Reynolds and McElhenney's soccer venture with Wrexham captivates NFL star
Wrexham AFC has experienced a remarkable transformation since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took ownership in November 2020. The Hollywood duo not only rescued the club from financial turmoil but also built a competitive team, achieving two promotions in less than four years. Their story has not only revitalized one of soccer’s oldest clubs but also captured the hearts of fans worldwide, including a notable admirer from the NFL.
Former NFL quarterback Joey Harrington, who played for teams like the Detroit Lions, Miami Dolphins, and Atlanta Falcons, has joined the ranks of Wrexham’s devoted supporters. Coming from a family steeped in American football history—his father and grandfather both starred at the University of Oregon—Harrington now finds himself deeply invested in a soccer club nestled in the small Welsh town of Wrexham.
“If you had told me 10 years ago that I’d be buying a subscription to something called the Vanarama National League, I’d have laughed at you,” Harrington told The Athletic, referencing Wrexham’s former fifth-tier status, that Wrexham won in 2022-23.
Harrington also admitted the way watching the club documentary “Welcome to Wrexham” lighted up, not only his passion, but his family too to go and visit the club: “Now, though, I’m up at 6.30am every Saturday to catch the 7am match. No way could I have imagined doing that just a few years ago. But, as a family, we’re totally wrapped up in the club and the journey they are on.”
While Wrexham has a storied history, including being the third-oldest professional football club in the world, its past successes have been modest—their highest finish in English football was 15th in the old Second Division (now the EFL Championship) during the 1978-79 season. Under Reynolds and McElhenney, the club’s trajectory has shifted dramatically, and they currently sit third in EFL League One, just two points shy of an automatic promotion spot.
Harrington’s connection with Wrexham
Harrington’s Wrexham fandom became deeply personal during a family trip to the U.K. His children, Jack and Emmet, both avid soccer fans and aspiring goalkeepers, persuaded him to detour from a Premier League match to visit Wrexham.
Upon arrival, the Harringtons were welcomed warmly: “The first person we bump into in the tunnel is Ben Foster. He walks straight up to the boys, and I’m not exaggerating here, starts talking to them like they were family, asking all sorts of questions.”
Apart from meeting Foster, the Harrington family got across several character, like Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson, pub landlord Wayne Jones, and even Rob McElhenny and Kaitlin Olson, who Joey admitted to be “great” during the meeting. After this sequence, he felt like Wrexham as his home:
“I’ve seen professional sports at the highest level, including a decade in the NFL. I’ve seen what that world looks like. So, as a father, to see how everyone — literally to a person, from the club shop staff to the guy running the pub and the Premier League goalkeeper who stopped a penalty kick against Notts County just a couple of weeks later — treated my kids and my family, Wrexham could lose every single match for eternity and I would still support this club,” he stated.
Wrexham’s contrast with the NFL
The atmosphere and sense of belonging in Wrexham was nowhere to be seen in his time as a football player, neither in the University level nor in the NFL. In the interview with The Athletic, Joey Harrington made things clear between the differences in the sports’ industries:
“...I got to the NFL and it was a business — ‘What can you do for me? How am I going to get mine?’, stabbing people in the back to get another (contract) year. Which I get when you’re in a multi-billion dollar business,” he said. “There’s more to it than just putting butts on seats, there’s more to it than just scratching and clawing your way to the top. It’s how you do it and who you bring along and why you do it that also matters. Wrexham get that,” he ended.