Wrexham’s Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac are about to face their biggest test yet after the Red Dragons agonisingly missed the Championship playoffs on the final day of the season.
Wrexham drew 2-2 at home to playoff bound Middlesborough on Saturday night Australian time, but Hull City leapfrogged them into sixth with a 2-1 win at home to Norwich City.
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It looked like an Australian might help Wrexham keep their Premier League dream as Mohamed Toure scored the opening goal of the game for Norwich.
Things turned south quickly for Wrexham, however, as Hull fought back while Middlesborough and their Australian midfielder Riley McGree held firm to deny Reynolds and Mac’s club a playoff place.
After three straight promotions Wrexham have quickly gone from a non-league club to a playoff contender in the English second tier – 43 years after they were last so high up the pyramid.
The Welsh club’s rise has been astronomical, but it did not stop tears being shed at the Racecourse Ground after the final whistle on the weekend.
Reynolds took to social media post-game to share his heartbreak, writing: “I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season.
“We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history,” he continued.
“More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds.”
As the end of this season showed, getting over the final hurdle to reach the Premier League is one of the toughest things to do in the sport.
Former Watford striker Troy Deeney, who was with the club when they were promoted to the flight in 2015 and when they were relegated back to the Championship in 2020, believes now will be the real test of Reynolds and Mac’s mettle.
“I actually think this is going to be the real making to see how they are as owners,” Deeney said on Paramount+.
“Because everything has been, not smooth, but simple. Throw a load of money at it, buy players from the league above, go up, get promoted.”
Off the pitch, the American actors are ticking all the right boxes.
Their home stadium’s new grandstand will be completed next season allowing them to bring in more revenue from ticket sales.
The popular documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, which has given the club a fanbase around the world, has been extended for another three seasons.
While Reynolds and Mac recently sold shares in the club at a whopping US$475m (A$664m) valuation after purchasing it for US$2 million (A$2.8m) in 2021.
That financial success brings added pressure, however.
The Hollywood duo have never shied away from their ambition being to reach the Premier League.
People no doubt snickered when they said so at their first press conference after taking ownership five years ago.
But now, it is looking extremely plausible.
The Times’ chief correspondent Martin Samuel believes it is inevitable even though they were clearly not quite ready this year.
The accomplished football journalist even said that if they had have reached the playoffs this season, they would have become the first team to do so from sixth place since Blackpool in 2009/10.
“All they needed to do was beat Middlesborough at home. I know Middlesborough are a good team, but if they beat Middlesborough, they’re up,” Samuel told Sky Sports.
“If you can’t beat Middlesborough at home for you life, you’re probably not ready for the Premier League.
“So, maybe another year in the Championship is what Wrexham need.
“They’re gonna be contenders next year again. I’m absolutely certain of that.
“Whoever comes down from the Premier League have got Wrexham to deal with. They’ve got this club who are now super ambitious, that has got the weight of a country behind it.
“When you look at the Wrexham support in America, it’s got a massive advantage still from a lot of clubs in the Championship.
“So, I would say, inevitably, Wrexham will end up in the Premier League.”
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If Samuel’s prediction is to come true, they need to nail several key decisions during this off season, however.
The Championship’s decision to expand the playoffs from four teams to six next season – involving teams finished third to eighth – means it is easier to get to the cut-throat end of the season.
But it does not change that only three team will be promoted to the Premier League.
Deeney believes Wrexham will need to look deeply at everything.
From whether manager Phil Parkinson, who has overseen the rise from the fifth tier, remains with the club to the types of players they spent their money on in the transfer window.
Callum Doyle signed from Manchester City before the start of the season after loan spells with Norwich, Leicester City, Coventry and Sunderland on a four-year deal and was named in the Championship team of the season.
But Deeney believes Doyle did not fix their defensive problems.
“They’ve got into so many shootouts this year because they’ve been coming from behind,” Deeney said.
“They’ve spent £50 million. They spent £10 million on Doyle, centre back. I wouldn’t say there’s a £10 million player there that’s organising that backline saying, ‘right, we‘re defensively solid’.
“They get into shootouts, but now, the question to starting asking: is this manager, who I think is fantastic, is he the guy to get us promoted?
“How much more did we need to spend on players now?
“Is this the right style to get us promoted?
“All of these questions start to raise their head now.”
Former West Ham and Aston Villa midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker replied: “There’ll be a re-evaluation of everything.
“They have ambition of getting to the Premier League. That is the main goal, whatsoever.
