Exeter City wanting to tell their own story against Hollywood Wrexham

PLENTY has been made of the Hollywood story at Wrexham under the ownership of megastar actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. But while that may be proving a Netflix hit, Exeter City have a pretty fascinating story of their own to tell.

Both clubs have the same story to tell, in terms of how they went from a club on the brink of extinction to a healthy and sustainable club at League One level. The big difference, of course, is how they got there.

Wrexham have endured a phenomenal rise under their celebrity owners. Little wonder then that attendances have increased by around 10,000 as the town are gripped by Hollywood fever with millions being puimped into the club to take them as far as they can.

READ MORE: Exeter City's preperation for Wrexham trip affected by snow

READ MORE: Welcome to Wrexham is a great story but want to write our ending

There is no sign of the fairytale ending with the journey showing no sign of ending just yet. But while this rags to riches story has happened in the blink of an eye – in football parlance, that is – Exeter’s has been done methodically, over time and on relatively limited funds in comparison.

Two contrasting stories indeed and two very different ways to go from the depths of despair to arguably the healthiest state either club have ever been in. But while the Wrexham story is the envy of many fans that dream of such owners, it is a tale that manager Gary Caldwell has the utmost respect for.

“I think the owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have done a brilliant job in not just buying a football club and running a football club, they have really invested in the community,” Caldwell said. “They have invested in a story and the greatest gift for the two of them is that they are actors and can tell that story very well with the documentary and I think they have generated an amazing amount of intrigue into the club with new supporters and have re-awakened a big club in British football that was probably slowly dying.

“They have really re-awakened that club, the supporters are back, they are climbing through the leagues fairly quickly and look like being a dominant team in this league this year, so I think the two owners deserve tremendous credit.

“The team has obviously evolved from a National League team very quickly into a strong and capable League One team. They are very experienced and have great know-how, their manager (Phil Parkinson) is very similar and knows how to get out of leagues, knows how to win football matches and it’s a brilliant story for them.

“We have to go and create our own story and make sure that we, as a different club, but has risen through the leagues in a different way, we have to make sure that our story is the winning one on Saturday.”

That in itself is easier said than done. A large reason for Wrexham’s on-pitch success is a hefty budget which has allowed them to buy players beyond the level they play, certainly in winning promotion from the National League and League Two.

As a result, they have a phenomenal home record – the best in the EFL throughout 2024 so far with only three defeats – none of which in League One. In seven home games this season, they have won six and drawn the other, so the Grecians – backed by a travelling Army that snapped up their near 1,300 allocation over a month ago – will have to be at their best to win the match.

The task is made that much harder with Ryan Woods suspended after being sent off in the closing stages of last week’s goalless draw with Lincoln. He is also on four yellow cards for the season, the same as Pierce Sweeney and Ilmari Niskanen, but Caldwell does not want that issue to be playing on their minds.

“He has a one-match ban because the yellow turned into a red, so it becomes an automatic one-match ban and he stays on four yellow cards,” Caldwell said of the Woods situation.

“He now has four or five games left where, if he gets a yellow, he will then get another one-match ban for the five yellows.

“But it is part of the game. We want to be an aggressive team out of possession and sometimes, you are going to get yellow cards if that happens, so I wouldn’t ask them or expect them to play any different.

“Obviously you don’t want them to pick up silly yellow cards, but they have to play the game the same way and they have four or five games until the number changes, so let’s see. It’s part of football and if it happens, we will deal with it and if it doesn’t, then great.”