‘We’d forgot what hope was’: Wrexham buzzes as Hollywood owners reveal next step in football revolution

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have brought optimism to hard-hit town, residents say – now they just need to visit for a drink or two, writes Colin Drury

Firing up the Red Dragons: new owners Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds, with Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground behind (Getty/The Independent)

Thursday afternoon and, in the Turf Hotel pub on the main road into Wrexham, conversation has just turned to the growing possibility that Hollywood A-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney may, one day soon, pitch up here for a pint.

“The way they talk, I see it happening,” says the bar manager. “I’d be speechless. He [Reynolds] has been one of my favourite actors for years so, not going to lie, I’d be starstruck.”

Would the pair get a drink on the house? A look of horror. “Steady on, mate,” comes the deadpan reply. “I don’t like him that much.”

It is now three months since Reynolds and McElhenney astonished the sporting and entertainment world by buying Wrexham AFC – a football club struggling in the fifth tier of the English pyramid – and this North Wales town is still buzzing at the news.

In the intervening period, the pair have injected £2m into the club, promised better training facilities and an improved stadium, and set two overriding targets: to win promotion to the English Football League (EFL) and to “always beat Chester”, the club’s fiercest local rivals.

Now, this week, the excitement has been cranked up after a documentary crew spent time here filming for a series set to follow the fortunes of both team and community in the wake of the takeover. The first trailer for Welcome To Wrexham was released on Wednesday.

And here in the Turf there is perhaps particular reason to be excited.

This Victorian boozer stands right next door to the Racecourse Ground. It is where the club was founded back in 1864 and remains at the very epicentre of fan culture. Outside, it may look a touch shabby but inside, there are signed shirts, framed photos and – a touch random, perhaps – a barrier from the stadium’s old Kop terrace. On match days – when there isn’t a health crisis on – it’s packed to the rafters in here.

Which means that when Deadpool actor Reynolds and McElhenney, who writes and stars in long-running sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, talk of their desire to have a pint with fans, this, presumably, is the place they will head.

It feels like the start of an adventure

David Cull, Wrexham fan

“You can’t imagine it, can you?” says David Cull, tucking into an ale himself. “Deadpool in the Turf? Bizarre.”

How would they be treated? “Like heroes,” the 39-year-old Ladbrokes manager replies. “The lift they’ve given this town is unbelievable. I’ve never seen so many people wearing Wrexham tops. It feels like the start of an adventure.”

Cull himself has been all over following the club, he says. Places like Borehamwood and Halifax on cold Tuesday nights. “With these new lads, I don’t think anyone thinks we can get to the Premier League,” he admits. “But the Championship or League One? Why not?”

What would that mean to him as a fan? A long, considered pause. “Well, places like Rochdale on a Tuesday night, for starters,” he replies.

David Cull outside the Turf Hotel: ‘I’ve never seen so many people wearing Wrexham tops’ (The Independent)

It has been a long time since Wrexham were regularly involved in such, er, glamour games.

The club is the third oldest professional side in the world and, during its Seventies heyday, reached the old Divison Two, the second tier of the Football League. Yet the last three decades have seen one long downward trajectory.

After years of struggle, the club went into administration in 2004, were relegated from the Football League in 2008 and were only saved from being wound up altogether by a fan buyout in 2011. Soon after that, the 4,900-capacity Kop at the Racecourse was found to be unsafe. It has stood abandoned ever since.

Pertinently, perhaps, the fall has been mirrored by the town’s own decline. Wrexham once thrived at the centre of the region’s coal and iron industries but, since the closures of the Seventies, has struggled to redefine itself. Today, it is the ninth most deprived area of Wales. In 2019 it was one of the slew of Labour heartland seats that voted for a Conservative MP for the first time in its history. The promise of “levelling up” struck home here.

