'Will never be done again' - Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac hailed for 'ridiculous' impact at Wrexham by Ben Foster as owners celebrate anniversary

Wrexham are celebrating five years since Reynolds and Mac raised eyebrows across the world by taking ownership of the club. Much has changed at the Welsh side since then as the club have enjoyed back-to-back-to-back promotions which have led Wrexham all the way into the Championship. Phil Parkinson's side are in the midst of a testing campaign but currently sit in the final play-off spot, meaning their dreams of securing Premier League football are very much alive. 

Foster came out of retirement to play for the club in 2023 and helped the club secure promotion to the English Football League. He's now highlighted just how impressive the club's rise has been, telling the Press Association: "With Salford City, you’ve got footballers running the show who’ve done it all before. They know how football clubs run, and sometimes that brings a mindset of what won’t work. Birmingham have got very wealthy owners, but Wrexham is different. Rob and Ryan didn’t really know what they were doing when they took over a football club. They invested money, but they also invested their own energy. They put their personal interest and energy into it in a way you rarely see. I genuinely think if you asked them what they’re most proud of, Wrexham would be right up there with anything they’ve done in acting or business. To take something you didn’t fully understand and build it into what it is today, you have to take huge pride in that. It’s amazing. 

“It’s ridiculous. It will never be done again. Non-league promotion, promotion, promotion, and already being in promotion places at this level is outrageous. I said a year or two ago I thought they’d be in the Premier League within three, four or five years. Getting out of the Championship is a big ask – it’s a tough, competitive league with a lot of money involved. But they’ve done it the right way – they’ve given the manager the power to bring in the players he wants, to understand who they are."

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Reynolds and Mac have been looking to the future and say success will not be measured solely by the team's achievements on the pitch. Mac told The Athletic: "(We want to) draw people in, who then stay in Wrexham, to take the artistic spirit and endeavour to build something within the town using arts and business. That seems like a sustainable model that could help from a macroeconomic standpoint. What we said from day one is we want to build a sustainable model. If anyone looks at the economics of what the club is right now, just by nature of how we got here, it’s not sustainable. But that’s only because the infrastructure hasn’t been there for generations. So, what we are trying to do is plant the seeds so that, yes, we can be successful now, but 50 years or 100 years from now, those seeds become trees and a fully sustainable model. Do I want to come and see us win the Premier League? Yes. Do I want to win the Champions League? Yes. But, if Wrexham, as a town, is unsuccessful while we are thriving, we have failed.”

Wrexham currently sit in the final play-off spot in the Championship after 31 games played and will hope they can stay there for the rest of the season. However, the focus will now switch to the FA Cup and a fourth round tie against Ipswich Town on Friday night. Wrexham then return to Championship action with a crunch game against Bristol City four days later. Wrexham sit just one point and two places better off in the table than Robins.