Wrexham have risen through the leagues at a rapid pace under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, and are now preparing for the Championship kick-off.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought Wrexham for £2million in 2021, setting the club on a remarkable path.
The Hollywood duo purchased Wrexham as a National League club, who had spent more than a decade outside of the EFL.
Just over four years on, Wrexham are now preparing to face Southampton on the opening weekend of the Championship season.
Three straight promotions have catapulted Wrexham into the second tier, just one promotion away from the promised land of the Premier League.
Almost everybody in Wrexham knew of Reynolds as the takeover was completed, but Reynolds himself didn’t have any connection to Wrexham.
Marius Rovde met Ryan Reynolds before Wrexham takeover
The question asked so many times in recent years has been ‘why Wrexham?’, and we often hear McElhenney respond with ‘why not Wrexham?’
McElhenney and Reynolds bought into the Wrexham community, but Reynolds actually crossed paths with one former Wrexham player before the takeover.
Wrexham fans of a certain age may remember Norwegian goalkeeper Marius Rovde joining Wrexham from Ayr United in 2001.
The stopper played 12 league games for Wrexham before loan spells with Lillestrom and Motherwell, and an eventual permanent departure to HamKam.
Rovde retired in 2007 and turned his hand to coaching, becoming Vancouver Whitecaps goalkeeping coach from 2011 until 2019.
That is where Rovde met Reynolds, obviously unaware of the Wrexham connection they would share down the line.
Speaking to NRK in 2023, Rovde admitted meeting Reynolds in his office in Vancouver, and they actually crossed paths ‘several times’.
Rovde praised Reynolds, highlighting that he doesn’t play a character on ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and is great at keeping promises.
“I have met Ryan several times. He often stopped by my office when I was at Vancouver Whitecaps,” said Rovde.
“He’s a nice guy. He works very hard to achieve his goals. In the Wrexham documentary, he doesn’t play a character. He’s himself. If he’s promised the fans something, he keeps it,” he added.
Rovde and Reynolds now share that Wrexham connection, something they can’t have possibly imagined when chatting in Canada a decade ago.
Marius Rovde could now lose slice of Wrexham history
Rovde holds the distinction of being the only Norwegian to ever play first-team football for Wrexham.
That piece of history may soon disappear, though, with Wrexham interested in signing Sivert Mannsverk.
The Norwegian midfielder has no future at Ajax and could return to Wales, having spent time on loan at Cardiff City last season.
Rovde will surely be aware of Mannsverk’s talent from his days with Sogndal and Molde, and would no doubt love to see the midfielder flying the flag for Norway as Wrexham’s journey under Reynolds continues.