Against this backdrop, and that of a global pandemic, Reynolds and McElhenney’s arrival felt like a tonic. The duo registered their interest in the Red Dragons in November, when they also spoke at a virtual meeting of the Wrexham Supporters Trust which, at that point, owned the club. When its 2,000 members held a subsequent vote, 98.6 per cent were in favour of selling to the pair.

“What they’ve done is bring some optimism to the town,” says Mark Griffiths, a secondary school teacher who also runs the Final Whistle supporters’ podcast. “People here had forgot what it felt like to have some hope.”

The whole atmosphere of the town has changed since the buyout, he reckons. “There’s been a bit of a cultural renaissance here the past year or so,” the 52-year-old says. “New cafes, a growing arts scene, and now this. Wrexham suddenly feels vibrant again.”

Glenys Wilkinson with son David: ‘That’s why we love football – it lets us do some wishful thinking’ (The Independent)

At the nearby Butchers Market, Glenys Wilkinson agrees. “I think it’s the best thing to happen here since…” – she pauses for a few seconds – “I can’t actually think of anything else this good,” she concludes.

She herself is 81, a great-great-grandma, and a season ticket holder at the Racecourse of two decades.

Today she’s all smiles – and not just because she’s currently tucking into steak pie and chips at Tracey’s Cafe. Rather, she’s just been reading the front page of The Leader, the local newspaper. Its scoop this week reveals that architects have just been appointed to look into the possibility of redeveloping the stadium.

“If they can give us a four-sided ground again, they’ll be alright by me,” says Wilkinson. “It’s shameful, going to a football match and having a derelict stand staring back at you.”

Her dream – beyond a proper stadium – would be to see Wrexham in the Premier League for her 90th birthday. Could that possibly happen? “Probably not,” the retired NHS carer admits. “But that’s why we love football – it lets us do some wishful thinking.”

Why exactly two Hollywood stars bought into Wrexham AFC still remains unclear. “Why not?” is the answer they proffer in a video addressing the question.

Yet, more likely perhaps is the idea that it would make great TV: a real-life (comedy) drama about two North American actors trying to revive the fortunes of a fallen club in a community that is itself, to some extent, down on its luck. Think a real-life version of Ted Lasso. But, you would hope, funnier.

Except isn’t that all a bit “Keeping Up With The Dragons”?

At his mad4movies stall in the market, Rob Clarke thinks not. “Wrexham has been a soap opera for years,” the 43-year-old says. “So they might as well get it on TV. They’ve been completely upfront, that was part of the plan. That exposure could attract better players.”

He himself has been a fan since the Seventies and was one of those shareholders who voted to sell last November. Today, he is wearing a Deadpool face covering. A fan of the film? “My kids like it,” he says, diplomatically.

When he first found out who the potential buyers were it felt “like a weird dream”, he remembers. “Fairy tales like that don’t happen here. And, yet, it is doing.”

Rob Clarke: ‘Wrexham has been a soap opera for years’ (The Independent)

Not everyone in Wrexham, it’s worth saying, is overjoyed. On internet forums, some supporters have raised concerns that, as sole owners, the pair could now do anything they like. Some warned they might relocate out of Wrexham or – the cardinal sin – tamper with the club’s colours.

Yet those who hold such concerns appear thin on the ground.

Crucially, perhaps, Reynolds and McElhenney have consistently addressed such concerns. They have guaranteed no messing with location, colours, kits or history, as well as promising to reinforce the club’s place in the community. One line from their mission statement especially resonated: the promise that “respectful observance of the Gresford Colliery Disaster will remain sacrosanct”.

At his stall, Clarke considers all this.

“I’m a sceptic when it comes to football club owners – and with the history of this club I have a right to be sceptical,” the father-of-two says. “But I just think these two are in it for the right reasons. This town has been struggling for years and now this bloody pandemic... it’s only going to get harder but something like this... it puts a smile on people’s faces. It’s put Wrexham on the map, and that makes people happy because they’re proud to be from here.”