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Article continues belowArticle continues belowArticle continues below<script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script><ul><li>Hollywood stars in North Wales &amp; Los Angeles</li><li>NFL icons with Birmingham &amp; Burnley</li><li>Helping to raise profile of associated clubs</li></ul>

Are Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady, Natalie Portman & JJ Watt good for football? Ex-Wrexham star Carlos Edwards reacts to trend of superstar owners & investors

Over in the United States, men’s and women’s teams in <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/star-wars-deadpool-natalie-portman-talks-ryan-reynolds-angel-city-wrexham-friendly/blt2b99a0b34d7b822d" target="_blank">Los Angeles can count the likes of Portman</a>, Will Ferrell, Magic Johnson and Serena Williams among their ownership teams. On the other side of the Atlantic, Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Michael B. Jordan, Brady and <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/bene-bombs-royal-dyche-learning-songs-nfl-icon-jj-watt-pub-crawl-veteran-fan-swearing-youngsters-burnley/blt9445601db255f74e " target="_blank">JJ Watt have bought into Wrexham, Bournemouth, Birmingham and Burnley</a>.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Are they <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/inside-wrexham-what-really-like-play-hollywood-owners/blt05546ce51783922f " target="_blank">good for the game</a>, as they bring <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/revealed-how-wrexham-responded-becoming-documentary-stars-ryan-reynolds-rob-mcelhenney/blt3219ba5532dc093a " target="_blank">greater exposure and marketing appeal</a>, or a potential distraction? Ex-Wrexham, Ipswich and Luton star Carlos Edwards – speaking on behalf of <a href="https://www.olbg.com/ " target="_blank">OLBG</a> – told GOAL when that question was put to him: “I think it’s good exposure. It came be a bit of a distraction if players look at it in a different perspective away from the football side of it. These guys are businessmen but they love sport also – 99.9 per cent of them don’t really know, what they call it in America, soccer. They may have a little bit of what the whole European/English football is all about and the passion that the fans put behind it. I think they see that and you have voices saying it’s good investment. "We have a lot of American owners now, even at the highest level, and the players need to understand that they need to do their job. They are getting paid to do their job, which is to perform to the best of their ability and to live up to the money that they are making and the standard that they have to set on and off the pitch. Once you have that strong mindset, I don’t think it will be a distraction to the players. They have to leave what the owners and the board have to do and concentrate. You are going to have people saying things, in positive and negative ways, but it’s just the world we live in now.”

WHAT EDWARDS SAID

Wrexham have embraced that brave new world more than most, as they are now <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/watch-deadpool-accepts-welcome-to-wrexham-emmy-mr-lively-ryan-reynolds-rob-mcelhenney-co-owners/blt88ef913da72c6c87 " target="_blank">stars in their own documentary series.</a> Edwards added on his reaction to learning that Reynolds and McElhenney were buying into the club back in 2021: “It was a breath of fresh air, because they have suffered for a long time. Even before I left, they were going through a lot of turmoil and they were just trying to get the right person or right organisation to come and take over the club and put it in the right direction. "When Mr Reynolds came in, I think for everyone alarms start going off – you are thinking ‘is it true, is it not?’ You just don’t know what to believe. And for a club like Wrexham to have investors like Mr Reynolds and the others, it was like something from a movie. I think him coming in gave the belief to fans and everybody surrounding the club, that extra belief that at least we have got someone financially stable in terms of taking the club to the next level – which they have done in the last two or three years. For me, I think it’s a blessing because, looking back, I always say that Wrexham is my home away from home in terms of leaving Trinidad &amp; Tobago to go straight to Wrexham. I have nothing but praise for the whole of the town.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Reynolds and McElhenney have delivered on their promises at Wrexham, with the <a href="https://www.goal.com/en/lists/las-vegas-part-ii-wrexham-pointless-promotion-statement-james-jones-ryan-reynolds-rob-mcelhenney-sin-city/blt49784690d0d28a59 " target="_blank">Red Dragons looking to wrap up back-to-back promotions in 2023-24</a> while the local community continues to thrive. Those in California have also savoured tangible success, although there is <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/cheek-complain-wayne-rooney-15-game-reign-manager-nfl-legend-tom-brady-boardroom-assessed-man-utd-birmingham-dwight-yorke/blt9145fa701a7534da " target="_blank">work to be done at Birmingham and Burnley</a> as they seek to fend off the threat of relegation out of the Championship and Premier League respectively.

WHAT NEXT?

Are Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady, Natalie Portman & JJ Watt good for football? Ex-Wrexham star Carlos Edwards reacts to trend of superstar owners & investors | Goal.com UK

There are now superstar football owners and investors from LA to Wrexham, with Ryan Reynolds, Natalie Portman and Tom Brady embracing the new trend.

Are Ryan Reynolds, Tom Brady, Natalie Portman &amp; JJ Watt good for football? Ex-Wrexham star Carlos Edwards reacts to trend of superstar owners &amp; investors