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“I watch our PLAYERS mop up the field to keep the game going,” read a tweet last week from Rob McElhenney, an American actor and director who was the creator of the TV show “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and now represents half of the new Wrexham AFC property.
“I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The people of Wrexham have been rubbing their eyes in disbelief for a while.
It has been almost a year since McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, the Canadian-born actor best known for appearing in the “Deadpool” movies, completed their buyout of Wrexham, a 157-year-old Welsh club that has seen some heavy lifting. moments so difficult since the turn of the century that the confidence of its supporters has twice had to save the team from bankruptcy.
Once the seed was planted by friends on buying a European football team, they sought out advisors to recommend a club that had a history, was in the wrong position, and played a big role in the community. local. Wrexham did the trick.
After all, they are the third oldest professional club in the world which drew 20,000 spectators in the 1970s – and scored big FA Cup victories in the 1990s, including against then-English champion Arsenal. – but who languishes outside the league. level, where some teams are semi-professional, since 2008. Located in an industrial town of about 65,000 near the north-west border of England, it is not too far from Liverpool’s football hotspots and from Manchester.
To the amazement of everyone involved in English and Welsh football, the purchase was successful and McElhenney and Reynolds immediately made big promises: improvements to the stadium, the playing team and the management structure; a major investment in the women’s team; and to “present the club to the world”. They stayed true to their word, which set Wrexham apart at a time when many clubs below the lucrative English Premier League have plunged into financial turmoil due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I remember when it first broke on the news it seemed a bit surreal,” Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson told The Associated Press. “But since I spoke to them you understand how serious they are in making this club successful and leaving a legacy.”
As you walk through the tunnel and onto the racetrack grounds, it’s impossible not to notice the giant stand – known as “The Kop” – to the left under renovation and currently covered with a huge red banner. There are the new sponsors of Wrexham, TikTok, Aviation Gin and Expedia, globally recognized brands that generally have no place at this level of the game.
Season ticket sales nearly tripled from 2,000 to around 5,800, and spectators topped 8,000 for home games, better than many clubs in the third and fourth levels and a figure virtually none. previous at the non-league level.
For the first full season under Reynolds and McElhenney, the men’s squad has been upgraded – one player was signed for 200,000 pounds ($ 270,000), close to a club record – and there’s a new coach and manager. general with decades of experience in English football. League, the three divisions below the Premier League.
Behind the scenes, advisers act as intermediaries between the board and the new owners who have held important leadership positions in British football: former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore, former Football Association technical director Les Reeds and former England Football League CEO Shaun Harvey.
Meanwhile, the push to put Wrexham “on the map” in world football is ongoing.
They recently became the first non-league team to be included in the popular FIFA video game. Reynolds (18million) and McElhenney (700,000) use their large Twitter accounts to promote the club – and even to comment on the team’s games as an incredulous McElhenney did on Saturday when the Wrexham game was abandoned due to of a waterlogged land.
And in what could possibly be the biggest game changer, Wrexham is the subject of an all-zone TV documentary retracing its transformation under the new owner. A two-season order of “Welcome to Wrexham” has been placed by US channel FX, with Reynolds and McElhenney executive directors of what could turn out to be something like a real-life version of the Emmy-winning American comedy. ” Ted Lasso. “
“Everywhere you go there is a camera,” said Wrexham captain Luke Young. “No matter how many times the crew says, ‘Be yourself and do what’s natural,’ you do it to some extent, but then you think, ‘Do I say this? But they said they wouldn’t let you dry off.
So is Wrexham just being used as a vehicle to produce a reality TV show, as some skeptics will say? The scale of the transformation and the money spent by the new owners in all areas of the club suggests otherwise.
How long Reynolds and McElhenney stay around is up for debate. But, for now, Wrexham – both the football team and the region – has been spurred on by the presence of famous new owners and the exposure it provides. Fleur Robinson, the newly appointed CEO, said the club had new members “from Los Angeles to New York” and in particular from Philadelphia, the city McElhenney came from and the inspiration for Wrexham’s new green uniform.
The owners took part in chats in the United States, talking about their new project.
“Not a day has gone by that the football club has been mentioned in some way nationally or globally,” said Robinson.
Reynolds and McElhenney have vowed to come to Wrexham once pandemic-related travel restrictions are lifted and monitor the squad, which are currently halfway through the National League standings after nine games.
This visit could be anytime now, and they could be in a hell of a reception.
“There is such a buzz around town, so that’s what everyone expects, to see them,” said Robinson. “They bought a club and didn’t see it for themselves. I’m sure they’re just as excited as the folks from Wrexham to come here.
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More AP football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
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Steve Douglas is on https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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