It’s clear even from the outside that Rob McElhenney is a pretty great guy to have around, but why is the Wrexham owner the way he is?
Ever since the takeover launched by Rob and Ryan Reynolds, we’ve seen Wrexham soar through the Football League and achieve great success on the pitch.
Their latest feat, that historic third-successive promotion for Wrexham, has put the club in uncharted territory in many ways. Indeed, the Red Dragons have never played in the Championship, and haven’t been in the second tier of the EFL for 43 years.
The backing of the Wrexham owners will be massively important to how next season goes and what the future holds for the Welsh outfit. Still, with Rob McElhenney at the helm, they needn’t worry about a thing.
Rob McElhenney explains his role as Wrexham owner
In a recent appearance on the Rich Eisen show, McElhenney was joined by Wrexham’s star man, Elliot Lee, to discuss the whole fairytale journey they have been on.
When asked about the way the owners operate, Lee was full of praise for Wrexham’s impact on his life, and he attributed a lot of that to Rob’s approach to looking after the players.
Lee said: “I know he’s my boss but, there isn’t any other owners like Rob and Ryan. The care they take with us, they know our families, they spend time with our families. It goes a long way.
“We’ve played for other clubs where you can get owners that care, but you can get owners that don’t care at all and you don’t even know who they are, and they won’t know who you are. With Rob and Ryan it goes above and beyond. That’s why we have this amazing environment at Wrexham.”
Clearly, the more anonymous, silent-owner approach was never going to be part of McElhenney’s way of doing things.
He added: “It’s interesting to me to hear about owners that players never meet. I can’t wrap my head around that. Now, it’s also a delicate dance.
“I wanted to make sure that as we got into this, I reached out to all my friends who are professional athletes (or ex-professional) and I said ‘what was your relationship like with the owners you had?’ as I didn’t want to assume anything, and I said ‘what is the relationship you would want to have?’
“Should we keep a healthy distance? Or should we be a part of their lives? And to a person they all said they would love to have that relationship.
“Now you always have to be respectful of what that really means. I never ever walk into a locker room and try to dictate strategy or anything like that. It’s more a personal relationship.”
Whatever he’s doing, it’s working. Wrexham are successful on the pitch, growing exponentially as a brand worldwide, and the players absolutely adore the environment that’s been built at the club.
Rob McElhenney is a brilliant owner, and he’s proven it time and time again
From Rob’s early days of not understanding football at all, to now being able to explain promotion, the offside rule, and refraining from using the term ‘soccer’ too much, it’s been fascinating to see the superstar owner adapt to his role at Wrexham.
McElhenney has admitted he is intrigued by the players at his football club, and that does, sadly, lead to tough decisions as beloved players move on. But, that’s testament to the strong relationships he and Ryan Reynolds have formed at the club.
Obviously, it helps that Rob and Ryan pay for trips to Vegas every summer, but in fairness, the players do earn that with their escapades during the season.
The beauty of it all, though, is that regardless of Rob and Ryan’s net worth and the money they plough into the club, it’s the smaller, more personal moments that will truly cement their place as Wrexham legends.