Former Wrexham keeper & Premier League hero Ben Foster illustrates by example how the Reds’ consecutive promotion success required more than just wealthy finances.
Recently, Wrexham celebrated the 5th anniversary of Rob Mac & Ryan Reynolds’ Hollywood takeover. Five years and counting, the club has witnessed three back-to-back promotions and now stands at the doorstep of a fourth consecutive Premier League promotion.
Like any success story, Wrexham’s meteoric rise in the English division has drawn its share of critics. With their spending still questioned to date, Wrexham’s success is entirely attributed to its wealthy owners by many.
However, former Premier League hero and ex-Wrexham keeper Ben Foster denied accepting such claims completely. Having closely observed Wrexham’s operations in the EFL, Foster disproves that the club’s financial firepower is the driving factor behind their success.
As quoted by Yahoo Sport, Foster told Press Association: “With Salford City, you’ve got footballers running the show who’ve done it all before. They know how football clubs run, and sometimes that brings a mindset of what won’t work. Birmingham have got very wealthy owners, but Wrexham is different.”
Additionally, the former keeper added on the excellent job done by Rob & Ryan, saying: “Rob and Ryan didn’t really know what they were doing when they took over a football club. They invested money, but they also invested their own energy.”
Wrexham isn’t rare in having influential owners
Being blessed with celebrity or even having football owners isn’t unique anymore. Ben Foster nitpicks a couple of highly prevalent examples of those clubs that haven’t leveraged this luxury as much as Wrexham did.
The clubs in discussion are Championship side Birmingham City and League Two ambionists Salford City.
In Salford’s case, they’ve got Man Utd Class of ’92 stars Gary Neville and David Beckham as the club owners. Being former legends of the game, the duo is likely to know almost every single aspect in enhanced detail compared to other English club owners.
Notably, while Beckham & Neville acquired the 100% ownership last year, Neville and other Man United legends have been investors for a long time. Despite this advantage, Salford has only gained traction now. Being 6th in League Two, they’re in contention for promotion to the third tier.
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In contrast to Salford’s story, Wrexham owners Rob Mac & Ryan Reynolds didn’t come from a sporting background. Instead of this affecting their model, the duo used it to Wrexham’s benefit by experimenting and coming up with global collaborations & the award-winning docuseries, “Welcome to Wrexham”.
Apart from Salford, the other example Foster mentioned is of Birmingham City. Having ambitious owners in Knighthead Capital and a minority investor in Tom Brady, the Blues were expected to be a side to look for this Championship season.
However, Birmingham’s 2025/26 campaign has been modest. Despite a record-breaking League One season last time, the club’s progress has been volatile under the new ownership.
After a relegation in the 2023/24 season, a promotion last year and a 10th spot in the ongoing season, the club’s model has shown signs of ceiling. Unlike Wrexham, the Blues kept experimentation to a minimum, which has bottlenecked their growth in a way.
Rob & Ryan’s energy is what makes Wrexham unique
Initially, when Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac arrived on the scene, there was a lot of speculation on the duo’s commitment. A lack of an extensive footballing background just fueled the scepticism about whether the Hollywood owners were serious about the project.
However, time and again, Rob & Ryan have overdelivered on the promises they made. Managing multiple sporting and management decisions, the duo has balanced it exceptionally well alongside their acting careers.
The best of all is that the Wrexham owners kept things simple but executed with full energy. Being present at games, cheering up the side, Rob & Ryan understood their role perfectly.
Despite overseeing the complete Wrexham project, the duo didn’t overly interfere in the sporting decisions. Having handed the team’s keys to Phil Parkinson, Rob & Ryan backed the manager with complete freedom in calls like the lineup and squad improvements.
Apart from investing in the club, Ryan Reynolds & Rob Mac put in extensive backroom work to make Wrexham successful. Fast forward to now, the club is a reference model for other sides while retaining its core values.
Still close to the fans, the community adores Wrexham’s success. After years of suffering in the National League, it took Rob & Ryan much more than finances to achieve the back-to-back-to-back promotion success.
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