Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney made five big promises when they took over National League club Wrexham in 2021.
Wrexham completed their promotion to the Championship with a win over Charlton Athletic on Saturday and became the first team ever to win three consecutive promotions in English professional football.
The owners are understandably revered by supporters of the North Wales club, who have also welcomed into their ranks an army of fans from all over the world.
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The rise of the Red Dragons is more a story of investment and smart decisions bearing fruit than a football fairytale, but Reynolds and McElhenney have undeniably breathed new life into a listing club.
Back in 2021, they issued a full mission statement outlining the five things the Hollywood duo promised to achieve at the club.
"We’re two people who’ve made a career of never taking ourselves too seriously. However, we realise taking stewardship of this great and storied club is an incredibly serious matter and something we don’t take lightly," they said.
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"Our goal is to grow the team, establish Wrexham AFC as a Premier League club, in front of increased attendances at an improved stadium while making a positive difference to the wider community in Wrexham."
They haven't taken Wrexham to the top flight just yet, but how have they performed against the quintet of punchy promises they made four years ago?
First promise: A pledge to win
Reynolds and McElhenney promised not only to win, but to 'win, win, win!'
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And they have. They won promotion from the National League. They won promotion from League Two. They won promotion from League Two.
Whatever the circumstances, Wrexham's climb from the fifth tier to the second is not only a historic achievement but a remarkable one.
With manager Phil Parkinson leading the way throughout, the Red Dragons have built a winning habit and will join fellow promoted side Birmingham City in the Championship next season.
Second promise: Team values
"We understand and respect the intense loyalty and love for this club and how it’s woven into the fabric of the town and its supporters," read the mission statement.
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While Parkinson has taken the lead when it comes to installing an ethic into the playing staff, Wrexham's reintegration back into the town has been just as impressive.
Wrexham the club and Wrexham the town feel like a pairing of shared values and the work off the field of McElhenney in particular has helped to set that in stone, sometimes literally.
Learning Welsh hasn't done him any harm either.
Third promise: Turning the team into a globally renowned force
Worldwide appeal almost seems like the easy bit, in hindsight. Wrexham's owners are big hitters in the world of TV and cinema, and Reynolds and McElhenney themselves were the draw for the Disney+ docuseries 'Welcome to Wrexham' that's been the basis for the whole shebang.
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But if the question from outsiders at the outset was "Can a TV show sustain a football club?" then the answer was "It doesn't have to."
Reynolds is a master marketer and the celebrity face of brands rolled into one. Wrexham became a beneficiary of his portfolio but also part of his toolkit as a creative director.
You get Wrexham with Reynolds and Reynolds with Wrexham, and the club's fame outside Wales and England is the result.
Fourth promise: Renovate the Racecourse Ground
The challenges of freshening up the Racecourse have been covered in depth in the documentary and it's one of the hidden costs of Wrexham's meteoric rise through the divisions.
A Championship team needs a Championship stadium and that's not a vague sentiment; it's a requirement.
Most importantly, the Kop needs to be rebuilt and, as part of a programme to meet UEFA Category 4 Stadium standards, it will be.
"The submission of the revised designs for the new Kop Stand is a major milestone for this hugely important project and an intense period of activity will follow in the coming months to complete the new Stand for summer 2026," confirmed CEO Michael Williamson in February.
Fifth promise: Training facilities
The owners quickly built a new performance gym at the Racecourse but a full solution to Wrexham's ongoing lack of a permanent training home hasn't yet been achieved.
"We need a training ground badly," Reynolds said last year.
Work has begun on a new academy training centre, where a Christmas break-in impacted development.
As every good strategist knows, a list of promises needs a set of guiding principles to go with it. Wrexham's owners identified four:
1) To protect the heritage that has made Wrexham AFC and the Racecourse Ground such a special place to watch football for the last 156 years.
2) To reinforce the values, traditions and legacy of this community. We understand and respect the intense loyalty and love for this club and how it’s woven into the fabric of the town and its supporters.
3) To use our resources to grow the exposure of the club. Of course, this would be in concert with protecting the heart and spirit of a community-led historical icon. But why can't the third-oldest club in the world have a global appeal?
4) To reward the faith of the supporters who have stood by Wrexham AFC through its history by putting everything we have towards what all fans want most for their club, and that is to...WIN, WIN, WIN.
Reynolds and McElhenney made a list of 'hard promises' too, and here they are:
-- Provide comprehensive financial support for the manager and his coaching team. Build a sustainable model which will attract the best players and best staff to the Racecourse Ground.
-- Always beat Chester.*
-- Explore the renovation of the Racecourse Ground and improve the venue for the club, for International matches and perhaps, the occasional Tom Jones gig.
-- Invest in a permanent training facility that is worthy of an EFL club.
-- Guarantee the club cannot be relocated, renamed or rebranded. Appropriate and respectful observance of the Gresford Colliery Disaster will remain sacrosanct.
-- Recognising the role fans and the WST have played in stewarding the club through extremely difficult times, we will create an honorary board that includes fans, representatives of the WST and WAFC alongside our own advisors.
-- Ensure the continued presence of Dixie McNeil as the club's honorary President, subject to his desire.
-- Always beat Chester.*
-- Expand club staff to take advantage of increased interest in Wrexham, both locally and internationally.
-- Recognise and reinforce Wrexham AFC's role as a leading force for community good in the town. Work with the Club’s Disability Liaison Officer, Kerry Evans to retain and enhance Wrexham’s reputation as an inclusive and forward-thinking club, alongside other important local groups such as the Wrexham AFC Community Trust, food banks and schools.
-- Commit to a more ecologically-sustainable version of the club and stadium.
-- Commit to transparent decision making with regular and open communication.
-- Ensure that when the day comes that we leave the Club, it will be in a better position than it is today.
-- ALWAYS BEAT CHESTER.*
-- * If we ever play Chester again.
Topics: Wrexham, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, EFL Championship
Chris Nee