‘Wrexham can be your second club’: Rob McElhenney reveals how he told Chelsea and Manchester United fans on US tour to also support his team
- Wrexham lost to the Blues 5-0, before beating the Red Devils, 3-1, in pre-season
- McElhenney and fellow actor Ryan Reynolds bought the Dragons for $2.5M in ’21
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has revealed how he told fans of both Chelsea and Manchester United to also support his team when they would play against the Premier League’s big boys during its US tour this summer.
Sitting down with Roger Bennett, of the TV show Men in Blazers, which is available for streaming on NBC’s Peacock, the actor opened up on his assessment of what he saw in the stands when his Dragons would play the Blues in North Carolina and the Red Devils in California last month.
Wrexham first lost to Chelsea, 5-0, before defeating Erik Ten Hag’s young side, 3-1.
‘I think this is part of the fun,’ McElhenney said after being told that the Welsh club are ‘non-threatening’ to the likes of Premier League and top European clubs. ‘When we were at Manchester United and talking to the people at Chelsea, I kept saying to the supporters: ”you can have two clubs.”
”’We’re so far apart that you can have two clubs. You can support us, for now.” And we got a great response and I think it was so fascinating to see how many Man Utd fans were wearing Man Utd kits and Wrexham hats. And I thought, ”well that’s a beautiful opportunity.”’
Rob McElhenney revealed that he wants soccer fans to embrace Wrexham as their second club
https://youtube.com/watch?v=cMYS9VvnzGQ%3Frel%3D0%26start%3D1007
Fans of both Manchester United and Chelsea were spotted wearing Wrexham gear when the Welsh club played both Premier League teams in the US this summer
Asked how he won soccer fans over, particularly in the UK as an American, the 46-year-old McElhenney simply said that he and fellow actor and Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynold ‘just approached everything as honestly as we possible could.’
‘And I often know that will draw the buzz saw… but again, I think what we’re trying to do and we’ve been very diligent in this and this is also very important us, is that we knew right away that if we came in there and acted like the Hollywood jerks who knew what they were talk about that that would be automatically rejected and should be.’
‘But that wasn’t about us coming in and telling people what to do. It’s also the beauty of being so naïve about it.
‘We just asked as many questions as we could. We asked them what they needed and how we could help them as opposed to telling them what they should do.’
Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney have been a success since buying Wrexham for $2.5M in ’21
McElhenney was in the stands for Wrexham’s loss against MK Dons in the club’s return to EFL
Hugh Jackman was also spotted in attendance and rooting for the Dragons at the weekend
Together, Reynolds and McElhenney have made Wrexham one of the most talked-about teams in the UK after buying a down-on-its-luck club for $2.5million in 2021 and making it the subject of a fly-on-the-wall documentary – entitled ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ – that’s charted the journey of a team run by a couple of actors learning the ropes of sports club ownership.
Wrexham is playing in the Football League – the three divisions outside the Premier League – for the first time in 15 years following promotion from the National League in April. The Dragons lost their season opener on August 5 to MK Dons, 5-3, with Reynold and McElhenney in the stands, as well as Hugh Jackman.
Wrexham and the Dons were two divisions apart just three months ago and the visitors quickly showed their quality, taking a two-goal lead 10 minutes into the game.
Jacob Mendy reduced the deficit just before halftime as Wrexham celebrated its first EFL goal in 5,572 days. Wrexham was without injured star striker Paul Mullin and new signing James McClean.
Tune in to this episode and the rest of the four part series, ‘Wrexham in the USA’, HERE.
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