Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have taken Wrexham from a struggling National League side to a global force that became a more attractive proposition than Liverpool to their investors.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have been Wrexham owners for over four years now, buying the club in February 2021.
Since that time, the on-field success has been unwatched, with a third straight promotion confirmed over the weekend to set a record.
It’s not just on the pitch where the North American’s impact has been so obvious to see, however.
Wrexham had a record turnover in 2023/24, posting figures that dwarfed any other side in League Two history.
Meanwhile, they brought fresh faces and investors to the club in the last year in the form of the Allyn family.
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Allyn family looked at Liverpool before Wrexham investment
McElhenney and Reynolds were blown away by the Allyn family after their investment in the club was confirmed in late 2024.
Kaleen Allyn has since become Wrexham executive director and has now opened on her families’ decision to become a part of the Red Dragons family.
The Athletic report that the Allyn family, who sold their family business in 2015 for £1.3bn, previously looked at several Premier League clubs, including Liverpool to invest in.
In her interview with The Athletic, Kaleen said: “This is the most fun job I’ve ever had. Granted, in terms of the portfolio I manage for my family, this investment is probably three to four per cent of that entire portfolio.
“But, because we are partners in this and rolling up our sleeves to do the work, I’d say it consumes at least 70 per cent of my time. And that is the best part. It’s something we can work really hard on to help and not just passively sit there, thinking: ‘Yeah, we have great people like Rob and Ryan running it, we can just relax’.
“No, we want to know how we can help and how we can learn.”
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Kaleen Allyn’s grandfather wanted to meet Phil Parkinson
Kaleen also shared a heartwarming story of how she flew over her grandfather to Wrexham.
During his trip to Wales, Kaleen revealed that her grandfather was left in awe of the community and manager Phil Parkinson.
She said: “We flew Grandpa Bill over because I wanted to kind of show him what it is all about.
“By the time it came to go home, he was almost kicking and screaming because he did not want to leave. He said: ‘The community of Wrexham is the closest thing I’ve seen to what we grew up with and what we lost in upstate New York’.
“He went to the match and met Phil, who was very gracious. My grandfather had watched [the documentary] Welcome to Wrexham. He was completely starstruck. He doesn’t really give a damn who Ryan Reynolds or Rob McElhenney is. But Phil Parkinson? He wanted his picture with Phil and that picture is framed on the wall at his house.”