Wrexham are on the verge of promotion to League Two, but promotion is set to come at a high cost for the club's superstar co-owners.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their full takeover of the Welsh club in 2021, with the goal of earning promotion to the Football League and growing the club from there.
The Red Dragons last played league football in 2008, but they came agonisingly close last season as they lose in the play-offs.
This season, they are closing in on the sole automatic promotion spot as they beat title challengers Notts County last weekend in a 5-goal thriller.
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Their success so far has not come at a small financial cost, as the Wrexham co-owners have not been shy to splash the class to improve the non-league club.
Following the win last weekend, Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster spoke about the owners after he had saved a game-winning penalty in injury time, keeping the score at 3-2.
"They’re so happy," The veteran goalkeeper said.
"If you could order an absolute bob on, top of the class, top of the range owner, then you would just package them two up because they are as good as it gets.
"It means so much to them, they were buzzing at the end, they care so much. You can feel it."
According to financial results that were made public this year, Reynolds and McElhenney helped Wrexham bring in approximately £6m during the 2021-22 financial year.
Despite this, the club still made a £3m loss over this period, with the purchase of the Racecourse Ground contributing greatly to this.
"The loss for the period was £2.914m. The R.R. McReynolds Company LLC, introduced £3.67m of loan funding which included the funds to purchase the freehold of the Racecourse Ground and subscribed for equity in the sum of £1.2m. The Directors have confirmed that they will continue to fund the Club going forward."
Average home attendance also increased from the 2021/22 season to this season, rising from below 9,000 to 9,960, bringing in an increased revenue from ticket sales.
As for transfers, it is well known that Wrexham aren't like other National League sides, with the owners giving the board a much greater spending power compared to some teams in leagues above.
Across the 2021/22 season, Wrexham spent more than £1m on new signings and related fees, with the standout sum being the £300,000 or so spent on attacker Ollie Palmer, who signed from AFC Wimbledon.
With regards to salaries, Wrexham's bill is not small, as according to The Athletic, the wage bill rose to around £2.5m by the end of the 2021-22 season. It is higher than the inital £2.3m annual bill mentioned by chairman Shaun Harvey in the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, which was around the January 2022 window.
It is also mentioned in reports by The Athletic that Wrexham would have been liable for £250,676 in additional fees if they won promotion in 2022.
Finally, when it comes to bonuses, it is reported that the co-owners have promised their squad a £250,000 bonus if promotion is achieved this season.
“Rob and Ryan wanted to recognise the players’ confidence that they can reach this season’s play-offs and provide an added financial incentive to achieve this," executive director Humphrey Ker said.
“There was no obligation to address this, but it felt like the right thing to do in order to support the existing playing squad who are all playing for their futures at the club.”
It is a sum that is thought to be easily affordable for their Hollywood star owners, with EFL clubs taking home significantly more TV money compared to clubs in the division below.
Clubs in League Two receive an amount of approximately £1.1m from the league, a sum which includes the Premier League solidarity payment.
In addition to all of this, there are several other sources of income, such as Wrexham's documentary as well as a lucrative pre-season coming this summer.
The owners have invested heavily into the club to bring about success, as in order to make money, you have to spent money first and their commitment to the club cannot be questioned.
Topics: Ryan Reynolds, Wrexham, Football
Joshua Nair