Soccer-Wrexham co-owners Reynolds, McElhenney spoof Southampton 'Spygate' ahead of Championship clash

Executive Producer and Wrexham AFC co-Chairman and co-Owner Rob McElhenney ("Rob Mac") and Executive Producer and Wrexham AFC co-Chairman and co-Owner Ryan Reynolds attend a For Your Consideration (FYC) event for the television series 'Welcome to Wrexham' - Season 5 in Los Angeles, California, U.S., April 28, 2026. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Sept 17 (Reuters) - Ryan Reynolds and ⁠Rob McElhenney are no strangers to mixing football and showbusiness, ⁠and the Wrexham co-owners did both in their latest advertisement for ‌internet browser Firefox, playfully lampooning Southampton's "Spygate" scandal ahead of Saturday's Championship clash.

Reynolds, the Canadian-American actor best known for playing the wisecracking antihero "Deadpool", leaned into the controversy in the 59-second video ​released on Thursday.

Emerging from behind a tree alongside ⁠McElhenney, Reynolds says: "Today, for no ⁠particular reason, we want to talk about the importance of privacy."

"Specifically how to ⁠prevent ‌spies from seeing what you're doing on the internet," adds McElhenney, best known for his role in television comedy "It's Always Sunny ⁠in Philadelphia".

"There's some things that you just don't want ​any other people to ‌see ..." Reynolds continues, before later adding: "Privacy - that's important to people everywhere," ⁠as the ​pair reference Oxford United, Ipswich Town and Middlesbrough, clubs whose training sessions Southampton were accused of observing last season.

The pair later highlight Firefox's privacy features, with Reynolds ⁠remarking: "Refreshing, huh? An organization that actually respects your ​privacy."

The joke was a nod to the "Spygate" row that erupted in May after Middlesbrough complained of unauthorised filming at their training ground.

The English Football League charged ⁠Southampton, who were later expelled from the Championship playoffs after acknowledging they had observed opponents' training sessions within 72 hours of matches.

Middlesbrough, who lost to Southampton in the playoff semi-finals, were reinstated in the final, where Hull ​City ultimately secured promotion to the Premier League.

The ⁠Football Association subsequently launched its own investigation and has alleged Southampton spied on ​opponents multiple times between December 2025 and May ‌2026.

Reynolds and McElhenney bought the Welsh ​club in 2021.

Wrexham sit 19th in the 24-team Championship, while Southampton are ninth after seven matches.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru;)

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2026年4月28日，雷克瑟姆足球俱乐部联合主席兼联合老板、执行制片人罗布·麦克尔亨尼（Rob McElhenney，昵称“罗布·麦克”）和雷克瑟姆足球俱乐部联合主席兼联合老板、执行制片人瑞安·雷诺兹出席了在美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶举行的电视连续剧《欢迎来到雷克瑟姆》第五季的“供您参考”（For Your Consideration，简称FYC）活动。路透社/马里奥·安祖尼

9 月 17 日（路透社）——瑞安·雷诺兹和罗布·麦克尔亨尼对将足球和演艺事业结合起来并不陌生，这两位雷克瑟姆足球俱乐部的共同老板在他们为互联网浏览器 Firefox 拍摄的最新广告中，就巧妙地讽刺了南安普顿的“间谍门”丑闻，而这场比赛是周六的英冠联赛。

因扮演爱开玩笑的反英雄“死侍”而闻名的加拿大裔美国演员瑞安·雷诺兹，在周四发布的 59 秒视频中积极参与了这场争议。

雷诺兹和麦克尔亨尼一起从树后走出来，说道：“今天，我们想谈谈隐私的重要性，并没有什么特别的原因。”

“具体来说，就是如何防止间谍看到你在互联网上的活动，”麦克尔亨尼补充道，他因在电视喜剧《费城永远阳光灿烂》中的角色而闻名。

“有些事情你就是不想让其他人看到……”雷诺兹继续说道，随后又补充道：“隐私——这对世界各地的人们来说都很重要。”两人提到了牛津联队、伊普斯维奇城队和米德尔斯堡队，南安普顿上赛季曾被指控偷看这些俱乐部的训练。

两人随后重点介绍了 Firefox 的隐私功能，雷诺兹评论道：“令人耳目一新，对吧？一个真正尊重用户隐私的组织。”

这个玩笑是对五月份爆发的“间谍门”事件的回应，当时米德尔斯堡俱乐部投诉有人未经授权在其训练场进行拍摄。

英格兰足球联赛指控南安普顿，后者后来承认在比赛前 72 小时内观察了对手的训练，因此被逐出英冠附加赛。

米德尔斯堡在附加赛半决赛中输给了南安普顿，但他们重返决赛，最终赫尔城成功晋级英超联赛。

随后，足球协会展开了自己的调查，并指控南安普顿在 2025 年 12 月至 2026 年 5 月期间多次对对手进行间谍活动。

雷诺兹和麦克尔亨尼于 2021 年收购了这家威尔士俱乐部。

在拥有 24 支球队的英冠联赛中，雷克瑟姆排名第 19 位，而南安普顿在七轮比赛后排名第九。

（Pearl Josephine Nazare在班加罗尔报道）

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