In the 44th round of League Two, Wrexham defeated Green Forest Rovers 6-0 at home, locked the top three in the league ahead of schedule, and was promoted to League One next season.
Looking back three years ago, when Reynolds decided to buy the team, the dream of the "Premier League" was becoming a reality step by step.
▂
As the referee's whistle blew, tens of thousands of spectators poured into the stadium in celebration, with every player held aloft in the air, almost identical to last year's Premier League Two appearance.
Team owner Reynolds wrote on social media: "If you had told me a few years ago that I would have cried tears of joy over a football match in North Wales, you would be Rob McAy Henry. Congratulations to Wrexham and my Co-Chairs. Let's go the extra mile! This is the journey of our lives. Another owner, Rob McElhenney, was "speechless" with emotion.
A year ago, when the team was still in the fifth tier, Reynolds said: "Our goal is to be in the Premier League in 10 years, why not?
"We believe we can do it and we believe we can expand this incredible stadium into a place where we can host international matches and Premier League matches, that's the goal, and of course, you could say we're crazy. 」
Now that Wrexham has attracted more than a million fans around the world, Netflix has filmed two consecutive seasons of the team's documentary, and Wrexham's latest feat will be included in the third season of "Welcome to Wrexham" that airs next month.
With the help of American capital, Wrexham, which has been "Hollywoodized", is becoming one of the best sports stories in the post-epidemic era.
The team, which was bought for $2.5 million three years ago, has grown significantly over the past two years, and League One will bring new challenges and fresh perspectives.
Looking back on the football dream that "Little Cheap" made when he bought the team in 2020, it is now being realized little by little.
"Deadpool" and a £2 million football dream
Founded in 1872, Wrexham Football Club is one of the oldest surviving football clubs in the UK and the oldest professional football club in Wales.
Wrexham FC's home stadium is called "Racecourse Ground", but the stadium's primary purpose is not horse racing.
As the largest stadium in North Wales, Wrexham Football Club has been home since 1864. Its famous "Kop End" was once the largest "all-station fan stand" in the English Football League
Wrexham, who play in the fifth tier of English football, celebrated their 14th season in the Nations League in 2021. Their first home game is at home to Notts County – a 'historic matchup' between Wales' oldest football club and the world's oldest football club.
But what deserves to be recorded in history in this game are two "distinguished guests" who came from afar: Rob McElhenney, an American actor and producer, and Ryan Reynolds, the star of the movies "Deadpool" and "Runaway Player"
On November 16, 2020, Rob McHenney and Ryan Reynolds, co-owners of the R R McReynolds Company. From Wrexham Supporters' Trust, the century-old club was acquired. The £2 million deal was completed in February 2021.
Behind the acquisition, however, there is another person behind the acquisition — Humphrey Ker, a British comedy writer and actor who moved to California in 2013. Five years later, he joined Rob McHenney's production company, where he met Rob McHenney and Reynolds, setting the stage for future team acquisitions.
When Wrexham's game against Notts County kicks off, Humphrey Kerr, who was still busy on set, was not able to witness the team's first home game of the new season, which was a big regret for him – after all, his other current title is Wrexham's executive director.
And, it was he who first gave McHenny the idea of buying a football club, personally helped the club connect with two celebrity owners, and made sure that McHenney and Reynolds, two Americans, did not do anything out of the ordinary in front of British fans, such as calling the club "The Wrexham Red Dragons".
"I told them that it was either Wrexham or The Red Dragons (the nickname of the club) and that the two could never be put together. Kerr said.
So, how did McHennie and Reynolds, who seem to know nothing about English football, become team owners?
A documentary-sparked acquisition
In the 2018/19 season, Kerr, a Liverpool fan, is watching the team progress towards a sixth Champions League title. In between work, he often watches games with another production crew. Although the company's owner, McHenney, is also a big sports fan, he, like many American sports fans, often laughs at how they like to watch such "slow, boring football games."
However, after witnessing Liverpool's big reversal of Barcelona in the second leg of the semi-finals, McHenney was stunned and had a new understanding of football.
In the second leg of the 2019 Champions League semifinals, Liverpool defeated Barcelona 4-0, and substitute Wijnaldum (left) scored twice and made a great contribution
In 2020, the pandemic hit. Those of you who were once trapped at home can only watch dramas at home to pass the time. Kerr and McHenney, who love Netflix, often exchange ideas: knowing that Kerr is a history maniac, McHenny suggested that he watch "World War II in Colour," and because he knew that McHenney likes sports, Kerr suggested that he watch "Sunderland 'Til I Die," a football documentary about the upgrade of the English team "Black Cats" Sunderland.
