The owners of Wrexham in Hollywood are facing backlash after the club took 16 domestic flights to and from away games last season – including one lasting just 23 minutes
The owners of Wrexham’s Hollywood have been criticized by green activists after their team made 16 domestic flights last year during the promotion’s winning season – including a flight lasting just 29 minutes.
The Welsh side, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, would have been the only non-league team to fly to matches. This included trips to Eastleigh, Exeter and Barnet.
A journey from Manchester to Newcastle for a game against Gateshead was the shortest and would have taken about three hours by bus or two and a half hours by train.
The news has rattled environmentalists who are already angry at the club’s sponsorship deal with United Airlines.
But Welsh secretary David TC Davies defended Reynolds and McElhenney, saying it was not unusual for clubs higher up the football pyramid to fly to matches.
Wrexham, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (seen in April during a game against Notts County), would have been the only non-league team to fly to games last season
He said: ‘They’ve done a really good job over the last few years and I’m definitely not going to beat Wrexham Football Club.
“They have taken the lead in promoting football and promoting Wrexham, which they have done very well.
“They are perfectly within their rights, perfectly within the laws. I’m sure they are aware of climate change, but at the end of the day they have to play football.
“That’s what they do and I think they do a great job.”
Research conducted by the BBC showed Wrexham took short domestic flights to eight of their National League fixtures last season: Barnet, Bromley, Dagenham & Redbridge, Eastleigh, Gateshead, Maidenhead, Maidstone and Torquay.
The players drove to Manchester Airport for the flights on charter planes.
In addition to these 16 flights, which lasted an average of 43.5 minutes, the study also found that 16 ‘positioning flights’ – a journey in which an aircraft is flown specifically to the airport where it picks up passengers – took place.
The club has been criticized for its carbon footprint with Reynolds and co-chairman Rob McElhenney flying a private jet to attend matches.
Wrexham player Will Boyle during a pre-season game in the US wearing a shirt with the logo of the club’s sponsor, United Airlines (left). Right: The Secretary of State for Wales, David TC Davies
Katie Cross leads the organization Pledgeball to try to reduce the carbon footprint of clubs.
She said: ‘The club, with the full support of their new owners, appears to be on the set track of measuring success through global expansion and financial success.
Frank Huisingh, who leads campaign group Fossil Free Football, criticized the deal with United Airlines, which he said was emulating Premier League clubs.
He said: ‘Football has a clear interest in preventing the climate crisis from escalating further. It is therefore sad to see so many world-class young players being asked to promote such a highly polluting activity as flying.
Wrexham AFC should not have followed their lead. They need to do what’s best for fans around the world and stop advertising air travel.
Reynolds and McElhenney, both 46, recently took the Wrexham side on an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas following their promotion to the National League after a 15-year absence.
The National League champions were told a ‘monster’ side was lurking if they won the league, something they achieved in style with a record 111 points to blast them back to League Two.
Earlier this summer, the team enjoyed an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas. McElhenney (second from right, wearing the Wrexham cap) and wife Kaitlin Olson joined the festivities at TAO Beach Dayclub
Throw-in master Ben Tozer shared a video of him and his teammates dancing in a hot tub
And the actors kept their word and made a luxurious four-day trip to Sin City with a packed schedule.
Striker Ollie Palmer shared some photos from the airfield as the team prepared for the 10-hour flight. Midfielder Jordan Davies and centre-back Aaron Hayden were both on the verge of the journey as their partners expected, but both celebrated the birth of children in time to make the run in May.
“It became a thing that if we won the league, we would get a holiday. So we’re going to Vegas,” star striker Paul Mullin, who has scored 47 goals this season, told GQ.
“Ryan and Rob told us to leave our cards at home, they’re sorting things out. They just sent us a full itinerary.
“Part of me doesn’t want to go, maybe I’ll be dead at the end! But I would never go to Vegas on my own accord, so I’m looking forward to it.
The squad recently toured the United States, taking on Chelsea and Manchester United to packed stadiums in Florida and San Diego.
They lost 5-0 to Chelsea, but won 3-1 against Man Utd.
Reynolds had a tongue-in-cheek response to his players’ well-deserved non-stop partying via Instagram stories, which his striker Paul Mullin amusedly shared