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Wales Online
23-04-2025
- Sport
- Wales Online
Charlton manager's two-word comment on Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham gets torn apart
Charlton manager's two-word comment on Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham gets torn apart Wrexham are on the brink of a third successive promotion under Phil Parkinson, with Nathan Jones' Charlton standing in their way of securing a place in the Championship Wrexham, owned by Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, have been mocked by Nathan Jones (Image: Getty ) Wrexham supporters have blasted Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones after he labelled their club "the circus". The North Wales outfit have attracted a worldwide focus since actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney became owners in 2021, with their journey charted by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary. Phil Parkinson's men secured a crucial 2-1 win over Blackpool on Easter Monday, edging them into a strong position for the second automatic promotion spot in League One. The victory allowed Wrexham to overtake their competitors Wycombe Wanderers, who suffered a stinging 4-0 defeat at the hands of Charlton at home. The Red Dragons now find themselves two points clear of the Chairboys in second place, while Charlton trail them by four points, keeping their own automatic promotion hopes alive. Wrexham and Charlton are set for a potentially decisive encounter on Saturday, which could establish who joins title winners Birmingham City in the Championship. Wrexham could achieve what would be a remarkable third consecutive promotion under Parkinson's guidance if they beat Charlton and Wycombe fail to defeat Leyton Orient. But if Charlton win, the promotion race will be thrown wide open just before the last game of the season. In anticipation of their crucial match, Jones has fanned the flames by taking a swipe at his team's rivals. "All we do is take a game as it comes," the South Walian said. "We are not looking at the play-offs, we are not looking at Burton at home on the final game. Article continues below "We'll finish, we'll debrief, we'll breathe a little bit and then we'll move forward with Wrexham. It's a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get." Charlton manager Nathan Jones has annoyed Wrexham fans (Image: Ben Whitley/PA Wire ) Jones' remarks didn't sit well with Wrexham fans, sparking a stir when the ITV4's EFL highlights show aired his interview. One disgruntled fan reacted to the clip on social media, remarking: "What a cheek! They'll be the ones looking like clowns." Echoing the sentiment, another supporter on chimed in, saying: "He should feel right at home then the clown." Elsewhere, another person commented: "Absolutely nothing against Charlton Athletic FC, but this bloke is about as dislikeable as they come." Adding to the voices, someone else posted: "Another middle aged man trying to bow to the masses. Just puts more pressure on his team." In contrast, ahead of the key encounter with Charlton, Wrexham manager Parkinson has been rallying his squad, encouraging them to enjoy the battle. Sign up to our newsletter! Wrexham is the Game is great new way to get top-class coverage Wrexham AFC is the arguably the fastest-growing club in the world at the moment thanks to a certain Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The Dragons have achieved two consecutive promotions and are cheered on by crowds from not only North Wales but also from all over the globe, thanks to the success of the Disney+ documentary 'Welcome to Wrexham'. But does it have a dedicated, quality source of information piped through to your inbox each week, free of ads but packed with informed opinion, analysis and even a little bit of fun each week? That's where Wrexham is the Game steps in... Available every Wednesday, it provides all the insights you need to be a top red. And for a limited time, a subscription to 'Wrexham is the Game' will cost fans just £15 for the first year. Sign up for Wrexham is the Game here Article continues below Parkinson said: "What we spoke about is making sure the lads are enjoying it, because so much work has gone to get this club in this situation. We want to look back in the summer and say that when those big games came, we really thrived. We don't want to look back and say, 'Oh, we didn't produce our best performances today'." An impressive turnout is anticipated at the Racecourse Ground for the clash on Saturday, which is expected to be graced by the presence of Reynolds and McElhenney. McElhenney's support ahead of the Blackpool game was seen as pivotal after giving the players a motivational talk. Sharing the advice he gave to his team, Wrexham captain James McClean said: "Yesterday we had Rob in and he had a good chat with us. [He was] just saying that all the outside noise is both good and bad and you've got to drown it out and relax. Hearing that from the owners, I think it took a bit of pressure off the lads today and I think you could see that in our play."
