Ellery Balcombe admits the day he played a starring role to upstage two Hollywood A-listers is one of his best in football.
The St Mirren keeper is already a Wembley winner after helping Bromley beat then National League rivals Wrexham 1-0 in the 2022 FA Trophy Final.
Balcombe spent the final three months of the season on loan from Brentford with the Ravens after a disappointing spell with Burton Albion where he barely played. Yet the 24-year-old’s campaign would have a silver lining on English Football’s grandest stage against the most talked-about non-league side.
Three years ago, ailing Wrexham were bought by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney with the North Wales outfit’s fortunes utterly transformed. The Red Dragons now play in Sky Bet League One and their ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary is a smash hit on Disney+.
Balcombe’s Wembley performance saw him feature in one of the episodes as Wrexham’s agony in failing to lift the trophy was laid bare for all to see following Michael Cheek’s winner.
And while the Buddies custodian was surprised to see Reynolds at the game, he was delighted to be greeted by the Deadpool star following the final whistle.
“It was probably one of the best days I have had in football,” Balcombe recalled. “It was good to get that experience and that FA Trophy win was good.
“I was coming off a not-very-good season. I’d gone on loan to Burton and didn’t really play so I decided to go back down a couple of leagues to Bromley and I loved it there. It’s a proper family club. It was kind of surreal. I think Will Ferrell and David Beckham were there as well.
“I’m in the documentary somewhere. I’ve watched them. Will puts on an act like he is an American businessman and doesn’t know anything about football! I think I played well. There was one save in the last 10 minutes of the game which was quite a big one and that’s in the documentary.
“We were just taking it all in our stride and ignoring the outside noise. Our season was done, we couldn’t get play-offs and so there was a big focus on that game.
“I was going out to warm-up and saw Ryan Reynolds standing there. I thought, ‘what’s Deadpool doing here? What’s going on?’ I met Ryan Reynolds. He literally came up to me at the end of the game and said, “well played”.”
Balcombe had been on the winning side at Wembley a year earlier when Brentford beat Swansea City 2-0 to win promotion to the English Premier League.
It was a special moment for the Bees fan who comes from Hounslow in West London – but this was on another level.
“When Brentford got promoted at Wembley to the Prem,” he said, “I was watching but not in the squad. So, to be a part of something like this and actually playing was a different experience and there were crazy scenes afterwards.”
Balcombe has been an ever-present for Saints so far after signing on a season-long loan this summer.
He has already had a crack at European football thanks to the Buddies UEFA Conference League exploits and wants to put in the Premiership hard yards to deliver a repeat next term.
“It was a real highlight and a different experience,” he added. “I’d never played in Europe and that was one of my goals for this season. Now it’s about securing Europe again this season.
“I obviously had nothing to do with the team qualifying for Europe last season but I want to be a big part of it this season. Playing in Europe is special for everyone but it probably does mean a lot more to the boys who were here and achieved it last season.”
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