In England, Wrexham’s rise has the feel of a fairy tale. The team continues to grow.
In 2021, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, two well-known film actors, bought the Wrexham club. The Welsh club is the third oldest in the world and plays at the Racecourse Ground. The Hollywood duo paid around 2.3 million euros.
The two actors are sometimes present at Wrexhambut above all had a plan. In addition to acquiring a football club, they also wanted to profit from it through a documentary series. This series “Welcome to Wrexham” is a huge success.
A victory on all levels
The fairy tale is in progress. In 2021, the team came close to relegation, before moving forward in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. The following season they finished second behind Stockport but fell out in the promotion play-off.
In 2023, the dream of promotion to League Two, of jumping to professional football has come true. And Wrexham didn’t stop there.
A few months ago, the Welsh finished third in League Two and thus punched their ticket to League One. The workforce had to be renewed, numerous reinforcements landed. This seemed to be the other side of the coin: the level was going to become too high for the old core. However, the former players were eventually able to stay, which led to a very large group: 35 players at present.
The success has had unsuspected consequences: a housing crisis is underway because too many tourists are coming to the city, making it difficult for local residents to find places to rent.
Despite all the changes to the core, the team is once again in a good place: Wrexham currently have 28 points out of 45 and are in third place. The first two are promoted directly, the teams ranked between third and sixth place compete in the Accession Playoffs.
A third consecutive promotion is therefore still possible. Enough to strengthen the dreams of Sam Kerkhofs and Rik Verheye, two Belgian actors who have had great ambitions since the purchase of the KSK Hasseltcurrently second in D1 amateur.