After watching the first episode of the documentary with his wife, McHenney sent a text message to Kerr, saying that he was "struggling to watch". But a few days later, Kerr received another text message. McHenney, who tried to watch this film again, seemed to get the essence of the show and watched two whole seasons in one go.
"It was a milestone moment. "He saw in the city of Sunderland the similarities of Philadelphia — the painstaking transformation of a blue-collar industrial city. And, he also saw his love for the Philadelphia Hawks (NFL team) from the Black Cats fans. 」
But Kelvin never expected that McHenney, who was "Amway's success", was already planning the next big thing.
"If I had to describe McHenney in one word, it would be acute. As long as it is something he wants to do, he always wants to do it now. So, he didn't just tell me that he watched the whole documentary, he told me, 'We should buy a club, or make a documentary'. Kerr said.
"And after I really realized he was serious, the conversation shifted to 'which team can we buy'. 」
Kerr said that if he wins the lottery, he might buy Chippenham Town, a small club in Kerr's hometown. But now, he was asked to study which English club his owner could buy, after all, with a budget of several million pounds on hand.
So Kerr got to work - using the huge database of the game Football Manager and consulting Wikipedia...... Do whatever it takes. Soon, Kerr put together a list of clubs to acquire, ranging from the sixth-tier National League South to the third-tier League One.
And each team on the list needs to meet their acquisition criteria:
- The club has a long enough history;
- The club has a clear desire to upgrade;
- Most importantly, the club needs to have enough fans to ensure the future operation of the team's market business.
"We have to be honest with Wrexham fans that this club is really not the only option we had when we bought it. Kerr said.
"But the truth is, they did get high marks in all of our individual categories. I've always had a crush on them because I have a video reel of the greatest FA Cup goals from MOTD that I've watched many times, and one of Wrexham's Mickey Thomas goals against Arsenal is fresh in my memory. 」
雷克瑟姆名宿米奇·托马斯（Mickey Thomas）
"Even now in the fifth tier, Wrexham still have thousands of attendances per game, which is a testament to how loyal their fan base is. 」
After all, the team's ability to survive from bankruptcy to being acquired is inseparable from a loyal fan base. After all, the romance of "fans saving the club" has happened twice in the history of Wrexham club.
Fans save the club
In 2004, then-chairman Alex Hamilton attempted to use and sell the racecourse for commercial purposes, and in the same year he took over the club, he sold the racecourse to Crucial Move, a privately owned Hamilton company. On 3 December of the same year, the club was sued by the High Court for owing £2.6 million in taxes, becoming the first league club to be deducted 10 points under the new financial rules, a sanction that saw them relegated from League One.
However, the fans who did not give up continued to fight the owner and joined forces to sue the owner in court – and finally in October 2005, the Birmingham High Court ruled that Alex Hamilton's company, Crucial Move, had wrongfully acquired freehold ownership of the stadium land. In April 2006, local car dealer Neville Dickens took over control of the club and all its assets.
The new owners took over the club in 2006. But by 2011, Wrexham, which had fallen into financial crisis again, was put up for sale. HMRC also threatened to close the club again for non-payment of taxes.
This time, the Wrexham Supporters' Trust saved the team, but the team had to sell the stadium ownership to the local university to give the team enough money to deal with the crisis.
At that time, Wrexham had fallen to the fifth division of the national league.
Wrexham Supporters' Trust logo (right)
So, from then until Deadpool took over, Wrexham were a well-run, enthusiastically supported and unlucky fifth-tier team. In 2012, they were knocked out of their dream by the future sensation of Jamie Vardy against Fleetwood Town, and they went on to reach the play-offs twice, but neither was promoted.
"It doesn't matter what level the team is at, everyone here doesn't hesitate to throw money into the donation box when the club needs it. Fan Elvin Jones said.
A club representing half the country
After reading Kerr's "buyable list", McHenney told Kerr that he happened to read an article about Inner Circle Sports, an investment bank that famously helped Fenway Sports buy Premier League giants Liverpool.
Soon, Kerr was on the phone with Steve Horowitz, one of the bank's partners. Horowitz gave his expert advice on team buyouts: If you're investing in a team just for a quick return on dividends, don't do it.
