Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Football
Ryan Smart
The difference between how much Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney paid for Wrexham and what it is worth now is incredible.
The Hollywood pair officially completed their takeover of the club in February 2021, purchasing it from the Wrexham Supporters' Trust who had ran it since 2011.
Reynolds and McElhenney both made an immediate £2 million investment in the club following the completion of the deal, and have since invested significant sums into Wrexham and its local community since then.
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It was reported that their £2 million investment represented the total cost of buying the then-National League club, which had finished in a lowly 19th position in the previous campaign.
In fact, after 12 years in the fifth tier of English football, Red Dragons supporters felt a genuine fear of relegation to the National League South had that campaign, which was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic, had reached its conclusion.
But the 2021/22 season brought about a new era, with Reynolds and McElhenney packing the squad with EFL experience and appointing the former Bolton, Bradford and Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson.
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The Red Dragons finished second after a slow start to the season, and lost in the play-off semi-final after a 5-4 defeat to Grimsby Town after extra time.
But they bounced back the following season, winning the National League with a divisional record points haul of 111.
And they sealed their second consecutive promotion this campaign in League Two, finishing on 88 points behind Stockport - who also pipped them to the National League title in 2022.
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Now, the club has increased its value by £7 million up to £9 million in the three years since Reynolds and McElhenney took over.
That's according to director Shaun Harvey, the controversial former CEO of the Football League.
Speaking at the SportNXT conference in Australia in March, Harvey explained: "It is worth noting it is an investment that has paid off, now worth £9 million.
"The main reason for ownership was the town's history, and to provide hope to the town whilst offering something the community could get behind.
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"The social media growth has been astronomical from 2020 to 2024, seeing an increase from 152,000 [followers] to 3,981,747 across all platforms."