Rob McElhenney celebrated his 48th birthday on Monday as he received messages from Wrexham fans everywhere.
Five years ago, Rob McElhenney may have had a fairly narrow fanbase in Wrexham.
Some may have loved McElhenney in ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’, but his profile in North Wales wasn’t enormous before his Wrexham takeover.
McElhenney teamed up with Ryan Reynolds to buy Wrexham, paying £2million for the club in a shock takeover.
To this day, McElhenney is – rather comically – still known to some outside of Wrexham as ‘the other guy’, with Reynolds’ fame often attracting more attention.
Make no mistake, though; the people of Wrexham love McElhenney and his birthday this week sparked messages from fans everywhere.
Glenn Howerton on Rob McElhenney
McElhenney’s ‘Always Sunny’ co-star Glenn Howerton shared a heartfelt birthday message on Instagram.
The pair have known each other for more than 20 years now, with Howerton paying a fitting tribute to the Wrexham co-owner.
Howerton noted that McElhenney has the ‘mindset of a winner’ and highlighted moments of his life where that was clear.
Howerton pointed to moments such as McElhenney gaining and losing weight just for a few ‘Always Sunny’ episodes, and also beginning a relationship with his now-wife and fellow co-star Kaitlin Olson.
The decision to buy Wrexham was also mentioned, with Howerton joking that McElhenney didn’t listen when told he couldn’t simply buy a football team.
‘Late Happy Birthday tribute to a one of a kind legend,’ said Howerton.
‘An illimitable dreamer who never listens to words like “stop, no” or “you can’t do that on TV” or “you’ve been cut out of another movie” or “you can’t just buy a soccer team” or “for the love of god don’t gain 60 lbs for a stupid TV show” or “don’t get into a relationship with your co-star you _______ moron you’ll ruin everything.” This is the mindset of a winner. But most impressive of all is he drags the ones he loves along with him and he hangs on tight. Happy Birthday, pal. I love you to the moon and back,’ he added.
More than four years on from McElhenney’s decision to purchase Wrexham, the club and the city are on the up – and it’s this ‘dreamer’ who made it all possible.
McElhenney and Howerton offering a trip to Wrexham
McElhenney will be watching Wrexham’s promotion push very closely from the United States, and is now offering up the chance for one American fan to make the trip to North Wales.
Four Walls – the whiskey brand created by Howerton, McElhenney and Charlie Day – have allowed US fans to enter a contest to win a trip to Wrexham.
The ‘Always Sunny’ trio are offering flights, a hotel, a bar tab and a ticket for a Wrexham match to one lucky fan.
Wrexham have seen foreign fans flock to the STōK Cae Ras in recent times, inspired by the impact of McElhenney and Reynolds, as well as ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
Wrexham are particularly popular in the United States, and one fan will now win a dream trip to the STōK Cae Ras – something we can’t have imagined saying just a few years ago.