Are Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney 'stupid'? How Wrexham's owners created a storm by 'triggering' Accrington Stanley chairman and fans before Paul Mullin and Co suffered nightmare result

The seed of the dispute was Accrington's decision to raise ticket prices for the visiting Wrexham fans. Typically, the club had charged £20 ($25) for an adult ticket this season. But for the Red Dragons' trip, both sets of supporters were asked to fork out £25 ($31).

Variable pricing models are nothing new in football. Most clubs operate this way, with Wrexham supporters experiencing a £2 increase on Stockport County's typical rates when they visited Edgeley Park back in September.

It may be the norm, but that does not make it any less frustrating for Red Dragons fans who travel to watch their team every other week. And, after a slow build-up of annoyance over the situation, the club finally issued a response of sorts.

Four hours before kick off at the Wham Stadium, the club released the following statement: "In response to Accrington Stanley's decision to increase the matchday price by £5 from that previously charged at Wham Stadium for league games this season, we have decided to reduce the price of matchday tickets by £5 for the return game at the STōK Cae Ras on 02/03/2024."

The response from many quarters was predictably positive. At the time of writing, the post has attracted just under 20,000 likes on X, with plenty of praise being sent Reynolds and McElhenney's way for the gesture.

"Classy response instead of charging their fans more," one user wrote. "Class. Something that would never EVER happen in American sports," another said.

A string of messages were also sent to Accrington chairman Andy Holt, the public face of the decision to raise prices on Saturday. "Classy this from Wrexham and really showing up @AndyhHolt for his ridiculous decision to charge the Wrexham Tax," one supporter said.

Holt is not someone to take criticism quietly, though. Over the years the Accrington chairman has used his X account to comment on all manner of issues, including football governance, the Conservative Party's response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the EFL's poor management of its clubs. He also recently announced the club was up for sale through social media - a refreshingly open if slightly odd move.

X (AndyhHolt)

Now, Wrexham were in his crosshairs. His fightback began politely enough, with Holt writing: "If there was only a couple of hundred of you today I’d be happy to do the same. Unfortunately costs are very high for this game. Big policing bills and stewarding big stewarding costs [sic]. I appreciate what @Wrexham_AFC are doing for our fans though."

As more criticism flooded in, Holt clearly lost patience, sarcastically replying to one supporter and then asking why Wrexham had opted to announce their ticket-price reduction so close to kick-off time.

Just before things got going, he posted: "When costs are already high @Wrexham_AFC the last thing football needs is stupid mistimed statements. It’s surprising how stupid given a former CEO of @EFL is employed by you. Let’s have a great day for all fans safely, whatever the outcome on the pitch. Welcome to @ASFCofficial."

One of Holt's main justifications for hiking prices was the increased stewarding and policing costs incurred by having almost 2,500 Wrexham fans taking over the Wham Stadium.

And it could be argued that his fears were realised during a fractious encounter. Wrexham's travelling contingent made up just under half of the entire crowd and, according to reports, not all of them were well-behaved.

During the second half, after home goalkeeper McCracken collided with Mullin, a small section of supporters reacted angrily, apparently throwing vapes and small bottles of alcohol onto the pitch. There was then a delay while the surface was cleared of projectiles, with police even claiming that one of the objects struck the Accrington No.1.

Although the vast majority of those who travelled were well behaved, this incident did seem to justify Holt's claims that the additional supporters incurred costs that had to be covered by the increase in ticket price.

This disorder did little to calm Accrington's chairman down. At full time, Holt inflamed tensions between the clubs further by writing: "Accrington 2 Hollywood nil. I think @VancityReynolds should cut prices by a tenner @Wrexham_AFC Safe journey home folks Get that on @netflix Ryan lad."

Surely, that was that, though? Nope, Holt still had some bullets left to spray. First, he boasted of Accrington's £2.50 pints. Then, he hit out at the EFL's unfair streaming rules, writing: "@Wrexham_AFC streamed the match internationally, a match that WE paid for and hosted, without us receiving a single $cent. Under rules set by previous employee of @EFL who now works for Wrexham. So don’t start me off."

Next, he kicked off about a government grant the well-monied Red Dragons received back in May to help them redevelop their stadium; "state aid" that Holt suggested Accrington can only dream of.

Look beyond the sarcasm and the straight-talking Holt has made some interesting points - as he often does - over the past few days.

As he highlighted, there is a certain hypocrisy to Reynolds and McElhenney reacting so strongly to £25 tickets, especially considering Wrexham's home games are priced at £24, regardless of who they're facing.

The streaming issue is worth talking about too. It does seem a little unfair that the club hosting Wrexham has to shoulder the costs of providing a decent quality service when the Red Dragons are making so much more money from it than any other League Two side.

The timing of the ticket-reduction news was also clearly cynical. And, in the end, Reynolds and McElhenney's attempts at point scoring backfired when the players couldn't get the job done on the pitch. The statement might even have acted as a source of further motivation for Accrington, and Jon Coleman's players certainly wasted little time toasting their victory on social media at full time.

X (longelo_10)

Holt is not the only person that Wrexham have irritated since making their Football League return this season. Across the division, rival supporters are getting frustrated by the coverage the Red Dragons are receiving compared to their clubs.

This was illustrated perfectly when the broadcasted games for the FA Cup second round were announced. When Wrexham's tie with a resurgent Yeovil Town was confirmed as one of the games that will be on television, there was a predictable backlash.

"In what world is Wrexham v Yeovil an appropriate pick?" the top reply to the post on X read. Others wrote: "Of course Wrexham get yet another showing zzzzzzzz," and: "As many have said here the Wrexham pick is terrible. Many more clubs would be set for 3 seasons if they were shown. Smaller clubs are vital to the pyramid so why not give them a leg up."

While Wrexham remain as popular as ever internationally, this reaction is indicative of the attitude of many of the club's rivals. There is a perception that Reynolds, McElhenney and Co are given too much airtime by the media.

They will be used to these sorts of jibes by now, though, and if anything they should be able to use this us-against-them mentality to fuel another promotion push this season. If they can do that, the Wrexham fans who had to pay a fiver extra this weekend absolutely won't care that nobody likes them.