HOLLYWOOD duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are set to suffer a major financial loss following a big gamble on Wrexham’s stadium.
The American actors acquired the Welsh side in February 2021 in a takeover that stunned footie fans.
The club’s fortunes have drastically turned around since their acquisition, with The Red Dragons earning promotion back to the Football League in April following a 15-year hiatus.
Reynolds and McElhenney have pumped plenty of money into the club, which was the subject of a hit Netflix series this year.
But, despite their revenue for the financial year set to top out at £20million, a temporary stand at the Racecourse Ground will see a whopping £250,000 go down the drain.
Executive director Humphrey Ker told The Athletic: “Rob and Ryan are definitely loving it as much as ever.
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“To me, that’s because the way we are doing football club ownership is in an extremely fun way.
“Yes, it comes with a huge amount of responsibility and pressure, plus all the other things that come with being the custodians of this historic club.
“But we are also in this extraordinary position of being a genuinely unique club in world football because of the level of interest that comes from outside sources and from people who would usually never pay the slightest attention to football.
“That arms you with an incredible level of resources, frankly, and allows you to be ambitious and expansive — and do things like building the temporary stand at the Kop end.
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“There is probably no other club in the country who could go, ‘Yeah, we’ll lose a tonne of money doing what is, on a business level, a pretty stupid thing to do, but let’s do it anyway because we can get more people into the stadium.'”
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Wrexham expect to lose around £250k on the 2,289-capacity temporary stand that has been built at the stadium’s ‘Town End’.
It was opened just before Christmas to expand the stadium after delays to the £25million Wrexham Gateway development that should have started last June.
Ker, who landed his role after the Hollywood takeover of Wrexham in February 2021, is set to oversee the building of a new stand – which is set to be ready for the 2024-25 season.
Reflecting on his time at the club, he said: “Why this remains such fun is we are insulated from some of the pressures, challenges and stresses that others have.
“There’s been this debate at Liverpool recently about Joel Matip being injured beyond his contract (ending next summer).
“The debate is, ‘Should Liverpool give him a new contract to see him through?’
“We have had that situation ourselves in the past at Wrexham and been able to say, ‘Just port the player because we can afford to’.
“All those things are what I mean when I talk about the absolute privilege of doing this.
“If I’d have done good in life and bought, say, Chippenham Town, I couldn’t make decisions that are financially irresponsible but will ultimately go down well with the fans.
“Here, though, decisions can be made, such as the temporary stand, that may bring us long-term benefits beyond the black and white of a balance sheet.
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“That’s a real privilege.”
Wrexham will be back in action this evening, travelling to the Bescot Stadium to take on Walsall.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
