Wrexham AFC have progressed rapidly through the English Football League thanks to the deep pockets of Hollywood movie star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Yet the club has also received a helping hand of £18 million from other, unwitting supporters: Welsh taxpayers.
According to UK Government state aid disclosures, the club has received approximately £18 million of non-repayable grants from the Welsh Government through the local council – far more than the listed direct aid for any other football club in Britain.
Wrexham County Borough Council had previously said the club would receive a “substantial amount” of a £25m Welsh Government grant to redevelop the area around Wrexham General train station next to its stadium, the Racecourse Ground. However, the council had not previously revealed that football clubs would receive the majority of that cash directly.
Wrexham is owned by Reynolds & McElhenney, who have changed their name to Rob Mac, according to UK and US company filings. Reynolds, creator and star of the billion-dollar Deadpool film series, and McElhenney, creator and star of the comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, completed the acquisition in 2021.
Welsh Government money also flowed in when its star owners produced four series of the Welcome to Wrexham Disney TV documentary charting the “fairytale” takeover – one episode reportedly attracted more than 5 million viewers. While Wrexham AFC does not receive any revenue directly from the series, other companies owned by Reynolds and McElheney are believed to have benefited from lucrative production deals.
The stars also helped the club win sponsorship deals from global brands including Facebook owner Meta, United Airlines and TikTok – names that will be coveted by Premier League teams.
Stefan Borsen, football finance expert and head of sport at law firm McCarthy Denning, said: “This looks like an £18m non-repayable subsidy to a privately owned business that is now flirting with a £350m valuation. Its current owners are US-based and very wealthy and liquid private individuals.
“The club and its owners will benefit from this stand for the next 50 years, yet at no time will the taxpayer be paid or directly benefit from the rise of the club.
“The current ownership has put Wrexham on the global map, but it is difficult to understand why funding this stand in this way would be a priority for the Government.”
In addition to the grant, the Welsh Government also purchased land adjacent to the stadium to accommodate a new stand in 2020. The Welsh Government has repeatedly talked about boosting local transport with its £25m investment, without mentioning that most of the money was to be given to the football club.
The grant comes at a time when council budgets are under pressure. News site Wrexham.com has this week reported an alleged “budget crisis” at some of the city’s schools, with some schools potentially forced to make spending cuts to close a £3m budget deficit. Mark Pritchard, who leads the group of independent and Conservative councilors who control the council, told the Leader newspaper this week that “redundancies will be inevitable” if the Welsh Government does not increase the £263 million council budget.
The council stated that funding for the project was not taken from its budget, but was provided only through a Welsh Government grant. The club should also make the racecourse ground (Ca Raas in Welsh) available for other sporting events and concerts, which the council said would create “additional benefits for the residents of North Wales”.
A spokesperson said: “The racecourse is an important cultural and heritage asset for the city of Wrexham and we are clearly keen to preserve it for the future.
“Using grant funding from the Welsh Government, the Council has provided funding to the football club to raise the redevelopment plans to a standard so that international matches can once again be hosted in Wrexham.”
A Wrexham AFC spokesperson said the funds would be used for overall improvements to the stadium and a new Kop stand which would bring the stadium to international level.
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The spokesperson said: “The impact of these improvements, and the ability to host international sporting events in North Wales, will create a catalyst for local job creation and provide an overall economic boost to the region due to the increased numbers of visitors attracted to the events and their economic activity while in the region.”
The £18 million for Wrexham would represent a significant advantage compared to other clubs that do not have recourse to direct state aid. Stockport County finished one place below Wrexham this summer and were denied the highly lucrative promotion to the Championship; Stockport made revenues of £9 million for the year ending June 2024.
The only other Football League clubs named in the state aid disclosures were Plymouth Argyle, which received £2m, Swansea City, which received £400,000, and Bradford City, which received £670,000.
Records show two direct grants from Wrexham County Borough Council to Wrexham AFC Ltd. According to records, the first payment of £3.8m was given in February 2022, while the second payment of £14m was given in September. Wrexham’s 2023 accounts mention £4m in “deferred grants”.
In the records, the council claimed: “The location of the site and the financial challenges meant that the redevelopment of the stand and peripheral improvements in line with the standards required by UEFA, were deemed commercially unviable.” It added that “there is no incentive for the private sector to pursue this project as the value of the economic and social benefits it will bring is not taken into account in the predominantly monetary-driven investment decision-making process”.
However, Wrexham AFC’s 2024 accounts show that this was not the case. He said: “Increasing capacity at the Race Course Ground is a fundamental requirement of the long-term business plan for the club.”
Welcome to Wrexham does not contribute directly to Wrexham AFC’s revenue. However, according to its latest published accounts, global performance has helped it massively grow turnover from £10.5m in 2023 to £26.7m by June 2024. The Financial Times reported that revenues last year could reach £50 million – including sales of 100,000 shirts for a city where there are about 66,000 shirts in the urban area.
The Welsh Government said: “Public sector funding will make a significant difference between meeting club league requirements and meeting more demanding international sustainability standards.
“This investment helps to create a venue that can host competitive international football in the world’s oldest international stadium, boosting the local economy and providing a fitting landmark for Wrexham.”
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