Five years in the past, Wrexham’s fortunes modified immeasurably.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac accomplished their takeover of the north Wales aspect on 9 February, 2021 after receiving overwhelming approval from the Wrexham Supporters Trust three months earlier.
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The Hollywood stars have overseen three successive promotions, though their influence goes manner past the membership’s seismic on-subject achievements.
As defender Max Cleworth places it, “it’s been a mental few years”.
The foundations for development
Wrexham’s on subject success is apparent for all to see, nevertheless, background developments and groundworks are equally necessary to maintain Reynold’s and Mac’s ambitions for the north Wales membership.
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Regulars on the Stok Cae Ras – or the hundreds of thousands of viewers watching video games on screens across the globe – will even have seen a quantity of alterations to the world’s oldest worldwide soccer stadium nonetheless in steady use.
The stadium’s iconic Kop Stand was demolished in 2023 having been deserted for 16 years.
A brief stand, holding round 3,000 supporters, was used in the course of the 2024-25 marketing campaign earlier than being eliminated to pave manner for a brand new everlasting stand.
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Work on the stand – which can maintain 7,500 followers in complete, taking the general capability at Stok Cae Ras to 18,000 – began early on within the 2025-26 season and is due to be completed in early 2027.
As they don’t personal their Colliers Park coaching complicated, Wrexham are commonly required to coach elsewhere, together with at Carden Park or at The Rock – now owned by the club.
But even different points together with catering and journey preparations – which embrace flying to some away matches to assist support restoration – have been tweaked to enhance efficiency.
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“The difference is massive,” mentioned former membership captain Ben Tozer, who made 136 appearances and gained again-to-again promotions with Wrexham.
“Even though some of the really big changes might not have happened – like we still don’t have our own training ground – the infrastructure has improved every year.
“The gamers at all times felt taken care of, however the ranges have gone up.”
Wrexham played their first ever match, against the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade, at Stok Cae Ras on 22 October, 1864 [Getty Images]
The growth is not limited to the men’s first team though. Far from it.
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Academy manager Gus Williams and professional development phase lead coach Craig Knight are now in situ as the club aims to produce more home-grown talent.
The women’s side have made enormous strides too.
Wrexham were in the tier two Adran North at the time of the takeover but are now challenging for the top-flight Adran Premier title – with a place in Europe on the line.
They also face reigning league champions Cardiff City in the final of the Adran Trophy on 22 February – further typifying how they have developed into one of the best women’s sides in Wales.
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It has all ensured the difference at the club is stark, particularly for new signing Davis Keillor-Dunn, who recently returned six years after leaving Wrexham.
“I’m simply buzzing to see the membership within the place it is in now,” he told BBC Sport Wales.
“It reveals you ways a lot work has been put in and also you’re seeing the fruits of it on the pitch.”
Little by little, piece by piece, the club keeps evolving. But the headline-grabbing exploits of the first team have ultimately been the key driver.
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“It’s the steadiness of constructing the membership and understanding that the membership wanted some foundations put in place for the lengthy-time period,” said manager Phil Parkinson.
“But additionally that we wanted to quick-monitor the standard at first staff degree as a result of the squad had been uncared for for a lot of years, no-one’s fault, by means of an absence of funds, and [the owners] have been very supportive in each of these classes.”
Back-to-back-to-back… -to-back?
A mere 110 days after the high-profile change in ownership, manager Dean Keates left the club with Wrexham having missed out on a play-off spot in the fifth-tier National League.
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Just 32 days later, Parkinson was tasked with leading the Welsh side’s resurgence. Despite a gut-wrenching end to his first season as manager, a 5-4 defeat by Grimsby Town in the play-offs, it has been quite the ride since then.
Parkinson has managed 213 regular season league matches and Wrexham’s record over that period borders on the ridiculous, in a positive way, of course.
He has overseen 125 wins, 51 draws and just 37 losses – with his side scoring 407 goals over that time.
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It gives him an astonishing rate of exactly two points per game and an average of little more than 1.9 goals per match when it comes to regular season league fixtures.
In 2025, history was made as Wrexham returned to the second tier for the first time in 43 years, having become the first ever team to achieve three successive promotions in the English Football League.
In preparation for the Championship Wrexham smashed their own transfer record three times last summer, with Liberato Cacace, Lewis O’Brien and then Nathan Broadhead becoming their most expensive signing upon moving to north Wales.
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And having as soon as once more strengthened within the mid-season window, Wrexham are usually not slowing down of their stated ambition to reach the Premier League.
‘A hell of a ride, long may it continue’
Defender Cleworth is one of only two players, along with Ryan Barnett, to feature in the National League, League Two, League One and the Championship since Reynolds and Mac bought Wrexham.
On the back of signing a long-term contract extension with the club in January, the academy product said: “Since I signed my [first] professional deal, I could not actually have imagined to be sat right here 5, six years later within the Championship.”
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Wrexham were seventh in the National League when Reynolds and Mac were announced as the club’s new owners. At present, they are sixth in the Championship – 73 places higher up the football pyramid.
The social media growth has also been vast. Wrexham had 41,000 followers on Instagram prior to the takeover, that figure has ballooned to 1.5m.
But perhaps the clearest indicator of the astronomical growth is the value of the club, which now stands at around £350m, an increase of 17,400% compared to the £2m Reynolds and Mac invested upon completing the takeover in 2021.
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With a top six finish firmly within their grasp this season, the rise is showing no sign of stopping, with Cleworth aptly stating: “It’s been a hell of a experience up to now, lengthy might that proceed.”