Wrexham backed to reach Championship despite Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney putting ‘very little of their own money’ into the club
Wrexham’s rise through the ranks of English football has attracted plenty of controversy, but Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony doesn’t begrudge the achievements of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney since they arrived in Wales in 2021. The Red Dragons recorded 111 points in the National League in 2022-23 before gaining automatic promotion from League Two the following year, and MacAnthony believes they are simply passing through League One.
Reynolds and McElhenney have turned Wrexham into a global phenomenon that has become the envy of every lower level football club. The club have travelled to the United States for their past two pre-season tours, playing in front of their soaring American audience, and their ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Netflix documentary reportedly rakes in £430,000 per episode. Wrexham’s commercial deals have meant Reynolds and McElhenney haven’t been required to invest much of their own money into the club, according to MacAnthony.
“They’ll be in the Championship and we could still be in League One because they can pay £7,000-£10,000 a week to players and we can’t,” MacAnthony said on talkSPORT. “That’s the dynamic of the game. Fair play to the owners. They bought in to the club with a plan in mind and they’ve managed to finance it by selling documentaries, advertising, and doing deals with skincare companies, drink companies etc, when they’ve had to put very little of their own money in. I saw their revenues last season and it was £15-£20 million a year as opposed to £5 million when they first came in. It’s probably even more now. Anyone who can do that while also winning promotions deserves credit. They are not breaking any rules and we’d all do it if we could.”
Phil Parkinson’s side will look to continue their unbeaten start to the League One campaign when they travel to fellow promotion-chasers Peterborough on Saturday afternoon.
