Wrexham striker Rosie Hughes praised team co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds for their constant support of the women’s soccer team.
“Not only are they focusing on the men’s side of the Football, but they’ve also helped us women a lot by being there for us,” Hughes, 28, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting the team’s charitable initiative with Good Sports and Gatorade. “They’ve come to events. They’ve even watched us play some of our Games.”
Since purchasing Wrexham AFC in 2020, McElhenney and Reynolds haven’t acted like “just background people,” rather as “part of the football club,” Hughes added. “They come and they work on the house front and show their face.”
Welcome to Wrexham premiered via FX in August 2022, but when the show returned for season 2 in September 2023, the Wrexham AFC Women’s team became a huge part of the show.
“They’re just genuinely nice people who are really down to earth and want to know about your story,” Hughes continued. “And it’s not about them. They make us feel like it’s about us.”
The Wrexham AFC Women were promoted to the Adran Premier League in 2023, making them first-tier soccer players in North Wales. Thanks to their inclusion in Welcome to Wrexham, Hughes and the players can “possibly be part of making history” by putting Wrexham on the map.
When it comes to the rise in women’s Sports, Hughes thinks “we’ve still got a long way to go” but notes that “we’ve come from so far” already.
“I’d personally love equal pay within men and women’s sports, but I just know it’s not as simple as that,” she explained to Us. “The advertisement for men is just a lot greater than it’s for women at the minute. Don’t get me wrong — it’s growing, and it’s so much bigger than it was for 20 years ago when I first started playing football.”
She continued, “Everything that’s happening, it’s all beneficial.”
While in Los Angeles for Wrexham AFC Women’s recent Wrex Coast Tour, Hughes and her teaMMAtes teamed up with Good Sports and Gatorade to surprise the Empowering Leadership in Latina Athletes (ELLA) Sports Foundation with a soccer clinic, along with a $20,000 equipment donation.
“It was thrilling to meet the young girls, and to see how talented and passionate they are about the sport,” Hughes gushed to Us, noting that the team also “surprised them with tickets” to the Wrex Coast Tour. “Not just in the stands but walking out on the field with us and participating as ball girls during the match.”
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She thanked Good Sports and Gatorade for “brightening the lives of these young girls and encouraging them to follow their passion for football” with the generous donation.
“When I was younger it wasn’t like this,” Hughes added. “I think it is amazing that we’ve got the ELLA Sports Foundation doing this for girls, especially Latino girls or girls of color, who are not getting these opportunities. I’ve had a really amazing time.”
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