Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds reacts to Southampton being expelled from play-offs | OneFootball

Wrexham owner Ryan Reynolds has reacted to Southampton being expelled from the play-off final due to counts of spying

Southampton's expulsion from the Championship play-off final is arguably one of the biggest stories in EFL history, and, understandably, a lot of people have had their say on the punishment.

The Saints were charged by the EFL on three accounts of spying, dating all the way back to their defeat in December against Oxford United. The other instances involved Ipswich Town in April and, of course, Middlesbrough ahead of their play-off semi-final first leg on May 7.

As a result, Boro have been reinstated into the play-off final, and will take on Hull City at Wembley on Saturday, albeit subject to rearrangement, with a place in the Premier League on the line.

There has been plenty of collateral damage from this decision. Regardless of how you may feel about the ban, there'll be people of a Southampton persuasion believing it to be too harsh a punishment and Hull personnel feeling hard done by that they now need to prepare for a different opponent.

Additionally, perhaps even Wrexham officials and players feel that they should have been involved in some capacity, having finished just outside the top six at the end of the regular season.

Ryan Reynolds pokes fun at Southampton after spygate charge

Wrexham co-owner, Ryan Reynolds, chose publicly not to demand his club be reinstated into the play-offs in some capacity, however. Instead, he poked fun at Southampton on X, keeping in line with the light-hearted, comedic approach that many love the Hollywood actor for.

Indeed, he posted an image from the film 'Spies Like Us,' but the photo was edited, so the spies were wearing Saints scarves.

The 1985 movie is a comedy, primarily made to poke fun at the Cold War between the USA and the Soviet Union, presenting the intelligence agencies of both countries as incredibly incompetent, and, therefore, the spies don't know what they are doing, succeeding by sheer luck.

Given the movie's background, it's easy to put two and two together: Reynolds here is clearly mocking the incompetence of the Southampton spying operation, now that the club have been caught and punished.

Wrexham's frustrations at the Spygate 2.0 incident are well-justified

While Reynolds has chosen to make a comedic reference to the outcome of the Spygate charges, there'll definitely be a few people in his team who are feeling quite hard done by at the timing of their expulsion.

If Southampton were caught earlier, before the end of the regular season, and docked points, that could have resulted in Phil Parkinson's side perhaps finishing above the Saints, which would have seen them squeeze into sixth.

Granted, the four points that the Saints have been docked for next season wouldn't have been enough to overturn the nine-point gap the two sides finished between. But the main punishment here is the expulsion from the richest game in the Championship, so if this had been resolved before May, perhaps the points deduction would have been greater.

That doesn't take away from what has been a successful season for the Welsh side, though, finishing in their highest EFL position ever and taking the play-off fight to the final day as a newly promoted former League One side.

Ultimately, that's what the higher-ups at Wrexham are still focusing on, and Reynolds, being the character that he is, has chosen instead to make light of the situation.

No doubt Phil Parkinson's side would have loved to have had a chance at promotion this season, and they'll be looking to make a push towards the automatic places in 2026/27, but there'll be people asking 'what if' at the Racecourse Ground over the offseason regarding a potential shot at climbing up to the top flight at the first time of asking.