1-1 in a fourth-round FA Cup replay. More recently, they’ve met in pre-season friendlies during Wrexham‘s US tours, with Chelsea winning 5-0 in 2023 before a 2-2 draw in 2024.
Thomas, who also played for Chelsea during his career, won’t have split loyalties. ‘I’m not worried about the game, I’m really not,’ he said. ‘Because if you look at the game, I’m confident in terms of what Wrexham have available. They’ve got a huge squad, a fantastic manager, and they’ve got the two magicians, not the magic man, that Mickey Thomas, it’s Rob and Ryan now.’
The fairy tale continues to write itself in North Wales. Whether it ends with another giant-killing or a return to Championship reality, one thing’s certain – the cameras will be rolling, and the world will be watching when Wrexham welcome Chelsea to the Racecourse Ground.
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