The information did not go unnoticed in November 2020 when the formalization was made. Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds and his actor friend Rob McElhenney have settled down in the small Welsh town of Wrexham. The members of the Wrexham Supporters Trust, then owner of the team since 2011, voted in favor of the takeover by the RR McReynolds Company LLC, taking 100% control of the shares of this modest resident club of the fifth English division: “The Wrexham Supporters Trust Board would like to thank Mr Rob McElhenney and Mr Ryan Reynolds, and their advisors Inner Circle Sports and Walker Morris, for their professional and considered approach and for the time they have already devoted to the process. As Wrexham supporters we would like to wish them the best of luck at the helm of our football club and look forward to what the future holds.”.
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And since then, water has flowed under the bridges and the Wrexham project has developed very well thanks to the valuable support of the actor who plays Deadpool. Indeed, after another big success against Forest Green (6-0), the promoted Wrexham, who celebrated his rise to League Two (D4) a year ago, managed to pocket a new golden ticket by locking in its rise to the English third division for next season. A major achievement for this town of 40,000 inhabitants which is starting to make a name for itself on the other side of the Channel with two promotions recorded in two years: “A few years ago, if you told me I would cry tears of joy at a football match in North Wales, then you would call Rob McElhenney. Congratulations to Wrexham and my co-chairman, my partner in crime. It’s a double for the city. It’s the adventure of our lives”Ryan Reynolds tweeted after Saturday’s game.
Read Ryan Reynolds’ club will experience a second consecutive rise
A sporting success first and foremost
It’s been a long journey for both actors, who were met with trepidation when they purchased the club. The two men nevertheless quickly put the fans at ease by ensuring that Wrexham would remain a club at the heart of its community and the first strong gesture was to install an embroidered “1934” on the back of the jersey, thus paying tribute to the 200 victims of the Gresford mining disaster. In keeping with tradition, Reynolds and McElhenney carried out a thorough media campaign, speaking Welsh to the media and meeting supporters in pubs not far from the stadium to take stock of the team’s situation in the years before their arrival. For the first season under the Hollywood flag, there was frustration when Wrexham missed out on promotion by a few points by finishing in 2nd position in the National League table. A disappointment quickly cushioned by the record 2022/2023 season where the Red Dragons finished at the top of the table with a total of 111 points in 46 games played, finishing ahead of Notts County in first place last season. Bis repeated this year by securing promotion to League One for the next campaign. The secret recipe for this dazzling success is nevertheless clearly identifiable.
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Firstly and probably the most important element, Wrexham’s sporting management knows how to retain its senior players. Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee extended their contracts until 2027, while there was interest from Saudi Arabia and Championship according to English media. During this time, other players present in the squad such as Ollie Palmer and Andy Cannon have developed solidly, revealing themselves as essential pawns of the project: “From the owners to the manager, the staff, the lads and the fans, being all on one page is very important to any success because I can’t speak highly enough of everyone around the club. All the guys in the locker room, everyone gets along really well. We just laugh but we work really hard in training and I think it takes the best of both.”, Lee explained in a podcast. The next goal for Reynolds and McElhenney will be to retain star center back Max Cleworth. Then, the sports management relied on several veterans with Premier League experience to strengthen its ranks. Manager Phil Parkinson pushed to bring in former Stoke City and Sunderland duo James McClean and Steven Fletcher, while convincing Arsenal to allow young goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo to join on loan.
Modernization at the heart of the project
The Wrexham club have also prepared themselves for success off the pitch by improving their various sponsorship deals. Reynolds and McElhenney used their platforms to help this modest club rise to the status of a commercial juggernaut. Internally, initial information states that turnover for this second promotion season could reach £20 million. A mix of seven-figure sponsorship deals and a large return on investment from their first US tour, this turnover would surpass even some of the biggest Championship clubs. So the Hollywood pair used their acting skills to their advantage to promote the club’s former jersey sponsor, Ifor Williams Trailers, before using their connections to bring on board bigger brands, such as TikTok and Expedia. Since then, United Airlines has been named the new jersey sponsor, while the stadium’s naming rights have been sold to Stok Cold Brew Coffee. Reynolds and McElhenney helped further promote the club with appearances on The One Show and The Late Late Show in the United States. Without forgetting the series ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ available on the Disney+ platform which tells the daily story of the club behind the scenes. The Emmy-winning series will air on Disney+ in the UK and Hulu in the US from May 2. A second American tour is already planned, with a match against Chelsea at the San Francisco 49ers’ Levi Field in July, as well as two matches not yet announced. Marketing, sales and media are moving forward without too much difficulty. The real complex but necessary case lies on the grounds of the Wrexham club.
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One of the priority tasks that the two American owners set themselves was to resolve the problem of the East Stand (known as the Kop) at the Racecourse Ground stadium. Since 2008, this stand has been out of use because it did not meet safety requirements. In June 2022, the club took ownership of the stadium, plans for the new stand were made public and local authorities authorized demolition. The city approved the project to build a new grandstand. The club’s owners hoped to obtain government funding to no avail. Despite this refusal, Reynolds and McElhenney hoped to raise the missing funds themselves and have the new stand ready before the start of the next season. However, the work did not start on time and the opening date of summer 2024 is currently unrealistic but the details are already known. The future Kop Stand, whose exterior façade will be painted black to recall Wrexham’s mining traditions, will be the tallest in the entire stadium and will be able to accommodate 5,500 spectators, 500 of which at the top will be VIP seats. Seats with barriers will be installed in the stand to also allow matches to be watched standing. Beneath the structure, new premises will be created to house offices and a club shop. Once the new grandstand opens, the capacity of the Racecourse Ground will increase to around 16,000 spectators. Wrexham dreams very big and the future looks bright in this small Welsh town that wants to rub shoulders with the stars.
Pub. 04/15/2024 9:48 p.m. Updated 04/15/2024 11:13 p.m.
2024-04-15 19:48:27
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