Latest news with #RobMcElhenney
Sydney Morning Herald
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Sydney FC v Wrexham AFC LIVE updates: North-east Wales meets New South Wales in pre-season friendly
Go to latest G'day, g'day Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they? Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League's biggest disappointment last season? The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren't even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post. Their takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport's most fascinating stories, and their rise from England's fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here. This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let's see what happens. For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I'm joking.) I'm Vince Rugari, by the way. Pleasure to have your company. 7.05pm This place is buzzing Expecting a crowd of around/over 35,000 here at Allianz Stadium, which is quite something. Where would A-League teams fit in the English pyramid? This might be our best chance to find out Trying to draw meaning from pre-season friendlies is a fool's errand. But this is the A-League's silly season, after all - so in that spirit, let's have a crack. If you've thought about club soccer in Australia for longer than a few moments, the following unanswerable question may have crossed your mind: how would our teams fare in Europe? Specifically, England. In an alternate universe in which A-League sides have the opportunity to compete in the English pyramid system … how would they go? Would our best survive in the Premier League? Almost certainly not. So what's the level? Could champions Melbourne City hold their own in the Championship? Could the Wanderers climb out of League One? Would the likes of last season's cellar-dwellers Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar sink to the bottom of the League Two table … or lower? 6.52pm Here are the starting XIs For your perusual, the team sheet. The Sky Blues, still four months out from the start of the A-League season, are missing marquee man Douglas Costa, midfielder Leo Sena and defender Alex Grant - plus club great Anthony Caceres, who has departed for Macarthur FC, and some others like Patryk Klimala who have also moved on. Their squad is about six players short of what it will be when October comes, and two of those players will be imports. So don't judge them on this, tonight. Meanwhile, there's the Wrexham team. I know you don't know too much about these players individually, and you should probably know I don't either - but it's not about that, is it? It's about how they make you feel. 6.47pm G'day, g'day Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they? Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League's biggest disappointment last season? The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren't even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post. Their takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport's most fascinating stories, and their rise from England's fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here. This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let's see what happens. For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I'm joking.)
The Age
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Age
Sydney FC v Wrexham AFC LIVE updates: North-east Wales meets New South Wales in pre-season friendly
Go to latest G'day, g'day Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they? Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League's biggest disappointment last season? The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren't even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post. Their takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport's most fascinating stories, and their rise from England's fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here. This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let's see what happens. For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I'm joking.) I'm Vince Rugari, by the way. Pleasure to have your company. 6.58pm Where would A-League teams fit in the English pyramid? This might be our best chance to find out Trying to draw meaning from pre-season friendlies is a fool's errand. But this is the A-League's silly season, after all - so in that spirit, let's have a crack. If you've thought about club soccer in Australia for longer than a few moments, the following unanswerable question may have crossed your mind: how would our teams fare in Europe? Specifically, England. In an alternate universe in which A-League sides have the opportunity to compete in the English pyramid system … how would they go? Would our best survive in the Premier League? Almost certainly not. So what's the level? Could champions Melbourne City hold their own in the Championship? Could the Wanderers climb out of League One? Would the likes of last season's cellar-dwellers Perth Glory and Brisbane Roar sink to the bottom of the League Two table … or lower? 6.52pm Here are the starting XIs For your perusual, the team sheet. The Sky Blues, still four months out from the start of the A-League season, are missing marquee man Douglas Costa, midfielder Leo Sena and defender Alex Grant - plus club great Anthony Caceres, who has departed for Macarthur FC, and some others like Patryk Klimala who have also moved on. Their squad is about six players short of what it will be when October comes, and two of those players will be imports. So don't judge them on this, tonight. Meanwhile, there's the Wrexham team. I know you don't know too much about these players individually, and you should probably know I don't either - but it's not about that, is it? It's about how they make you feel. 6.47pm G'day, g'day Hello football fans and welcome to our live coverage of tonight's friendly between Sydney FC and Wrexham AFC - a showdown that absolutely nobody would have thought up five years ago. I mean, why would they? Why on earth is the third-best team in Wales doing a pre-season tour of Australia? And why would around 35,000 people in Sydney be interested in braving a cold Tuesday night to see them play a team that was probably the A-League's biggest disappointment last season? The answer: celebrity, folks. A force so powerful that it works when the celebrities in question aren't even here. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now, legally, Rob Mac) are not at Allianz Stadium tonight - their schedules, we presume, are too busy - but it is only because of them that you even remotely care about Wrexham, or at least enough to click on this blog and read this post. Their takeover of Wrexham AFC is truly one of sport's most fascinating stories, and their rise from England's fifth tier to the Championship - three consecutive promotions, an unprecedented feat at this level - has been nothing short of a remarkable. The hit Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has documented it all, helping them build a global fanbase that stretches all the way … here. This coming season, the Red Dragons are just one division below the Premier League. Can they get there? Who knows. But this match forms an important part of their preparations. So let's see what happens. For Sydney FC, the job is simple: be a good opponent and fly the flag for the Australian game, unlike Melbourne Victory, who shamed the A-League with a 3-0 defeat on Friday night. (I'm joking.)
