Ryan Reynolds comes clean on ‘absolute idiocy’ of $3.8m Wrexham purchase

Hollywood megastar Ryan Reynolds revealed a major blunder he and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney made when buying the club.

The duo spent $A3.8m before stepping foot in the place. Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images

Ryan Reynolds has revealed the “irresponsible endeavour” that he and Rob McElhenney made during their takeover process of Wrexham.

The Hollywood actors’ takeover of the Welsh club was announced in February 2021.

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Since then they have invested heavily into the team, facilities and local community.

And this has paid dividends with Wrexham earning back to back promotions in the National League and League Two to put the Racecourse Ground outfit into League One for next season.

However, Deadpool actor Reynolds has now revealed the investment came with a huge financial risk that is “absolute idiocy on paper”.

“The thing that I will never, ever forget is that first step, that first time we went to Wrexham,” Reynolds said on the Dan Patrick Show.

“Because what I think is most insane about this is, we couldn’t go there because it was the apex of the pandemic – we couldn’t actually go there.

“We assumed stewardship of this club before ever touching a blade of grass in the Racecourse.

“This is the most financially irresponsible endeavour that you would ever possibly find.

“It is absolute idiocy on paper.

“We don’t know that much about financial investment but what we do love, and have loved our whole adult lives, is emotional investment.

“Emotional investment can create a moat around something, and I feel that moat is around Wrexham and it is special for that reason.”

McElhenney and Reynolds lift the National Trophy last year. Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images

Wrexham will play in League One next season. Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP

Wrexham finished second in League Two this season to earn an automatic promotion spot to England’s third tier of football.

The Red Dragons have earned global fanfare thanks to “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary on Disney+.

Reynolds has pulled strings to even get Wrexham to feature in the promotional material for his latest film, “Deadpool & Wolverine”.

Indeed, Red Dragons forward Ollie Palmer has even got a cameo in the movie.

However, Reynolds and McElhenney’s ambitions for the club are far from realised.

Earlier this week they lifted the lid on plans to one day expand the Racecourse Ground to a capacity of 55,000.

This would make it bigger than Manchester City’s Etihad stadium and Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge, which have 53,400 and 40,341 respectively.

The ground currently seats 12,600 fans and is already undergoing redevelopment on a new Kop stand with 5,500 seats.

Reynolds with a fan. Photo by Matthew Ashton – AMA/Getty Images

On the plans “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” star McElhenney said: “We have a plan in place right now that would eventually work from stand to stand, so eventually you get all four sides.

“It’s hard to say for sure, but we think we could get between 45-55,000 people in there.”

Wrexham have announced they will be playing club friendlies in the USA this summer, while their owners have also joined forces with Mesut Ozil and Kate Upton in investing into Mexican club Mecaxa.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.

Originally published as Ryan Reynolds comes clean on ‘absolute idiocy’ of $3.8m Wrexham purchase