Wrexham are no longer a club with a few thousand supporters in the North East of Wales; they have fans all across the globe, and that can only be a good thing for the English Football League.
It’s not surprising that Wrexham has grown in popularity since the takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney back in 2021.
Then in the National League, the Red Dragons quickly became a household name at home and in the USA thanks to their high-profile owners and the release of the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries.
Since then, Wrexham have achieved back-to-back-to-back promotions and now find themselves gearing up for a stint in the Championship.
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What Anton Ferdinand said about Wrexham
Speaking to AFP recently, discussing the English game in general, Anton Ferdinand mentioned Wrexham and insisted the Welsh outfit have done wonders for the EFL in terms of gaining exposure and making football fans curious enough to explore beyond the Premier League.
“I think what Wrexham have definitely done is open people’s eyes to outside the Premier League,” he said.
“So for people, especially Americans who only see really the Premier League, Wrexham has allowed people to look underneath the bonnet, which is the Football League. It is the reason why the Premier League is so great,” Ferdinand added.
Humphrey Ker has previously commented on how the USA is fascinated by Wrexham. It’s a massive part of why the club is now so commercially successful, that they are able to tap into this huge market that so many other EFL clubs simply cannot.
The same goes for the near-£30m windfall Wrexham will gain from their Australian tour. But, all this success shouldn’t be something to leave other clubs feeling bitter or resentful.
Rivals don’t need to be jealous of Wrexham, they should be thanking them
While the likes of Swansea City and Cardiff are natural rivals for Wrexham, given their Welsh heritage, the Red Dragons have gained plenty of enemies over the last few years.
The competitive rivalry with Birmingham City is a fun one. That is based purely on the fact that Rob and Ryan like to provoke Birmingham owner Tom Brady, and of course, the two sides were fighting for promotion in League One last year.
Elsewhere, plenty of rival fans take joy in predicting Wrexham’s downfall, with many expecting them to struggle in the Championship in the season ahead.
But, the fact of the matter is Wrexham have well and truly carved out a path for lower league teams to gain traction across the world. It says it all that the likes of Cardiff and Colchester have been subject to high-profile takeovers this summer, and they won’t be the last.
Most will say Wrexham have bought success, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a football club in the modern era that hasn’t got ahead through significant financial backing.
With the Premier League already flooded with rich owners, it’s only a matter of time before other clubs find themselves poached to become the next Wrexham. It would be very interesting to hear what those rival fans have to say then.