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News AU
Wrexham football club visit Taronga Zoo in Sydney
Welsh football club Wrexham have visited Taronga Zoo ahead of a game with Sydney FC. The team, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, was seen admiring Australian wildlife. They face Sydney FC on Tuesday night in the final game of their Australian tour.
Times
a day ago
- Business
- Times
Ultra-rich spend £1.7 billion buying UK assets such as Everton FC
Wealthy individuals and family offices have intensified their personal dealmaking, spending £1.7 billion on acquisitions ranging from small UK companies to football clubs. In the year to May 9, the value of deals undertaken by high net worth individuals and their investment houses increased more than threefold from £450 million the year before, with the number of transactions up from 30 to 34, according to research by Pinsent Masons, the law firm. Key deals included Friedkin Group, the family office of Dan Friedkin, netting a majority stake in Everton Football Club in December, and the October acquisition of Wrexham Lager Beer, the UK brewer, by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the American celebrity co-owners of Wrexham football club. The League Two football club Bristol Rovers received Gulf investment when Hussain AlSaeed, a Kuwaiti businessman, acquired a majority stake in August 2023. Sunjay Malhotra, a partner at Pinsent Masons, said the transactions were driven by ultra-wealthy individuals and family offices seeking to avoid the high fees charged for participating in a private equity fund by buying the private assets themselves. Malhotra added: 'Many of these high net worths are entrepreneurs, so they want to participate in the management decisions of the investee companies, which they would not get if they invested through a fund. 'Whilst some of these deals are targeting trophy assets like football clubs or other sports brands, the majority [of] deals are very pragmatic, driven by a desire to diversify investment and increase exposure to private assets. Some vendors can also prefer private individuals as bidders, as they can offer a quicker due-diligence process than an institution or corporate bidder.' Private equity funds have outperformed public equities by between 6 per cent and 8 per cent a year since the 1990s, but many investors have been reluctant to participate in the boom owing to the large fees charged by firms. Wealth Club, the largest non-advisory investment service in the UK, has also launched a fund supermarket pitched at high net-worth investors to offer semi-liquid private equity funds from managers including Apollo, Brookfield, Hg and EQT. The fund has been designed to help investors who are put off by the illiquid nature of private equity funds. Malhotra said the investment in UK companies by wealthy individuals was a 'very encouraging sign', adding: 'It suggests that the UK continues to be innovative, producing companies of value that appeal to an international audience.'
Fashion Network
a day ago
- Business
- Fashion Network
Macron's Wrexham home kit launch sees orders deluge from "global fanbase"
Wrexham AFC's new online store has made a record-breaking debut averaging one shirt order a minute as the Welsh club prepares to made its entry into the English Championship. The site, developed and managed by Italian sportswear producer Macron, is part of the multi-year extension of its partnership with Wrexham whose journey from the National League to the Championship has been achieved in just three seasons under actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's ownership. The website's launch coincide with events for the new 2025/26 Home Kit held in Wrexham, New York City and Melbourne. 'Within just a few hours, it was flooded with orders from the club's global fanbase,' Macron said. It added: 'The success of the new Wrexham AFC global online store highlights Macron's commitment to supporting its partner clubs not only with high-quality, customised technical sportswear, but also through the development and management of advanced digital solutions that help promote each clubs' identity and history both on and off the pitch'. International fans can now shop the club's Home Kit, Training & Travel collection and a range of accessories on the site. In the coming weeks, the new Away and Third Kits will also be available for purchase.
