Their passion is a delight.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney | Wrexham AFC Watch
- Thread starter Salt Bailly
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Bit late to the party here, because I probably perceived it to be a bit of a publicity stunt or whatever, but seeing those interviews and clips is just so heartwarming. The two owners have clearly come in with complete humility and only with the best intentions for the club and community. Really admirable. I wonder how they even heard of Wrexham in the first place.
Will definitely follow along to see how they fare next season!
Will definitely follow along to see how they fare next season!
There is a lot more in the article, I just snipped the part of how Rob McElhenney became interested in Wrexham.
Why did Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds buy Wrexham?
As the story goes, it is apparently due to British comedian and writer Humphrey Ker that the pair ended up buying a football club.
He was a writer on Mythic Quest with McElhenney and he explained to the BBC how his lunch habits led McElhenney to show an interest in football.
"I'm laying claim to the fact (Rob's) interest in football derives from several years of teasing me for watching football during our lunch breaks at work. Until eventually, just by pure osmosis, I got him interested in the game to the degree that he decides to buy a football team, Ker said.
"Where with a lot of people the journey would have ended with he and I exchanging text messages and me saying 'Ha ha, sounds great, I'd always said I'd do that if I won the lottery, but then within a month's time we had Ryan on board, we had found a football brokerage team in New York and we were in the process of trying to find a football club," he said.
Ker is now the executive director and is able to run things while the owners are over in the states.
He also explained how there was a desire to find a genuine football team that needed the financial help that the trio could lend.
"It wasn't about glamour, it wasn't about commercial viability," Ker says. "And it wasn't the bright lights of, 'Oh, let's buy a team in Cannes, or Saint Tropez United FC' or whatever it may be, it was purely a desire to find a place that wore its heart on its sleeve as a football town and that needed a bit of a helping hand. Because that's what we felt like we could give."
https://www.90min.com/posts/why-did-rob-mcelhenney-and-ryan-reynolds-buy-wrexham
Using his huge platform to promote this, nice.
Pfft, we have Winston from John Wick, whose dad played for United and Ian McShane picks up a medal on behalf of his dad for that feat in a few weeks. That's cool
Only joking, I really admire Rob and Ryan and it is cool AF to see really heavyweight celebs rocking up to watch them.
McElhenney is unrecognisable without the beard.
A guy who works for one of the customers I used to look after at work was on the previous board and was part of the group that helped save Wrexham before they took over he says you won't meet 2 better guys
I can believe that, they seem brilliant and genuine guys.
He hasn't met me
Will be interesting to see how far they can take it. The novelty is going to wear off for the general public at some point, but the two owners seem determined to be in it for the long haul. And if they are smart they can use the internet fame to bring in a lot of revenue - at least in the short term. Wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Championship in this decade.
They’ll be in the PL by 2033.
How do you know?
I mean they get 10+k per game that will be huge in the short term in league 2, even if the interest cools off a bit over time from the wider public the gates they get at the stadium are big, I also wouldn't put it past them to get a double promotion to league 1 straight away they gave Coventry and Sheff Utd games and they are both at the top end of the championship
didn’t just give Coventry a game, beat them away from home. Was a brilliant match that.
Reynolds & McElhenney are trying to convince Bale on twitter to come back from retirement. 
Reynolds & McElhenney are trying to convince Bale on twitter to come back from retirement.
Ryan is so funny
If these two are successful with promotion pushes I fully expect more Americans to start buying lower league teams.
Ryan is so funny
Ah lads! Brilliant. Why can't we have them as owners?
How would a retired Bale fare in League 2?
Considering he's only play 20 games (if that), just how much could he destroy the league?
Considering he's only play 20 games (if that), just how much could he destroy the league?
I think he’d break all kind of records, if he was bothered. But that’s the big if. There’s a big chance they’d waste a lot of money that could’ve been invested elsewhere.
If I were advising RR and RM I'd tell them to invest elsewhere. They could attract some good league 1 players who wouldn't mind dropping down a level for a bigger salary.
If he had runners about him (and Bale himself, even if he's lost a couple of yards from peak version, isn't exactly ponderous, particularly against weaker teams), he'd wreck it; spraying balls and taking 35 yarders. You'd have to sacrifice a degree of defensive work to keep him fresh enough, but, with a couple of promising loanees and couple of more 'normal' signings from up and coming l2 (or l1 players willing to buy into the project) I think they'd be play-offs minimum.
(Nb, like other people have suggested, he'd have to not be taking crazy basic' salary -maybe some other kind of deal/endorsements related thing, which would still be major reduction from his previous salaries). It'd maybe have to be about combination of the curiosity, helping elevate (North)Welsh football and maybe some kind of post-playing media project Reynolds ( in particular) could support with or connect him to.
(Nb, like other people have suggested, he'd have to not be taking crazy basic' salary -maybe some other kind of deal/endorsements related thing, which would still be major reduction from his previous salaries). It'd maybe have to be about combination of the curiosity, helping elevate (North)Welsh football and maybe some kind of post-playing media project Reynolds ( in particular) could support with or connect him to.
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Absolutely agree. Foster has been a good signing for them. Yes PL level, but a humble nice guy who is not paid that much. But signing Bale on crazy wages would potentially create some issues in the changing room. This is why I think they need a director of football. Someone who thinks smarter & long-term.
The worst thing Wrexham could do is sign a load of big name has-beens on big money.
1 or 2 with the right attitude is one thing but they really don't want to load up on players who are only there for the podcast downloads.
1 or 2 with the right attitude is one thing but they really don't want to load up on players who are only there for the podcast downloads.
Yeah, Paul Mullin was the perfect example of what they need. Someone who is overqualified for their current league, and therefore able to stay with them through promotion, but not overly expensive or done after one or two years. I’m sure they will see that.
I'm pretty confident Mullin broke their prior wage structure and is by far the highest paid player in the National League history. Earns almost double to what the average League One & League Two players get. So I wouldn't say he is a good example of the "not overly expensive" signings.
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True, but I mean compared to what Bale would demand.
Paul Mullin proved to be worth the money they pay him which is supposedly 5k a week....they'll clearly need to upgrade certain things but hopefully they won't pull a Leeds
Yeah they should definitely stay away from such deals. That's my worry for them, if they keep on chasing big names without the approval of a football savvy person in charge.
They’d have to offer equity of some sort. Bale would absolutely destroy that league. It wouldn’t even be fair.
Bale said he’s not coming back but wants to spend time with his family and golfing.
Welcome to Wrexham has provided the club with $3.2M of income so far and the club will receive a higher fee for season two.
They'll be in the Championship within 5 years.
I think they'll get promoted from L2 next year since 4 go up.
It might take them 3 or 4 years to get out of L1 though
And then All or Nothing: Wrexham
Yeah, I agree. They've done well so far, but this with Bale stupid. They need young, hungry players, not washed up has-beens to collect a paycheck. Foster, as you said is different, he's always been very down to earth, get the job done type of guy. And he has interest in performing well for Wrexham because of his podcast project. Bale has coasted for the past 5 years or more.