Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has slammed Wrexham despite praising owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds for the job they’ve done.
Wrexham’s rise from the depths of the National League has been remarkable.
Accelerated by the arrival of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Reds have transformed from a cash-strapped club to one worth £8 million.
A whole host of work, including the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, flexing their financial muscles in the transfer market and a skyrocketing social media following have all helped their popularity rise.
With their success off the pitch also spilling onto it as Phil Parkinson‘s men close in on promotion to League One, everyone appears to be talking about the Welsh side.
While some are happy to see the club rise from the depths, others aren’t buying into their story with Simon Jordan previously criticising them and he isn’t the only one.
Darragh MacAnthony hits out at Wrexham
Once the EFL bagged a nine-figure TV deal in America for next season, the report credited Wrexham for the role they played.
Their popularity in the United States has risen since McElhenney and Reynolds tookover, with Steve Harvey citing that 5,000 households now tune in to watch the Reds matches on iFollow.
Due to the superstar profiles of their owners, millions of social media followers and their success in League Two this season, it’s natural that Wrexham will be spoken about a lot.
Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony is someone who isn’t fond of seeing the Welsh side plastered everywhere.
“You open a newspaper and there’s stuff about the Championship, League One and League Two, but every week there’s stuff about Wrexham and it’s nauseating,” he told talkSPORT.
“You get why they’re doing it because they want an American audience but at the end of the day there are 72 EFL clubs out there.
“They need to calm down thinking they’re bigger than Leeds or whoever. I’ve just said that they’re good for the game.”
MacAnthony praises Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney
Despite hitting out at those who have plastered the League Two side everywhere, MacAnthony has praised McElhenney and Reynolds.
The Peterborough chief has successfully run the League One club for 17 years following his takeover in 2007 with the Posh enjoying countless promotions and several talented players, including Ivan Toney.
While others are jealous, MacAnthony is envious of the job McElhenney and Reynolds have done, utilising their heightened profiles to finance numerous projects
It is those ventures, including the Welcome to Wrexham documentary, that have seen the club’s exposure and revenue increase tenfold.
“Fair play to them, they bought in and came up with a project and they’ve managed to finance this project by selling documentaries, advertising and doing deals with skincare companies, drink companies where they’ve had to put very little of their own dough in,” MacAnthony said.
“Anyone who comes in and has a couple of promotions and increases and grows their crowd – I saw their revenues the other day and it was £15-£20million a year now as opposed to £5million when they first came in.
“Anyone who does that is a successful person at what they do.”
Wrexham’s success off the pitch is unparalleled, but their exploits on the pitch aren’t far behind with the Reds looking poised for consecutive promotions.