The Guardian
30-03-2025
- General
- The Guardian
‘People have walked through here for centuries': the rhythms of the Welsh valleys in pictures
Ken Grant's Cwm: A Fair Country, a collection of nearly 30 years of landscape photography in the South Walian valleys, begins with a moving prologue. It mentions a painting he's known since his Liverpudlian childhood, still sitting above his 92-year-old father's mantelpiece: 'Dapple-bruised Welsh horses, painted in a loose herd, are imagined beneath a sky that promises rain.' From 1998, on commutes from Liverpool to the University of Wales, Newport (where he led a documentary photography degree), he noticed similar horses – completely by coincidence. 'I didn't seek them out at first, but on my drives, I soon got aware that they were there. Sometimes up a valley's road, you'd see packs of 40 or 50.' Some were descendants of animals once used in mining; other herds would have pre-dated industry; either way, they now roam wild and free. Grant's horses sit, lie, nuzzle each other and look directly into his lens. He became struck by the creatures' hardiness in all seasons. 'They're beautiful, observant, built to last – they let things happen around them. They became a loose metaphor for me for thinking about communities in these areas – communities built around a particular purpose which is not active any more in any shape or form, but which carries on, having endured all those upheavals, and the shifts that have taken place in the land.' The horses in Cwm (the name of a mining village Grant photographs and a Welsh word for valley or steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley) act like solid anchors among images of striking environments. Harsh hills, often pillaged by industry, sit behind pale, pastel rows of terrace houses. A photography studio sits in an old building, its front wall soaked with stormwater. An old playground sits quietly alongside the site of a demolished steelworks. There are signs of development – new redbrick houses and road improvement projects – between the battered allotments and ruined buildings. 'It struck me how strongly these roads are built to take people past a place,' Grant says. Moving on from Newport in 2013, he has to-and-froed between Wales and Liverpool ever since, often returning to the same places – like the village of Beaufort, named after a duke who originally owned the land, and Manmoel Common outside Ebbw Vale, high on a ridge, near abandoned quarries. Mid-century Czech photographer Josef Sudek inspired this approach. 'There's a lovely phrase of his – 'rush slowly' – about how you're rewarded by staying with subjects over time, seeing any kinds of changes or shifts, or slow dismantlings or initiations. You're made aware that something's still happening, or you're reminded to find something again.' Other influences include the American photojournalists W Eugene Smith and Robert Frank, and people closer to his experience in Wales, such as West Wales-based photographer Paul Cabuts and photographic historian Ian Walker. The book's subtitle is a nod to Alexander Cordell's bestselling 1959 novel Rape of the Fair Country, about the iron-making communities of Nantyglo and Blaenavon before the Chartist uprisings in Wales. Best known as a photographer of people within places (in series such as New Brighton Revisited and Shankly), Grant talks warmly about those he has met in these communities ('there is a beautiful temperament and decency in these people'). He's also done a project simultaneously in the area about pub football teams ('It's as much about football as it is about men navigating being part of something that their dads were part of'). The only people we see in Cwm are walkers, on the edges of frames, often in startling landscapes. 'People use and walk through these places just because they've walked through them for centuries,' Grant says. He also loves the vivid colours of the land, the saturated browns, yellows and greens that partly come from the wetness of the Welsh weather. This resilience and richness, he says, is part of everyday life. 'I've got a lot to be thankful for in Wales,' he adds. He's now living back in Wirral, near his father, but his daughter lives in Cardiff, so he still has a reason to take strange, cross-country diversions. 'The beautiful, gentle landscapes and full-blown mountains in which people still live – it's still incredible, even in the winter, when it's quite tough. But in the time of year we're in now, I love watching how everything comes alive.' Cwm speaks to the same, startling spirit. Cwm: A Fair Country by Ken Grant is published by RRB Photobooks (£45)
