Paul Mullin believes promotion with Wrexham will have meant more to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney than the shows and movies that they have made.
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Superstar actors completed takeover in 2021Have enjoyed a remarkable journey since thenDrawn up ambitious plans in WalesWHAT HAPPENED?
The Hollywood actors have starred in productions such as Deadpool and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but they stepped a long way outside of their comfort zone when completing a takeover at SToK Racecourse in the spring of 2021.
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The pair have been on a remarkable journey since then, with Wrexham striker Paul Mullin telling of what promotion in North Wales represented to two men that are accustomed to operating under the brightest of spotlights: “A lot of people have football club owners as very tough-nosed, hard-skinned people – that’s the business we’re in. But Rob and Ryan care like no other owners I have ever seen. The pictures they show on TV or the documentary, the emotions deliver – they live and breathe it watching us. When we got promoted, there are videos of them crying in the stand. I think it probably did mean an awful lot to them – probably a lot more than making some of the movies or TV shows that they have done.”
WHAT THEY SAID
Mullin went on to say of Reynolds and McElhenney making a stunning impact at Wrexham on and off the pitch – with the pair now fully absorbed into the local community: “It was because people tell them it can't be done, people tell them it’s going to go wrong. We had it as players, but they get it being the owners – it’s going to go wrong, you’ve signed these players and we’ve seen it all before when teams have spent good money and haven’t been promoted.
"In the end I don’t think they cared about the money, it was the whole journey, the whole trip that they took the town on and made a promise to the people to deliver – they’ve done that. The night we got promoted, they usually do come in the changing room, but that night they ended up on the pitch. We went to a little house party at the far side of the stadium, with all family and friends, and the next minute the two co-owners walk in and it was like nothing – that is how they have come to be perceived now. They are the owners of the football club, but they want to get involved. We had a good time, enjoyed the night and I think for them the next day was all about concentrating on this season and getting good players in. That is at the forefront of their mind every single day.”
Getty/GOALWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Wrexham returned to the Football League in record-breaking style last season – as a 15-year absence from that level of competition was brought to a close – and are currently in the process of piecing together another promotion push, as Phil Parkinson has them sat third in the League Two table.