Why Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney don't consider themselves 'owners' of Wrexham

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham in February 2021 but they do not consider themselves "owners of the club".

The Welsh outfit had been owned by the Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST), when the Hollywood duo expressed interest and the 2,000 members had to vote on whether they were in favour of Reynolds and McElhenney's takeover.

The pair had never even met in person prior to getting involved in Wrexham, pledging an investment of £2 million after 98.6 per cent gave their seal of approval.

They attended their first game against Maidenhead and have invested a total of £10 million into the club as they try and steer them back into the Football League.

But because they've had to learn about the history of Wrexham from afar and weren't into football previously, the duo see themselves as "stewards" rather than owners.

"Look what happened with the Super League," McElhenney told BBC.

"That was misstep after misstep after misstep and people let them know very quickly how they felt about it.

"The word owner as it pertains to a football club makes no sense to me.

"I don't understand how I, an American who was born in 1977 in Philadelphia, could own a football club that was born in the middle 1800s in Wrexham, Wales. It doesn't make any sense.

"The way that I approach is that we are stewards of the club. I like the title chairman much better than I like the title owner because I truly can't own that. The town owns that.

"Our job is to come in as chairmen and to help facilitate the success so that the town can continue to flourish, the team can continue to flourish, and they can have success long after we're gone and there are new chair people that take over."

READ MORE:

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Reynolds and McElhenney are regularly in attendance at the Racecourse ground, with the former now set to buy a £1.5 million home five miles from the stadium.

Image: Alamy

They've also invested hugely in social causes and made a number of kind donations. Reynolds' other half Blake Lively was initially not receptive to the idea of him buying a fifth tier Welsh football club as he described her reaction as "not good".

He still harbours hopes of buying local NHL team Ottawa Senators but has been put off by how expensive it could prove to be.