Ryan Reynolds wins battle with planners to get more seats for fans at Wrexham FC

Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds and comedy pal Rob McElhenney won permission to increase the temporary stand called the Kop to more than 3,000 at Wrexham football club

Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds has won his latest battle with planners to increase the number of seats for fans at his Wrexham football club - and wants to make it one of Britain's biggest stadiums.

The Deadpool star and comedy pal Rob McElhenney won permission to increase the temporary stand called the Kop to more than 3,000. The pair eventually aim to boost the crowd from 13,000 up to 55,000 - the same size as Premier League champions Manchester City.

The Welsh club who have won promotion to League One applied for planning permission after opening the 3,000-capacity temporary stand. A new 5,500 all-seater stand is already planned at the Racecourse Ground as a replacement for the Kop end which had been unused since 2007.

“We have a plan in place right now that would eventually work from stand to stand, so eventually you get all four sides,” McElhenney told American entertainment website Collider. “It's hard to say for sure, but we think we could get between 45-55,000 people in there.”

With tickets for matches in high demand, Reynolds said he wants to be in a situation where “the whole town could come to the game.” It had been hoped the new Kop stand would be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season, but Reynolds and McElhenney have been frustrated by delays to the project.

“I think the thick buttress of bureaucracy is the biggest problem,” said Reynolds. “I live in New York, Rob lives in LA where construction is very different.

“But in Wales, it really is a lot of red tape, and it's just sort of figuring out ways to tick all those boxes and make sure that every single bureaucrat is happy." McElhenney agrees, adding: “It is definitely a comedic point of consternation in the show how often we're running up against bureaucracy.

“And, of course, safety concerns and things like that, and all those regulations are there in place for a reason, but then there are some things that just seem like hurdles for hurdles' sake. It's a lot harder to build in the UK than, I found, almost anywhere else in the world.”

The extended temporary stand has been open since the start of the Red Dragons’ current campaign in League One in August, with a new fan zone also created behind it. The increase has seen the club record some of its highest home attendances in more 40 years, with 13,341 fans watching Wrexham beat local rivals Shrewsbury 3-0 last month.

In a letter accompanying the retrospective application, planning agents acting on the club’s behalf said the extension was required to meet the demand for tickets after Phil Parkinson’s side achieved back-to-back promotions.They said: “Planning permission is now sought for an extension to the approved temporary stand, to provide an additional 681 seats, allowing for an overall capacity of 3,020. The proposed extension will not cause the temporary stand to exceed the capacity of the permanent replacement Kop stand, which will be able to accommodate 5,500 spectators.”