Wrexham’s Hollywood co-owners land investment deal with billionaire US family

Wrexham’s Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have landed new investment from a billionaire New York family as they try fund the club’s rise through English football.

Deadpool star Reynolds co-owns the Welsh club with fellow A-lister McElhenney and the pair have ambitions to turn the team into a footballing powerhouse. Wrexham’s rise to League One from non-league football has been charted in documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.

The pair announced that the Allyn family, who formerly owned medical device company Welch Allyn, have invested an undisclosed sum through Red Dragon Ventures LLC, a joint venture with Reynolds and McElhenney. Welch Allyn was sold for £1.33billion in 2015. The exact amount invested has not been disclosed but the family is understood to have ploughed several million pounds into Red Dragon Ventures in a boost for the club and the Wrexham community.

A statement issued by Reynolds and McElhenney said: “Wrexham has earned the world’s attention and we are focused on bringing on board world-class partners to help with the next phase of our growth.

“We have been fortunate to get to know the Allyn family and we are blown away by their intelligence, kindness and commitment. They are exactly the type of partners we will need for this amazing endeavour.”

The pair also announced that they had bought another piece of Wrexham: its brewery. Wrexham Lager, one of the team’s sponsors, was founded in 1882 and claims to be the oldest British lager brewery in existence.

The presence of Reynolds and McElhenney will boost the brewer’s efforts to expand its international production and distribution.

“As co-chairmen of Wrexham AFC, we have learnt a lot,” Reynolds and McElhenney added. “The connection between club and community, the intricacies of the offside rule and the occasional need for beer – especially after finance meetings.

“Wrexham Lager has a 140-year-old recipe and a storied history and we’re excited to help write its next chapter.”

The brewery has not disclosed financial details but said Reynolds and McElhenney have a majority stake.

Telegraph Sport in June that Birmingham City had mooted the idea of playing a League One fixture against Wrexham in the US to further growing interest in the English domestic game in the other side of The Pond.

Birmingham’s American consortium ownership, which includes NFL great Tom Brady, has identified the commercial appeal of Hollywood-backed Wrexham playing in the US.

No official request was made to the Football League, however, after the club was told informally in recent weeks that such an idea would be flatly turned down.