- Hollywood co-owners at the helm
- Summer friendlies in America
- Come a long way in short space of time
WHAT HAPPENED? The Dragons have enjoyed a stunning rise to prominence over the course of the last two years, with Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney helping to raise the club’s profile around the world. They spent the summer taking in glamour friendlies against the likes of Chelsea and Manchester United on American soil – fresh from claiming the National League title last season – and have come a long way from the days when Flynn was calling the shots and had to clear up unwelcome gifts from local pets at the club’s training base.
WHAT THEY SAID: Flynn, who spent 12 years as Dragons boss after initially taking over as player-manager in 1989, has told The Athletic: “It was hard to believe out in America that this was the same club. If you’d said to me back then that this club would one day be the talk of America, I’d have laughed at you. I’ll always remember a board meeting when I’d been there about 12 months. At the time, the players changed at the Racecourse and then we went to train on what I called Dogsh*t Alley, as we literally had to clear the muck off the pitch in the morning. Dreadful. The only thing the lads had at the Racecourse was a kettle for coffee or tea. The chairman was a wonderful man called Pryce Griffiths. We ran the club between us. Anyway, he asks me at this board meeting: ‘How many pints of milk a day do you get, Brian?’ It was about 10 pints. ‘Can you reduce it to five?’ came the reply. Fair play to the chairman, though, as he then turned to the rest of the board and said: ‘By the way, gentlemen, if Brian is prepared to do that there is no free drink in the boardroom from now on’. He then went round the table and pointed at each director in turn and said: ‘Bottle of gin, bottle of vodka, two bottles of red wine, two bottles of white wine and a bottle of whisky, bring them on Saturday’. But that’s how bad things could get financially. To go from days like that to watching all those thousands of fans in America and the club selling 10,000 shirts online in one day is incredible.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Flynn was among those in attendance as Wrexham turned out in front of 20,000 of their supporters against Chelsea in North Carolina, with those that boast strong ties to the Welsh club still having to pinch themselves at how much has changed under Reynolds and McElhenney. Flynn added: “It felt like they were queueing to join another queue at times. I’m there wondering where all these American people in Wrexham shirts are going. So, I took a look round the corner and there’s Wayne (Jones, the landlord) from The Turf signing autographs. His queue was the longest of the lot. Wayne’s pub has to be the most famous one around thanks to the documentary. More famous than the Rovers Return in Coronation Street!”
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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GettyWHAT NEXT? Wrexham are now back in the Football League, as positive progress is made on and off the field, with Reynolds and McElhenney having made no secret of the fact that they hope to guide the club all the way to the Premier League at some stage.