Wrexham Suffer Record Defeat of Glamorous Hollywood Era

Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s Red Dragons were thrashed by West Ham United on Friday night.

Wrexham were treated to a thrashing in London. | Pedro Porru/MB Media/Getty Images

When Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac warned fans to “buckle up” for another “crazy” season, this surely wasn’t what the Hollywood stars had in mind.

It was a disastrous—albeit “crazy”—night for Wrexham under the London lights. Phil Parkinson’s men journeyed to the capital city, a place they had remained undefeated in since returning to the EFL Championship (eight total games), only to be thrashed 6–0 by recently-relegated West Ham United.

Wrexham headed into the interval down 2–0 before the barrage really began in the second half, seeing the last three goals touch the net in the span of less than 20 minutes.

Friday’s affair marked a record loss for the Red Dragons and Parkinson under Hollywood’s best, a duo that officially took over in 2021 before leading the then-National League club on a star-studded run of three-consecutive promotions (2022–23, 2023–24, 2024–25). Under the tutelage of actors, Wrexham had never previously lost by a six-goal deficit. The team’s worst result had been a 5–0 loss to Stockport County in Sept. 2023 in EFL League Two play.

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‘Very Tough Night’—Phil Parkinson Reacts to Record Loss

Parkinson could not get his side going. | Pedro Porru/MB Media/Getty Images

“Very tough night for us,” Parkinson told Sky Sports post-match. “First of all, as a manager, you always look at yourself, and I will do that.

“The first 25 minutes, I thought we were okay, but the two goals we conceded were really soft from that point of view. I thought we could have prevented them with better defending in and around the penalty box. And of course, [West Ham] have exceptionally good players, and if you don’t defend properly, they will punish you. They were absolutely clinical, but we could have helped ourselves also.”

It’s been an utterly underwhelming start to the new season for a team that had realistic dreams of a fourth-consecutive promotion to the Premier League just last year. Wrexham have managed just one win in the first seven league matches, a 3–0 victory against Millwall at The Den. They remain winless at home and now sit 16th in the Championship standings.

Wrexham put together a disjointed performance against Burnley midweek, which perhaps served as an afternoon of foreshadowing for what would soon transpire more harshly on Friday. They walked away with a 1–1 draw in that affair, yet struggled to get anything going and were passive out of possession. The same reigned true against West Ham, where Wrexham had the added effect of an entirely porous and timid backline.

“You have to make sure you stay in the game with good defensive principles, and we didn’t do that tonight,” Parkinson added. “We let a good team ride on a crest of confidence.”

Wrexham have struggled to score all season, unable to piece together more than a one-goal performance in an outing aside from the Millwall victory. They will look to turn the tides—and fast. The next opportunity comes on Sept. 19 against Southampton back at Racecourse Ground.

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