“Then you start to look around. You start to think who can get us in there. There will be questions of the manager.
“He’ll know his under pressure. He was supposed to get them to the Premier League.
“If you look at it, I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but you look at Scott Parker now. No longer at Burnley.
“Scott Parker’s a manager that has a history of getting clubs promoted.
“So, that could be a manager to fit the mould to say ‘right, he’s done it before’.”
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In terms of their squad, Wrexham will be aggressive in the transfer market once again.
They may lose Doyle.
Manchester City inserted a buy back clause in the sale of the 22-year-old.
With England centre back Jon Stones departing the club at season’s end and Nathan Ake linked to a move, there is a good chance City could recall him to boost their squad depth.
“He’s a really quality player. I think he’s got everything,” Doyle’s defensive partner and Scotland international Dom Hyam said.
“He’s technically so calm. He’s a beast as well, and he’s young.
“I think that’ll unfortunately attract some big clubs. It’s obviously out of our hands, but he’s got a big future.”
Wrexham will also need to attract new signings for other areas of the park.
Josh Windass, who joined Wrexham from Sheffield Wednesday as a free agent at the start of the season, was the club’s leading goal scorer with 17 across all competitions.
He almost single-handedly lifted them to the playoffs with seven goals in the final eight league games and won the club’s player of the season award.
But former Wrexham player and manager Brian Flynn told BBC Sport that the likes of Windass need more support.
“I think they need at least three or four players. Is that a major overhaul? I don’t think so,” he told BBC Radio Wales Sport.
“He does like employing strikers, that’s for certain, Phil does do that.
“In all other areas of the pitch, I think they’re well served.
“They’ve got players like [Dom] Hyam, he’s been excellent all season. He’s been a really good signing.
“Players like Ollie Rathbone have come up with important goals, Josh Windass is a Championship player, so they will definitely come back stronger and better next season, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Wrexham will no doubt be looking at add a harder edge to the squad.
Upon reflection, they missed the playoffs after dropping too many points to lower teams throughout the season.
Along side beating Nottingham Forest and taking Chelsea to extra time in the FA Cup, Wrexham’s best performances of the season came with wins at home against champions Coventry and fellow promoted side Ipswich Town.
But they dropped points at home to relegated pair Sheffield Wednesday, who won just two of 46 games for the season, and Leicester City.
The latter came as they conceded a 90th minute equaliser.
Leicester are also a great cautionary tale for Wrexham if a club gets key financial decisions wrong.
A decade ago, the Foxes were Premier League champions.
Claudio Ranieri’s side overcome 5000-to-1 odds at the start of the season to deliver perhaps the greatest miracle triumph in modern sport.
But they will be playing in League One next season following a second straight relegation.
Leicester’s financial mismanagement plunged the club into a nasty downward spiral.
Sports finance expert Dr Rob Wilson told goal.com that Wrexham are already flirting with danger.
“If a club misses out on the play-offs, that’s a £15 million hit on revenue because of the associated ticket and commercial revenue that’s on offer by making it through those additional games,” Professor Wilson explained.
“If they miss out on the play-offs and don’t get promoted to the Premier League, then we are talking about missing out on an opportunity worth £120 million and that is pretty significant. That’s particularly true for Wrexham given the amount of money they are spending and the spending that they have undertaken over the last couple of years. They’ve also got plans for a new training ground and an expansion to their stadium so it gets really, really tricky.”
He added: “For Wrexham this season, what we’re really talking about is a cost opportunity if they miss the play-offs, to get into the Premier League.
“If we look at their turnover, the last time we saw their accounts it was at around £33 million in League One,” he said. “Wages were over £20 million. That led to a loss of around £15m, up from £2.7m the year before. So Wrexham are already spending much more than it earns as a club, and spending like that requires them to be much higher up the pyramid.
“Average revenues in the Championship for Wrexham, given all of their extra activity that they do, are probably going to be closer to £50 million but they have obviously brought in additional players as well.”
There will no away days at Old Trafford, Anfield, the Emirates or the Etihad from Wrexham fans next season – unless they deliver another magical FA Cup run.
There might be a trip to Tottenham, however.
Regardless, Wrexham’s story has been one of triumph under Reynolds and Mac.
Now, it may turn into one of repeated heartbreak, but the Championship is often referred to as the toughest league in the world for a reason.
The hyper-competitive second tier can easily trap clubs in a cycle of almost reaching the promised land.
They want get there in the end, but with three more seasons of the show confirmed, Hollywood will no doubt be pressing for it to come sooner rather than later.
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