‘Wrexham can be your second club’: Rob McElhenney reveals how he told Chelsea and Manchester United fans on US tour to support his team too
Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney has revealed how he told fans of both Chelsea and Manchester United to also support his team should they play against the big boys of the Premier League on their tour of the US this summer.
Sitting with Roger Bennett, from the TV show Men in Blazers, which is available for streaming on NBC’s Peacock, the actor opened up about what he saw in the stands as his Dragons played the Blues in North Carolina and the Red Devils in California last month.
Wrexham first lost to Chelsea 5-0, before beating Erik Ten Hag’s young side 3-1.
“I think this is part of the fun,” said McElhenney after being told the Welsh club is “non-threatening” to clubs like the 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 are so far apart that you can have two clubs. You can support us for now.” And we had a great response and I think it was so fascinating to see how many Man Utd fans were wearing Man Utd kits and Wrexham caps. And I thought, “Well that’s a great opportunity.”
Rob McElhenney revealed that he wants football fans to embrace Wrexham as their second club
Fans from both Manchester United and Chelsea were spotted in Wrexham kit as the Welsh club played both Premier League sides in the US this summer
When asked how he managed to win over football fans as an American, particularly in the UK, the 46-year-old McElhenney simply said that he and his fellow actor and Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynold have ‘approached everything as honestly as possible’ .
“And I know a lot of times that’s going to pull the circular saw … but again I think what we’re trying to do and we’ve been very diligent about this and this is also very important to us is we knew right away that if we came in there and acted like the Hollywood bastards who knew what they were talking about, that would automatically be rejected and it should be.’
“But that wasn’t about us coming in and telling people what to do. It’s also the beauty of being so naive about it.
“We just asked as many questions as possible. We asked them what they needed and how we could help them, instead of telling them what to do.’
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been a success since they bought Wrexham for $2.5 million in ’21
McElhenney sat in the stands for Wrexham’s loss to MK Dons on the club’s return to EFL
Hugh Jackman was also seen attending and rooting for the Dragons over the weekend
Together, Reynolds and McElhenney have made Wrexham one of the most high-profile teams in the UK after buying a bad luck club in 2021 for $2.5 million and turning it into a fly-on-the-wall documentary. – titled ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ – that charted the journey of a team led by a pair of actors learning the ropes of sports club ownership.
Wrexham play 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 and took a two-goal lead after 10 minutes of play.
Jacob Mendy narrowed the deficit just before half-time as Wrexham celebrated its first EFL goal in 5,572 days. Wrexham were without injured striker Paul Mullin and new signing James McClean.
Tune in to this episode and the rest of the four-part series, ‘Wrexham in the US’, HERE.
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