Hollywood star Rob McElhenney has truly taken Wrexham to his heart and has picked up a new hobby along the way.
No Wrexham fan could have predicted the last few years.
From being stuck in mid-table of the National League to becoming headline news across the world.
The takeover from Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds has catapulted Wrexham into a level of fame nobody could have expected.
The Wrexham story is now on TV for all to see thanks to the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series and the club’s US fanbase has grown rapidly.
Success off the pitch has been mirrored by results on the pitch with Wrexham now competing at the top of League One after back-to-back promotions.
Rob McElhenney on football shirts
McElhenney has really taken Wrexham to his heart.
The ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ star lives and breathes Wrexham now and probably loves the club as much as he loves the Philadelphia Eagles now.
McElhenney is therefore no stranger to the importance around jerseys.
You just know that McElhenney will have emotional ties to certain Eagles jerseys over the years, possibly donning the names of Donovan McNabb, Brian Dawkins or LeSean McCoy.
McElhenney has found a real love for football shirts though and has recently become a ‘strategic advisor’ for Classic Football Shirts.
McElhenney has now told Fortune that he believes a shirt can be a ‘storytelling device’ rather than just a piece of clothing.
The Wrexham co-owner noted that a shirt can truly bring goosebumps because of its emotional attachment to fans and the nostalgia it can provide.
“It’s not just a piece of merchandise or a consumable good or a consumer product. It is a storytelling device,” said McElhenney.
“It’s something that when you see it, you get goosebumps, you feel something, you have an emotional relationship to that product. Not because of the thread, not because of the process of making it. It’s simply because of what that kit represents to you emotionally, it brings you back to a place in time that was special to you, and so that will always speak to you,” he added.
McElhenney featuring in Classic Football Shirts clips
McElhenney is a very busy man.
‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ will be McElhenney’s priority but he also stars in another show, comedy series Mythic Quest.
McElhenney also part-owns a bar, invested in Mexican side Club Necaxa, launched an entertainment-tech company called Adim, started a whiskey brand called Four Walls and invested in F1 team Alpine.
That sounds like an incredibly tiring life but McElhenney has become used to success and he will be looking to bring his magic touch to Classic Football Shirts too.
McElhenney has been filmed packing shirts for delivery whilst wearing the famous Netherlands shirt from the 1988 European Championship.
This seems to be something that McElhenney is truly passionate about and we can only hope that it leads to some memorable Wrexham shirts to come.