Ryan Reynolds wakes up from Wrexham promotion party with £2.3m bill to pay

Wales Online

29-04-2025

Ryan Reynolds wakes up from Wrexham promotion party with £2.3m bill to pay
The Hollywood star watched his side seal promotion to the Championship alongside co-owner Rob McElhenney on Saturday
Reynolds will now have to stump up a seven figure sum after Wrexham's latest success
(Image: Nik Mesney/Huw Evans Agency )
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have been hit with a seven-figure sum to pay after Wrexham sealed their place in the Championship next season and enjoyed a weekend of celebration parties.
The Red Dragons pulled off an unprecedented third successive promotion by beating Charlton 3-0 at the weekend, which meant they have risen from non-league to the second tier of English football since the two Hollywood actors took over the club in 2021. Both Reynolds and McElhenney joined in with the celebrations at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday, but will now have to stump up a sizeable amount of cash after their club's latest success.
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Wrexham's accounts for the year ending June 30, 2024, which were published on Companies House at the end of last month, reveal that their promotion to the Championship will now cost the club a total of £2.3 million in transfer clauses and bonuses.
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The figures show that the Hollywood-backed side incur a liability of around £1.5 million for promotion-related bonus payments to both players and staff.
In addition, £875,000 is now due to be paid to other clubs as part of promotion transfer clauses, with Reynolds and McElhenney - who between them have an estimated net worth of around $450 million (£340 million) - set to foot the bill.
However, while there are considerable outgoings to be made, they look less significant when taking into account the club's enormous increase in revenue.
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Last season, in which they won promotion from League Two, Wrexham's revenue was £26.7 million, putting it above the average Championship club revenue of £22 million, as calculated in Deloitte's most recent annual review of football finance.
To put that into context, before Reynolds and McElhenney took over in 2021, the club's revenue in the National League was just over £1 million.
The two actors bought the club for around £2 million, but its value could now soar to £150 million in the Championship, according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
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Additionally, while they now have to pay additional costs, promotion to the Championship is set to earn Wrexham an extra £13 million per year in revenue, as well as an estimated £8 million in TV income.
Solidarity payments from the Premier League will also see the club receive an extra £5 million per year, which is an increase from the £780,000 they currently get from the top flight.
After watching his side earn back-to-back-to-back promotions on Saturday, Reynolds penned an emotional note to the city and the club's fans as he admitted he "feels at home" in north Wales.
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"We've been with Wrexham for what seems like the blink of an eye, but so much has happened," he wrote. "I remember the first press conference, we were asked what our goals were… and I think Rob jumped in with, 'The Premiere League'.
"People laughed. They had every right to. It seemed insane… But we weren't kidding. I feel at home here. It's a place that values community, decency and history. From the respect it pays to the Gresford Disaster, to the feeling of hope and miracles created by Mickey Thomas. These are big reasons Wrexham is growing into what it always was.
"It isn't just a place with a history of ups and downs, it's also a FEELING. And a feeling is sometimes as good or better than a memory. We made history. We've been promoted for a record third time in a row.
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The Deadpool star added: "The Stadium feels like a church. I know so many of you now. Since February, 2021, I've watched babies become regulars. And some regulars depart us for good. We've had the honour to scatter ashes of loved ones across that field. I've even watched every available hand shovel snow off the pitch to keep a match from cancellation
"Somebody said the Welsh have the 'heart of a poet and the fist of a fighter'. That's what I love about this place. I wish the whole world could visit Wrexham. Diolch."