Wrexham Association Football Club

Wrexham AFC are the oldest club in Wales and one of the oldest in the world, founded in 1864 at the Turf Hotel in the North Welsh border town of Wrexham. The Racecourse Ground — the world's oldest international football venue, now commercially known as STōK Cae Ras — has been their home throughout, and the club's history stretches from the Victorian era through decades of Football League membership to a painful spell in non-league and one of the most extraordinary revivals in the sport's history.

In February 2021, Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their takeover of Wrexham, which was then languishing in the National League. The purchase — and the FX/Hulu documentary series "Welcome to Wrexham" that chronicled every step — transformed the club from a fifth-tier side with a devoted but small fanbase into a global phenomenon. Reynolds and McElhenney invested heavily in the squad, the ground, and the community, and the results were spectacular: Phil Parkinson led Wrexham to the National League title in 2022-23, and the following season the club won promotion from League Two, achieving back-to-back promotions to reach League One.

The Wrexham story has transcended football. The documentary introduced millions of viewers worldwide to the culture of lower-league English and Welsh football, the tight-knit community of Wrexham, and the raw emotion of promotion battles. The Racecourse Ground has been expanded, merchandise sales have exploded, and the town itself has benefited from the global attention. A third promotion in 2024-25 carried Wrexham into the Championship for the first time in the club's history — a level that seemed unimaginable when Reynolds and McElhenney took over a fifth-tier side just four years earlier. The 2025-26 season represents the ultimate test of whether this remarkable project can sustain its momentum at the second tier of English football. Off the pitch, Reynolds and McElhenney have shown that celebrity ownership, when done with genuine care and investment, can be transformative rather than exploitative.