Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney rid Wrexham of Man Utd, Liverpool & City shirts as FAW chief salutes ‘global enterprise’

• Hollywood owners making quite the impact
• Promotion secured to the Football League
• Community embracing the club again

WHAT HAPPENED? The Hollywood stars, who took co-ownership at the Racecourse Ground in 2021, have revolutionised the Welsh outfit and sent them surging back into the Football League. Success has come at some considerable cost, with there more big spending in the pipeline, but those at the heart of ambitious plans consider the effort to be worth it as the local community turns it's back on Premier League heavyweights and embraces the team on its doorstep.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Steve Williams, Football Association of Wales chief and Wrexham season ticket holder, has told The Athletic of Reynolds and McElhenney opening up a window to the world: “It has gone from a club with three or four thousand people watching the team play to a global enterprise. The vibe here is that the club will get even bigger when series two of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary is released later this year. You hear American, Canadian and all other sorts of accents when you go in the Turf now and the change has been remarkable.

“In Wrexham you used to see Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United shirts. But now it’s just Wrexham shirts and that’s great to see. The owners have also raised the profile of the women’s game in Wales and taken it to another level with record crowds and promotion. If they carry on with their progression they could end up playing in European football. It’s great to see how Rob and Ryan have engaged with the town and I think that’s why they’ve been so successful. Wrexham is attracting people from all over the world, and the only problem is they need a bigger stadium so people can get a seat to watch the games.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Reynolds and McElhenney are already working on fixing that issue, with the redevelopment of the Kop Stand set to see the Racecourse Ground’s capacity raised to around 15,600 in time for the start of the 2024-25 season.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? For now, the Dragons are revelling in their historic promotion – which has been secured with over 100 points and a century of goals – with Wrexham returning to the Football League for the first time in 15 years.