WREXHAM have secured promotion to League One in the latest step of their rebirth under their Hollywood owners.
Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have transformed the club with the help of manager Phil Parkinson.
They sealed back-to-back promotions for the first time in their 159-year history in style, thrashing bottom-of-the-table Forest Green Rovers 6-0.
Wrexham will return to the third tier for the first time since 2005, with owner Reynolds thrilled at the achievement.
He wrote on social media: “A few years ago, if you told me I would be crying tears of joy over a football match taking place in North Wales, you would be Rob McElhenney. Congrats to Wrexham and to my co-chairman in crime. Double up the town! This is the ride of our lives.”
It has been some journey for the Hollywood A-listers, who were greeted with trepidation when they first bought the club, with some members of the fan trust that previously owned Wrexham voting against their takeover.
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But the pair quickly put fans at ease by assuring Wrexham would remain a club at the heart of its community, and they won over some by recognising the mining disaster at Gresford where 266 people lost their lives on the back of the team’s shirts.
It has not been plain sailing either as Wrexham missed out on promotion from the National League in the first season under the owners, while they had to produce a record points tally last year to beat Notts County to first place last season.
Their rise has been documented by Disney series ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, which caused scepticism amongst some who thought the show was a “money grab”.
The third season of the show will begin to air from next month and will document Wrexham’s continued rise, which could just be getting started.
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Hollywood owners
Friends Reynolds and McElhenney took over Wrexham in 2020 and quickly bought into the culture of the club and North Wales.
They spoke Welsh to media and met fans in pubs next to the Racecourse Ground and got to grips with the years of hurt supporters felt from being in non-league.
The pair signed shirts and posed for photos to integrate themselves into the community, investing in local schemes and hiring voluntary staff like Wrexham’s disability liaison officer.
Fast forward a few months and Reynolds was left sobbing in the stands after Wrexham’s dramatic FA Trophy victory over Stockport at the Racecourse.
They used their acting skills to their advantage to promote the club’s previous shirt sponsor, Ifor Williams Trailers, before using their connections to take on board bigger brands, such as TikTok and Expedia.
Reynolds and McElhenney helped promote the club further with appearances on The One Show and The Late Late Show in America, while bringing in big names to the club on and off the pitch – including former EFL chief Shaun Harvey.
Premier League signings
The new owners have invested heavily into the club and lured players down from higher divisions to help them win promotion to League Two last season, including top scorer Paul Mullin.
That continued last summer with the additions of former Premier League stars James McClean and Steven Fletcher.
They have provided a wealth of experience and set an example through their professionalism, as did goalkeeper Ben Foster when he arrived at the club last year.
Foster retired in September after struggling to adjust to League Two, leaving Wrexham when they were 15th in the division after just one win from their opening four games.
His replacement was the loan signing of Arhtur Okonkwo from Arsenal, who has proved a steady presence in between the sticks for the Red Dragons.
Fans of rival clubs have criticised Wrexham’s spending habits and although the club has made losses, it is their huge revenue which has paid for the promotion-winning stars.
Major investment
Several brands have been keen to join the Wrexham journey, boosting revenue to close to £20million for this season alone – a figure which rivals Championship clubs.
Seven-figure sponsorship deals and the club’s pre-season tour of the US last summer has helped significantly, with the club’s presence across the pond seeing an increase in merchandise sales.
United Airlines now sponsor the shirts while VistaPrint sponsor the sleeves, and Stok Cold Brew Coffee bought the rights to the stadium.
‘Welcome to Wrexham’ has added to the coffers, increasing revenue significantly from the £5.97m brought in during the Hollywood’s owners first full season in charge.
And a second US tour this summer that will see Wrexham play Chelsea is set to boost the club further.
How Ryan Reynolds has been watching Wrexham games in style
CO-OWNER Ryan Reynolds hasn’t been able to make it to Wrexham in recent weeks due to filming commitments.
But that hasn’t stopped him from watching his team in style.
Streaming the match on a laptop or even a TV was not grand enough for the Deadpool star as he worked on the set of his latest movie.
With a giant green screen behind him, he could not resist broadcasting Wrexham’s recent game on to the huge projector.
Reynolds and his crew watched on as the Welsh side notched their 23rd win of the season against Crawley Town.
He looked enamoured as the game played on behind him while surrounding by various pieces of Hollywood machinery.
And Reynolds captioned the moment: “Watching the Wrexham game at work: new level unlocked.”
It’s not clear what project Reynolds was working on at the time, with the actor currently developing several new movies including sequels to smash hits Free Guy and Red Notice.
Stadium upgrade
Restoring the Racecourse Ground to its former glory is a high priority for the owners, but they have faced a few issues replacing the old Kop.
The previous stand had not been used for years so was knocked down with the aim of building a 5,500 capacity all-seater by the end of the season.
Those plans hit some obstacles so a temporary structure was erected in December, allowing for 2,289 more fans to roar on the team and ensure the stadium had fans on four sides.
Construction on a permanent Kop End is set to begin from the end of the season and could take 11 months to complete.
What next?
Reynolds, 47, will not want the “ride of his life” to end anytime soon and Wrexham’s ambitious owners will likely already be laying the groundwork for yet another promotion.
They are prepared to wait for success too as Reynolds described their ownership as a “multidecade project”.
Their ultimate ambition is to reach the Premier League, something Reynolds has not been afraid to dream of since buying the club.
He said in January 2023: “We want to walk the walk, even as a fifth-tier club. We say this all the time, but we want to be in the Premier League, as crazy as that sounds to some people.
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“If it is theoretically possible to go from the fifth tier in professional football all the way to the Premier League, why wouldn’t we do that?
“Why wouldn’t we use our last drop of blood to get there? We’re in it for the ride. This is a multidecade project.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
