Ryan Reynolds has explained how he and Rob Mac have changed the mindset of a football club and community in North Wales, with people now proud to say: “I’m from Wrexham.” That was not the case when two Hollywood stars completed a stunning takeover of then National League Red Dragons in 2021, with a record-shattering rise to prominence having been enjoyed since then.
From takeover to the Championship: Wrexham's meteoric rise
Few knew what to expect when it was announced that Reynolds and Mac were venturing into the world of sports co-ownership. Fears of a celebrity gimmick being played out were aired, especially when it was revealed that documentary cameras would be heading to the Racecourse Ground.
A remarkable success story has, however, been played out. ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ has opened up a window to the world, building a global fan base in the process, while progress on the field has delivered a historic run of three successive promotions – with the Red Dragons now flying high in the Championship.
They are one step away from reaching the Premier League, with Reynolds and Mac having provided considerable funding on and off the field while chasing that top-flight dream. They have been taken into the hearts of Wrexham natives, showing that A-list investment can be a positive when managed in the right way.
AdvertisementGetty/GOALReynolds proud of achievements at Wrexham
Reynolds is rightly proud of all that has been achieved, telling : "We are in the Championship league, one step from the Premier League, and honestly it’s wild. It’s two things about it that I think are really remarkable. The first thing and the most important is that people in Wrexham – you know, five years ago when we got there, they wouldn’t really even say Wrexham. If you said: ‘Where you from?’ They would say: ‘North Wales’. And now they say: ‘I’m from Wrexham (expletive).’ I love it! I’m just like, I love that.
"And so, yeah, the show Welcome to Wrexham is shooting its fifth season now. Wrexham the club, the football club, is in its 167th season. So, it’s one of the oldest football teams – third oldest in the world. It was promoted three times in a row, which is history. No-one’s ever done that in the sport, which is good and bad because, like, literally Rob and I are watching us get promoted and we’re like: ‘Well, we’re going to have to now rent our mouths out to oligarchs’.
"This is crazy. As we walked off the field, they literally started rolling the field up because a heated one needs to go down to play in that kind of league. So, it’s been transformative for the town in every way. It’s just imbued the town with a kind of positivity that wasn’t there. They lost coal and steel and all that sort of post-Thatcherism kind of sadness that was there, it’s gone and it’s like this vibrant community that is an amazing place to visit."
How Hollywood takeover of Wrexham came about
Wrexham have come a long way in a short space of time, with Mac’s wife – Kaitlin Olson – having previously told Lorraine of how the most unlikeliest of ventures came about. She said: "I mean, honestly, I thought it was amazing because this was during Covid and if you know my husband, you know, I mean, we were all on lockdown and we couldn’t work or do anything. You tell Rob he can’t do something, he’s like, ‘Yes I can’.
"So he just needed to come up with an idea of something that he could do. And he said, you know, I have this idea if I buy a football club and I take it to FX and then, you know, we make a television show out of it, the money that we get paid for the show, we could just put into the club. And it’s a win-win. And then he brought it up with Ryan, and he thought it was a great idea."
Getty Images EntertainmentWrexham fairytale: More drama for documentary series
That "idea" has become a fairytale adventure, with there no sign of Wrexham slowing down. Adjusting to life in the Championship has not been easy, with the odd question being asked of Phil Parkinson’s future as manager despite all that he has achieved, but they are just five points adrift of the play-off places through nine games as more drama is delivered for the club’s award-winning documentary.