Wrexham AFC’s promotion to the Football League is a story worthy of a Hollywood movie in its own right, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to picture script writers already rolling up their sleeves to pen the first draft.
But this isn’t just a story about a football club going from zero to hero. It’s a story about good communication and effective community engagement. It’s a story about the power of social media and, for the owners of a business, it’s a story about the importance of building and maintaining trust.
Officially founded in 1864, Wrexham AFC is one of the first football clubs in the world. Its ground – the Racecourse – is the world’s oldest international football stadium still in use today.
Last weekend the club finally celebrated its return to the Football League with a 3-1 home victory over Boreham Wood – sending its fans into a frenzy of excitement and cementing its two Hollywood owners into Welsh folklore.
Anyone following the Wrexham story will know that, just over two years ago, the club was bought by American actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny. They immediately injected £2m into revamping its infrastructure, coaching setup and playing squad. Then the publicity operation started to ramp up.
First there was the TV show, Welcome to Wrexham, a three-part fly-on-the-wall documentary, screened by US pay TV channel FX and Disney+ in the UK. Add in a high-profile shirt sponsorship by TikTok, a surprise inclusion in the latest edition of the popular FIFA video game franchise and a spoof TV ad filmed by the pair for Ifor Williams Trailers, the club’s main sponsor at the time of the takeover, and Wrexham went viral.
The team’s transformation on the pitch has been just as dramatic. After finishing 20th in the National League before the takeover, Wrexham climbed to second last year, only losing out on promotion in the play-offs. This season’s 34 wins and 110 points are already record-breaking stats for the division with a game to spare.
Commercial returns are also starting to look healthy. Season tickets, attendances and shirt sales are all skyrocketing. In February, the club reported its following on social media had broken the 1.5 million mark - an increase of more than half a million in the previous four months alone.
So, what is it about Wrexham that has captured the imagination of so many people? Well, the first thing to say is the new owners know a good ‘underdog’ story when they see one.
The struggles of Wrexham football club have been well documented. The team has spent 15 years trying to get itself out of the National League and the club was issued with a winding up order in 2011 by HMRC due to historic debt, shortly before ownership transferred to the Wrexham Supporters Trust.
The would-be owners first had to win round members of the Supporters Trust, already scarred by a previous, failed takeover bid. Unlike many other high-profile owners from overseas, who either divide opinion or attract outright hostility, Wrexham’s new suitors managed to convince fans that their intentions were both serious and honourable.
Their efforts to engage and listen to fans throughout the process resulted in a vote of 98.6% in favour of the deal and the rumours fans laughed off as a practical joke just a few weeks earlier started becoming a reality.
Although many saw Welcome to Wrexham as a bit of a stunt, good communication has remained high on the agenda for the co-owners, underpinned by a commitment to ‘doing the right thing’ by local people. Despite living on the other side of the Atlantic, they regularly attend games in person, and both flew in to welcome King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla to the Racecourse on a recent visit to mark Wrexham achieving city status.
The owners continue to invest in local causes, and Reynolds recently bought a house in the area. Local businesses have spoken about the “feelgood factor” surrounding the city, while those responsible for promoting the local Glyndwr University overseas have reported “increased awareness” that they hope to convert into new international students.
Long-time Wrexham fan, Adam Phillips, who once took his new-born daughter straight from hospital to the Racecourse Ground when she was just six hours old, summed it up when he said; “You can tell Rob and Ryan are genuine. Yes, they are businessmen as well and they want to make money but I don’t care how much they make. These are exciting times.”
It’s impossible to predict how the latest instalment of Wrexham’s colourful story will end, and there may well be more twists to come. But the Hollywood stars have realised they are now the custodians of a community institution, with the power to transform the fortunes of a city and even lift the mood of a nation. As in any sport, results are all-important, but focusing on effective communication and building a rapport with your core audiences is a pretty good place to start.
- Angharad Neagle is chief executive of Freshwater UK, the Cardiff-headquartered communications consultancy.
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