Rob McElhenney sends message to wife of ex-Wrexham player after ‘devastating’ summer departure

Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has sent a personal message to the wife of a former player who was released by the club in the summer.

The Red Dragons released eight players at the end of their contracts in June, including defender Ben Tozer and long-serving goalkeeper Rob Lainton.

The decisions were made to prepare the club for life in League One, with a maximum squad of 22 players able to be submitted.

Another player who left Wrexham upon the expiry of their contract was club captain Luke Young, who played a key role in their promotion from the National League in the 2022/23 season.

And although his first team opportunities were limited towards the end of last season, the 31-year-old still played a key role off the pitch.

Young has now found a new club in newly-relegated Cheltenham Town, meaning he has stayed in League Two for this season.

Speaking on the Men in Blazers podcast, McElhenney spoke of how Young's departure was 'devastating' for him personally, as the pair had built up a close relationship.

He explained: "One of the very few downsides of becoming so personally close with the players is that you have to say goodbye to everybody at some point.

"Ultimately, that's a metaphor for life in general, which is that people come and people go.

"But when you put so much value on the relationships that you have with people, to say goodbye is very difficult.

"We have had so many valleys along the way, in so far as we started the conversation talking about Ben Tozer and Luke Young - who is my favourite player, and I was very public in stating that!

"That's not a slight on the other players. I just loved Luke. He was our longest-tenured players, he was with us from the very beginning. So to say goodbye to him was devastating."

In response to his interview, Young's wife Chloe tweeted McElhenney with the message: "We love Mr Mc. What a lovely read."

And the Wrexham co-owner simply replied: "Miss you too Chloe."