HOLLYWOOD star Ryan Reynolds may have woken with a sore head after Wrexham’s celebratory weekend – but the financial hangover is equally eye-watering, with a £2.3 million bill now due following the club’s remarkable rise to the Championship.
Reynolds and his fellow co-owner, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Rob McElhenney, were pitch-side on Saturday to witness the Red Dragons secure their third successive promotion with a commanding 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic at the Racecourse Ground. The result confirmed Wrexham’s meteoric climb from non-league obscurity to the second tier of English football since the Hollywood pair took over in 2021.
However, the euphoria of promotion comes at a cost.
According to financial records filed with Companies House, Wrexham will incur liabilities of £2.3 million following their elevation to the Championship. This includes £1.5 million in performance-related bonuses owed to players and staff, alongside a further £875,000 payable to other clubs under transfer clauses triggered by promotion.
Despite the seven-figure outlay, the club’s burgeoning commercial success significantly offsets the expenditure. In the 2023–24 season, Wrexham’s revenue soared to £26.7 million – a staggering leap from just over £1 million annually prior to the 2021 takeover. That figure not only eclipses their League Two peers but even surpasses the average Championship club’s revenue, which stands at around £22 million, according to Deloitte.
Football finance expert Kieran Maguire estimates that the club – purchased for £2 million by Reynolds and McElhenney – could now be valued at up to £150 million. Promotion to the Championship is also projected to generate an additional £13 million in revenue annually, bolstered by an £8 million windfall from television rights and a significant uplift in solidarity payments from the Premier League, rising from £780,000 to £5 million per season.
In the aftermath of the promotion, Reynolds took to social media to share an emotional message with fans and the wider Wrexham community, reflecting on the club’s journey and the city’s impact on him personally.
“We’ve been with Wrexham for what seems like the blink of an eye, but so much has happened,” he wrote. “I remember the first press conference, we were asked what our goals were… and I think Rob jumped in with, ‘The Premier League’. People laughed. They had every right to. It seemed insane… But we weren’t kidding.”
Expressing his affection for the club and the city, he added: “I feel at home here. It’s a place that values community, decency and history. From the respect it pays to the Gresford Disaster, to the feeling of hope and miracles created by Mickey Thomas. These are big reasons Wrexham is growing into what it always was.”
Reflecting on the emotional connection between the club and its supporters, Reynolds said: “The Stadium feels like a church. I know so many of you now. Since February, 2021, I’ve watched babies become regulars. And some regulars depart us for good. We’ve had the honour to scatter ashes of loved ones across that field. I’ve even watched every available hand shovel snow off the pitch to keep a match from cancellation.”
He concluded with a tribute to the spirit of the Welsh people: “Somebody said the Welsh have the ‘heart of a poet and the fist of a fighter’. That’s what I love about this place. I wish the whole world could visit Wrexham. Diolch.”
From relegation-threatened non-league obscurity to rubbing shoulders with the giants of the Championship, Wrexham’s revival is proving more than just a feel-good story – it’s fast becoming a fairytale backed by ambition, belief, and no small amount of financial clout.
