February 9, 2021. It has been five years since actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mc Elhenney took control of Wrexham, an acquisition that transformed not only a football club but an entire city. The duo bought the team, which was in the fifth tier of English football, for the symbolic sum of one pound, with a promise to invest an additional two million. Today, after three consecutive promotions, the club is one step away from the Premier League and was recently valued at around 400 million euros. The partnership, considered one of the most remarkable in sports, began in an unconventional way. Reynolds, the Canadian actor, admits that the first contact with Mc Elhenney came out of nowhere. "Rob and I met out of nowhere, seriously. It's not how you usually meet someone," he explained. The actor revealed that after turning 40, he decided to express his admiration more openly. "I didn't know Rob, but I noticed we followed each other on Instagram. I sent him a little message. I think I even told him not to respond. I just wanted to say that I liked something he did," he explained in a joint interview with The Athletic. Despite admitting that they still don't fully understand "the sport," the success of their management is undeniable. The journey has been documented in the series Welcome To Wrexham, which has already won eight Emmy awards. For Mc Elhenney, the feeling is bittersweet. "There's an expression we were warned about when we had our first baby: long days, but short years. That's exactly how I feel. It feels like we just started. And yet, half a decade has passed," said the Hollywood star. The idea of buying a football club came to Mc Elhenney after watching the Netflix documentary Sunderland 'Til I Die. Inspired, he wanted to film his own experience as an owner and quickly gained the support of Disney. Only after that did he contact Reynolds, whom he had never met in person. Mc Elhenney recalls the original email he sent to Reynolds, a document he kept that demonstrates the initial vision of the project. "It's fascinating to see how much has come to fruition and how much has deviated from the original conception. And how similar and different it is. Just like life. You make a plan, do your best, wake up every day, go to work, and see what happens. Sometimes, due to the confluence of hard work, great luck, an incredible partnership, and a touch of magic and/or the football gods, something becomes magical." The initial proposal, both for Disney and for Reynolds, did not mention Wrexham or Wales. The search for a suitable club passed through Ireland, Scotland, and the lower tiers of England. However, the focus on community has always been central. "This is not about restoring a football club," read the proposal to Disney. "It's about restoring a city. A city that was already in bad shape before the pandemic. Now, absolutely devastated." The email to Reynolds, also focused on community, ended with a touch of humor: "Well… this is probably the longest email I've ever sent. Any interest? Want to talk on the phone about this? Or did you stop reading an hour ago?" The approach worked. Wrexham was the chosen club, and the two actors were warmly welcomed by the community. Reynolds' involvement became so deep that losses affect him intensely. "I know I'm a football fan and a Wrexham lifer because I get inconsolable when we lose," he confesses. "I've never been so invested in winning and losing. I have to cross the Atlantic still awake and sober (after a game) and try to process the loss. It's a seven-hour flight that, for some reason, feels like it lasts 29. My kids get frustrated with that." Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mc Elhenney, the famous owners of Wrexham, explain their deep connection to the Welsh city and its community, a bond that, for Reynolds, has already surpassed the fame of his character Deadpool. Despite a recent setback in the Championship, the club remains the heart of a revived community. Five years after the arrival of Hollywood's shine, the Welsh city lives with a renewed sense of hope, visible in the new bars and restaurants serving tourists. For Reynolds, the club is "the big beating heart of the community," a place that brings people together. "People with completely disparate ideologies walk through those stadium gates and are together, wearing the same colored shirt and singing the same obscene chants. And they're having a wonderful moment together, regardless of the life circumstances that suggest they should be apart. That's very powerful." However, the sporting journey faced a setback last Saturday. The home defeat of 0-2 against Millwall prevented Wrexham from climbing to fifth place in the Championship. Phil Parkinson's team remains in sixth place, which grants access to the playoffs, but saw the competition close in, with only three points separating the club from Queens Park Rangers in 12th place. Still, the current position in the table — nine places above its best-ever ranking, a 15th place in the old Second Division in 1978/79 — demonstrates the success of a management model in which the owners delegate football matters to specialists like coach Phil Parkinson, executive director Michael Williamson, and director Shaun Harvey. Wrexham's owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mc Elhenney, are focused on building a sustainable business model that ensures not only the club's sporting success but also the development of the city itself. The long-term vision includes investments in infrastructure and strategic partnerships for the future. To keep up with the team's rapid progress, the owners brought in two minority investors in the last 16 months. First, the Allyn family acquired a stake of about 15%, followed by the American investment firm Apollo Sports Capital in December last year, which bought just under 10%, valuing the club at 400 million euros. These investments are intended to support off-field operations, including co-financing the new Kop stand, which has a capacity of 7,500 people. This project is part of a master plan for the stadium that aims to increase the total capacity to 28,000 seats, a crucial step for the club's self-sustainability. Mc Elhenney, known as Mac, emphasizes the importance of balanced growth, rejecting the idea of ephemeral success based solely on capital. "Let's simulate. We find a way to inject enough capital to sign Premier League players and end up in the Premier League. Hell, we even finish at the top of the Premier League, [but then] everything collapses because it's an unsustainable model that can't be maintained for generations," he explained, adding: "We would be the villains [if that happened], and rightly so, because that's not how you prepare something for future success. So, a lot of what we talk about now is, yes, about the club's infrastructure, but also that of the city." Despite the ambition to reach the Premier League and the Champions League, the success of the city remains the top priority. "What we've said from day one is that we want to build a sustainable model. If we look at the club's economy right now, based on how we got here, it's not sustainable. But that only happens because the infrastructures haven't existed for generations. What we're trying to do is plant the seeds so that, yes, we can have success now, but so that in 50 or 100 years those seeds become trees and a fully sustainable model," Mac concluded. "If the city of Wrexham doesn't succeed while we thrive, then we have failed." Maintaining the laid-back spirit that characterizes them, the owners plan to livestream next month’s Welsh derby against Swansea, featuring Vítor Matos and Gonçalo Franco, with the intention of participating in the game commentary. For Mac, this adventure is a source of joy, not pressure. "I think of this as a refuge. It's a joy. I love talking about Wrexham and I love living it," he confessed.
Hollywood Stars Celebrate We Still Don remains central to this story.
Hollywood Stars Celebrate We Still Don remains central to this story.
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