Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac made some big promises when they bought Wrexham, with their performance against those pledges being placed under the microscope
It’s been just over five years since Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney first set out their vision for Wrexham as prospective owners of the club. The Red Dragons have enjoyed a meteoric rise since the two actors officially took over, registering an astonishing three consecutive promotions under manager Phil Parkinson.
Whilst climbing from the National League to the Championship, the Welsh side have been transformed into a global brand via the popular Welcome to Wrexham documentary. There were also some lows in the early days as Wrexham narrowly missed out on promotion from non-league in May 2022 after losing to Grimsby in the play-off semi-finals.
Reynolds and Mac made a series of “hard promises” to fans in a mission statement shared on the club’s website as they pitched to buy Wrexham back in November 2020, but how well have they delivered on those? Here, Mirror Football marks the celebrity pair’s report card after a whirlwind few years.
Provide comprehensive financial support for the manager and his coaching team
The Hollywood duo have definitely put their money where their mouth is since they took over. There was much talk amongst supporters in the early days about which table the club would be shopping at. Would it be Waitrose, Tesco or Lidl? Actually, it feels a bit more like Harrods.
First, they attracted a manager with Football League pedigree and several promotions under his belt in Phil Parkinson. Then came a string of stellar signings, such as Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and Elliot Lee, who all played a key role in Wrexham’s recent promotions.
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The co-owners have backed Parkinson significantly in every transfer window, most recently spending £33million in the summer to build a squad capable of competing in the Championship. The new arrivals included club-record signing Nathan Broadhead, who joined from Ipswich for an initial fee of £7.5m.
The investment has also been supported by the thorough modernisation of Wrexham’s backroom set-up. At the time of writing, a Championship play-off push could be a big ask, but the owners have provided Parkinson with all the right tools for success.
Grade – A
Always beat Chester
This one is impossible to mark them against due to Wrexham’s historic rivals being in the National League North. This pledge actually appeared three times on the original list, but has yet to be tested.
Grade – N/A
Explore the renovation of the Racecourse Ground and improve the venue for the club, for international matches and perhaps, the occasional Tom Jones gig
Preparations for the construction of a new Kop stand at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground have been ongoing since the takeover began. There have been numerous delays along the way, with planning legislation and agreeing on government funding initially providing stumbling blocks.
Site issues, including the need to remove a live power cable and build a new substation, haven’t helped either. On top of that, the club’s owners decided to completely change the original design of the stand.
Approval was given at first for a 5,500-seat stand, but this has since been revised up to 7,750, with those proposals yet to be rubber-stamped. In the meantime, site preparation has finally started in earnest, with heavy machinery recently turning up to help create the foundations.
There’s been no sign of Welsh legend Tom Jones just yet, but the Kings of Leon did play two sellout nights at the Racecourse in May 2023. It’s hard to give top marks without the Kop being completed, but things are now moving quickly.
Grade – B
Invest in a permanent training facility that is worthy of an EFL club
Early work was conducted by the club to identify a site for a permanent training facility, with several potential locations identified. However, this has not resulted in any firm plans, with Wrexham switching between several temporary bases in the meantime.
The team now mostly trains at Colliers Park, a training ground developed by the club in the 1990s, before it was later taken over by the Football Association of the Wales for financial reasons. Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson recently confirmed the search for land is on-going but building a new complex would be a “three-to-five year process”.
The use of Colliers Park is expected to continue for the time being. It’s an issue which really needs addressing, though, if Wrexham want to continue to attract the best talent.
Grade – C
Guarantee the club cannot be relocated, renamed or rebranded. Appropriate and respectful observance of the Gresford Colliery Disaster will remain sacrosanct
It didn’t take long for Cardiff owner Vincent Tan to fall foul of supporters after buying the South Wales club in May 2010. A change of Cardiff’s colours and badge from blue to red caused uproar among the fanbase.
Those issues have largely since been resolved, but Reynolds and Mac were keen to avoid a repeat when they bought Wrexham. They have stuck to their word, with no plans to relocate or rebrand the club.
The club’s observance of the Gresford Colliery disaster, which resulted in the death of 266 miners in 1934, can’t be faulted either. Wrexham have been heavily involved in the last few years in raising money for The Wrexham Miners Project, a charity aimed at preserving the history of the local mining community.
Grade – A
We will create an honorary board that includes fans, representatives of the WST and WAFC alongside our own advisors
It took a while for Wrexham to establish the fan board following the takeover from the Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST). Initially known as the “club advisory board”, the group’s early work to represent supporters’ views wasn’t exactly well-publicised.
It was recently rebranded as the “fan advisory board” with the promise of strengthening the relationship between the club and its supporters, but the jury is still out regarding its effectiveness. Hopefully, it’s a case of watch this space.
Grade – C
Ensure the continued presence of Dixie McNeil as the club’s honorary president, subject to his desire
A pretty straightforward one, this. The owners asked Wrexham legend Dixie McNeil to stay on in his role as the club’s honorary president and the former player and manager said yes shortly after the takeover was completed.
Grade – A
Expand club staff to take advantage of increased interest in Wrexham, both locally and internationally
There’s been a flurry of appointments in recent years – a marked departure from the mostly voluntary efforts, which kept the club running previously. Perhaps the most significant was that of former Inter Milan executive Williamson as Wrexham’s CEO last year.
When he was appointed in May 2024, there were just 40 permanent staff at the club, which has since risen to 120. Speaking on That Wrexham Podcast, he said: “We previously had people who were doing six, seven or eight jobs at the club, and it’s just not sustainable for the speed that we’re moving at.”
Grade – A
Work with the club’s disability liaison officer, Kerry Evans to retain and enhance Wrexham’s reputation as an inclusive and forward-thinking club
After four years of volunteering, one of the most significant full-time appointments in the early stages of the takeover was that of Kerry Evans. The efforts of the club’s disability liaison officer have helped to provide fans with disabilities with the best match day experience possible, including making the Racecourse an autism-friendly stadium.
It was highly positive to see that the work was recognised and it has continued at pace. There have also been several heart-warming acts of generosity by Reynolds and Mac in donating to local good causes.
Grade – A
Commit to a more ecologically sustainable version of the club and stadium
It’s one of those pledges which probably seemed like a good idea at the time, but can a club which regularly charters flights for its players to travel to away games really claim to be ecologically sustainable? Definitely an area for improvement.
Grade – D
Commit to transparent decision-making with regular and open communication
Communication was a bone of contention in the early stages as changes happened at pace and some supporters were left feeling out of the loop over key decisions. There has been much improvement since then, with Wrexham’s owners and the club’s hierarchy making themselves available to answer questions on fan podcasts and elsewhere.
Ensuring an effective two-way dialogue can be challenging in the football industry, but it’s not for want of trying in Wrexham’s case.
Grade – B
Ensure that when the day comes that we leave the club, it will be in a better position than it is today
No one knows exactly how long Reynolds and Mac will stick around at Wrexham or what will happen if and when they leave. However, there are no obvious signs of them stepping down in the immediate future.
In the most important areas of running the club, such as delivering success on the pitch and investing in infrastructure, they have delivered and then some. Critics often raise questions regarding the club’s long-term sustainability, but some of those were answered by the arrival of new minority investors in October 2024.
The Allyn family from New York have already provided substantial financial support, with further backers arriving in December in a bid to help the club’s push to reach the Premier League and stay there.
Grade – B
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