Wrexham ’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have set the record straight on the club’s spending and have hit back at their detractors.
The Wales-based club climbed back into the Football League for the first time in 15 years, doing so inside Reynolds and McElhenney’s two-year ownership. Wrexham saw off a title challenge from Notts County to seal the National League title and the only automatic promotion spot.
However, the attention generated around Wrexham due to their owners’ star status has also brought a fair amount of critics as well, with fans of other clubs attributing their successes to significant investment in the playing squad and infrastructure.
Football League and former Premier League stars such as Ben Foster, Elliot Lee and Paul Mullin all joined the Wrexham revolution. The squad has an average weekly wage of $1,247 (£1,000) but only managed to edge County to the title by four points.
However, the club’s annual report showed a loss of almost $3.7million (£3m) for the year ending June 30. Wrexham’s turnover, however, increased up to $7.4m (£6m) and Reynolds and McElhenney have reportedly already spent more than $12.4m (£10m) on restructuring the League Two new boys.
“I don't think we're necessarily concerned with losing money as much as we are concerned with making the club sustainable, that was always our intent," said It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star McElhenney in an interview with S4C. “It is interesting to see a lot of the media that has come out over our annual report from this past year because it is not taking into account so many different things. We don't respond to it because we know what the truth is, which is that the club is certainly on its way to becoming sustainable and that's what our goal is."
Co-owner Reynolds insisted that he and pal McElhenney are not necessarily investing in Wrexham to make money. The pair are focused on helping Wrexham have a long-term future and find emotional value.
"Ultimately, like any business, you want it to be able to self-perpetuate and continue growing," the Deadpool lead said. “You don't want to lose money, but I don't think either of us are in this to make money either. It's just about growing the best possible club and finding value in any place that we can find value, whether that is financial or emotional, sometimes it can be indistinguishable."
Reynolds added: "At the end of the day, you can count on us to do whatever is in the best interest for the club and the community, but often the two of those are the same."