In addition, Inner Circle also helped McHenney connect with the club's owner, the head of the Wrexham Supporters Trust, for an important meeting over the team's acquisition.
Spencer Harris, a member of the Trust and former Wrexham director, hosted the talks on behalf of the club. During the meeting, he first introduced McHenny and Kerr to the geography of Wales.
"I told them that if you look at the map of the UK, you can see that unlike other clubs who need to grab fans in the same area, we are the only club with a long history in the corresponding area of North Wales, and there are few other competitors. Harris said.
"In other words, we are a club that represents half the country. 」
"North Wales has a population of close to 750,000 people and they wanted something to be proud of their hometown. The Trust has a very good plan to help the club become that kind of representative, but unfortunately we have neither the money nor the fame. 」
"But both of these things, McHenney and Reynolds have. 」
Location of Wrexham (orange) on the map of Wales
"Traffic is important for a lower division team like ours and we have to increase the exposure of the club. In this way, if we leave the club after 10 or 15 years, the club will still receive sustained social attention and will be able to continue to develop. 」
The publicity effect of McHenney and Reynolds was immediate. For example, the duo's "The One Show" in the UK and "Jimmy Kimmel" in the US simply talked about the Wrexham team, which increased the market price of jersey sponsorships by a factor of 10.
The racecourse stadium is now filled with eye-catching advertisements featuring the club's new and existing sponsors, and Wrexham Lager, the club's long-time sponsor, Wrexham Lager, has taken a back seat. In its place, the main sponsor is occupied by more well-known international brands.
Viewers will see these new "champions" appear on Wrexham's home turf as they tune in to TV broadcasts, or even when players play well-known soccer games such as FC 24.
"It's an entire city that is revitalized with this money, and Wrexham needs it. It's very sad to take a look at the high streets of the city, which used to be prosperous, but now they are dying and lifeless. During the exchange, the man wore an old-fashioned Wrexham shirt, which was the club's signature style in its glory days in the late '70s.
In his view, these investments from Hollywood have a deeper meaning. "It's not just a football club that is invested in it. Fan Andy Holden said.
And now, the town of Wrexham has completed a great counterattack from obscurity to global fame with the help of Hollywood's capital.
How will this football fairy tale continue after arriving in League One?
The Premier League, not far away
"It's great to see Rob and Ryan interacting with the small town of Wrexham, and I think that's why we've been so successful. 」
Wrexham have become synonymous with "influencer" teams over the past two years, with a single full-time announcement video garnering 15 million views. Take, for example, former goalkeeper Forster, who has posted an average of 1.2 million views on nine videos since joining the club, and 3.7 million matchday vlogs against Notts County. Since joining the club, his videos have received a total of 10.8 million views, nearly five times more than when he didn't join. This exaggerated popularity and exposure will be fatal to the appeal of lower-level players.
And how do you translate that into actual impact beyond traffic?
"Wrexham attracts people from all over the world, the only problem is that they need a bigger stadium so people can have seats to watch the game. 」
The fans' apprehensions were only dispelled at the beginning. For Wrexham, who were promoted to League Two last year, they received £25 million in government funding to renovate the famous KOP stands. The reconstruction of the grandstands, which began on June 1 last year, will increase the capacity of the "racecourse" to around 15,600 people by the start of the 2024-25 season.
Wrexham's women's international competition is also underway, with the Football Association of Wales looking to host the 2026 Women's Euro 2026 final in North Wales to commemorate the association's 150th anniversary, with the Hippodrome as its main venue.
"In Wrexham, you've seen Liverpool, Manchester City or Manchester United shirts. But now only Wrexham's jersey can be seen. There is nothing wrong with being an influencer team, and local fans don't think there's anything wrong with that. "We used to have players come here at a high price, and now we're getting a lot of calls to recruit!"
Wrexham has the unwavering support of such a group of die-hard fans, and with the support of the government's policies, the owner also has a clear and reasonable plan. With two consecutive promotions, breaking into the Premier League may not really be a dream, after all, the sky is their limit.
Portions of this article have been translated from the original article by TheAthletic
作者 / Matt Slater
Due to the need for expression, the original text has been deleted and supplemented
Compiled by Yin Haonan, Yang Yumeng
Reference Links:
https://theathletic.com/2799755/2021/09/01/film-star-owners-tiktok-and-a-documentary-inside-wrexhams-hollywood-makeover/