In the spring of 2020, actors, including Humphrey Ker, advised McElhenney on the Sunderland documentary series “Till I Die”. Rob got through the first episode with great difficulty, but then he got involved and wrote to Ker, the future executive director of Wrexham: “We have to do the same. Let’s buy a football club and make a documentary about it. What do you think you can buy?”
Most likely, this idea would have remained in dreams and correspondence on WhatsApp, but McElhenney wrote an email to Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool’s superstar and co-owner of American Gin (sold for $610 million in August 2020). At 5:30 a.m., Reynolds replied that he did not want to sponsor but to become a co-owner of Wrexham. By the way, Wrexham has a large fan base, many of whom might enjoy playing at sweetbonanzaslot.com, one of the best online casinos.
Let’s dive deep into the deal and see what opportunities it provides to the football club and its athletes.
Club Selection Criteria
We should say that the deal was not accidental or random. The club was chosen according to several criteria:
- A sleeping giant with a long history;
- Division 3-6 of English football;
- A large fan base.
Of course, Wrexham was not the only option, but it was the best fit for all the criteria. Founded in 1864 (the oldest club in Wales), it won the Wales Cup 23 times. Ian Rush graduated here and the son of Sir Alex Darren Ferguson spent eight years of his career. The club is now stuck in the fifth English league with 4,500 fans per game. The fact is that the Welsh Championship appeared only in 1992, and all Welsh clubs were obliged to join it, except for Cardiff, Swansea, and Wrexham. They were at least in the fourth English league. Newport defended in court the right to play in England.
Wrexham is the most popular club in the league, with more coming only for promotions. This can be explained by the convenient geographic location. Wales’ largest cities – Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport – are 31 miles south of each other. Wrexham is in the north, about 90 km miles from each.
New Owners Promised Not to Change Anything but to Make the Club Better
To buy the club, the new owners had to submit the development project to the Fan Trust, get approval from 2,100 people, and pay about £2 million if everything works out.
Reynolds and McElhenney gathered with the fans in the zoom and explained what the new Wrexham would be like and what they are going to do. So, they promised to:
- Protect the legacy of the club, never rebrand, change the name or relocate;
- Improve the stadium to host Welsh matches and the Tom Jones Accidental Concert;
- Increase the attendance and popularity of the club;
- Return Wrexham to the professional league.
Now the humble “Wrexham” has a new life. It is sponsored by Tiktok and popularized by Reynolds on social media and American talk shows. In addition, the new owners are studying Welsh and are planning to film a documentary about the club.
