From playing at grounds that averaged attendances of just under two thousand supporters per match to playing the most successful English side in history in a venue owned by the most successful American sports club in history, Wrexham A.F.C. have seen quite the rise in just about seven years.
Wrexham A.F.C. is a Welsh soccer team that currently plays in the English Football League (EFL) Championship and is set to play Liverpool F.C., 20-time English top-flight champions, at Yankee Stadium in New York tomorrow. This scenario would have seemed impossible prior to the recent financial investment from North American actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds. Following their appointment as chairmen in 2021 the club’s popularity, economic position, and on-field success exponentially increased.
In the 2019-2020 season, Wrexham finished in 19th position in the National League, England’s fifth division of soccer, their worst end to a season since their founding in 1864. Although the advent of COVID-19 shortened the length of the season, Wrexham’s play on the pitch justified their sixth-from-bottom place in the standings. They were defensively incapable of preventing shots from finding the back of their net and lacking an outstanding goalscorer that saw their goal difference slip to -3. The season ended in early March due to the global pandemic, rather than in late April, but it was what happened in September that would be the catalyst for the club’s progression.
In September of 2020 it was announced that American actor Rob McElhenney and Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds held intentions to purchase the club. McElhenney attributes his inspiration to acquire a smaller club and reach unprecedented success with them to watching the TV series, Sunderland Til I Die. This documentary captured Sunderland A.F.C.’s back-to-back relegations from the first division to the third division in England and promotion back to the second division. Thanks to the financial assistance of fellow Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds, the pair were successful in investing approximately two million pounds in February of 2021 into the struggling Welsh side.
Immediately the club saw the economic injection translate to on-field improvements with the club finishing in a respectable 8th place the following season, just one position outside of the League Two Promotion Playoffs due to a draw on the final match day. This was all depicted in the Welcome To Wrexham series that came out in August of 2022 which continues to film the club and its operations to this day. The series’ popularity allowed for Wrexham to become a globally renowned club despite still being considered a “semi-professional team” by the English soccer league system.
Consistent improvement occurred and was showcased throughout the series as in the 2021-2022 season. Wrexham finished 2nd in the National League and barely missed out on promotion through the playoffs. This was followed up with three consecutive promotions and by the end of the 2024-2025 season their results deemed them worthy to play in the EFL Championship, England’s second highest division of professional soccer where they would finish in 7th at the end of the 2025-2026 season, the highest ever in their history.
Due to the rising popularity of Wrexham in the United States, regardless of their status as a rising fourth division side at the time, a pre-season match between themselves and Chelsea F.C. in the summer of 2023 took place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Although the final result was not what supporters of the club desired, the game could be considered a success as over fifty thousand people gathered to watch the contest between the two sides, who were separated by three divisions of professional soccer.
Wrexham’s journey over the last seven years has seen them go from barely filling up half of their own stadium’s capacity to playing former English and European champions in America across two separate summers. The team’s meteoric rise can be attributed to the passion of two North Americans who were extremely unfamiliar with how soccer functioned across the pond initially, but their desire for progress has led this relatively unknown Welsh side to heights never before seen. The latest exemplification of their success will be set to kickoff in the Bronx at 7:30 p.m. against Liverpool F.C. on July 29, 2026.
