On Saturday night, as a number of football teams across the UK celebrated victories, one pitch invasion caught the hearts and minds of people all around the world. Thousands of Wrexham fans stormed the Racecourse Ground pitch in celebration of their 3-1 win, leaving the club’s celebrity owners, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds stunned and teary-eyed.
The success of the team is largely due to the 18-part series Welcome to Wrexham, which captured the power of human connection within sport. This was more than just a win in a football game; it was the moment an entire community of people saw a promise fulfilled.
Wrexham is one of the many forgotten mining towns across the United Kingdom whose identity and prosperity suffered during the reign of Margaret Thatcher. With hundreds of coal-workers left unemployed and a mining town with no mine, Wrexham lost its industry and its identity. What the people of Wrexham needed more than ever was a re-invention. Enter Rob and Ryan.
Saturday night’s promotion is exactly what the fans, the players and the club owners deserve, but it is just the icing on top of an entire layer cake of opportunities for the people of Wrexham. From relative obscurity, the town is now a globally recognised brand with its own dedicated docuseries that has been viewed all over the world on Disney+, and won rave reviews. The club’s shirts have become gold dust, and they have reached over a million followers on TikTok.
The tribalism within football fandom that so often dominates at the top level is not encouraged at the Racecourse. Die-hard, life-long Wrexham supporters acknowledge the fact that new fans bring more revenue and increase their chances of success, while both McElhenney and Reynolds have been quick to sing the praises of Wrexham’s rivals Notts County. For a team like Wrexham, promotion means better sponsorship, investment in local businesses, job creation and a sense of identity.
The multi-Brit and Grammy award winning band Kings of Leon will play two stadium shows at the Racecourse Ground next month and in July, Wrexham will play against Manchester United at the Snapdragon Stadium in California. What Rob and Ryan have done for the club – and for the town and its people – is nothing short of extraordinary. Their constant innovation, imagination and determination has transformed the club from a fifth-tier team to a globally known one.
When the final whistle blew on Saturday night, it was clear how much it meant not only for the fans and the players, but for the town. The documentary brought English football, and this team in Wales, into the consciousness of fans around the world who were unfamiliar with the concept of the game beyond big-ticket competitions like the Champions League. Wrexham is forgotten no more.