'If you go to the moon, there'd be someone asking, how are Wrexham doing?'
Mickey Thomas says he has never seen football club owners boasting a better relationship with fans than Wrexham's Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.Wrexham will play in English football's second tier next season for the first time in 43 years after clinching second spot in League One last weekend.The Dragons have become the first club in the history of England's top five divisions to secure three straight promotions.Their spectacular run has come following the takeover of the club by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2021, when they were a non-league side."What they have done is unique - it's incredible," Wrexham legend Thomas told this week's Feast of Football podcast."The transformation from the National League to where they are now is massive and they have done it in the right way."I have never seen owners of a football club have the association they have with the players but more so with the fans. The connection is unreal."Former Manchester United player Thomas, 70, made his name at Wrexham in the 1970s before returning to the club at the back-end of his career, when he famously scored a spectacular free-kick in a shock FA Cup victory over Arsenal.
The ex-Wales international (above) had not met Reynolds and McElhenney until last Saturday's promotion-clinching win over Charlton, when he was invited to the owners' box and then asked to celebrate on the pitch alongside them afterwards."I don't think anyone can really believe what's happened to the football club," Thomas added."Everyone wants to go and watch Wrexham. You can't get a ticket these days."It's not just Wrexham, it's globally. They have captured the whole universe haven't they? I am sure if you go to the moon, there'd be someone there asking 'how are Wrexham doing?'."I didn't see this happening. But what they have done is they have got the right man in charge in Phil Parkinson and the recruitment has been second to none."As Wrexham prepare to compete with some heavyweight clubs in the Championship next season, Thomas says another promotion is not inconceivable."We know they will do well to finish halfway in the Championship or whatever, but you wouldn't put it past them, that they could get automatic promotion next year," he said."You might laugh at that, but you never know with these two guys, everything they touch turns to gold."
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