Wrexham are just passing through League One and why would anyone begrudge their success?
Wrexham, who visit Peterborough United on Saturday, are just passing through League One.
Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony knows it and doesn’t begrudge the way they are doing it under super-rich, charismatic Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Access to seemingly unlimited wealth – each Netflix episode of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ apparently rakes in £430,000 – will make the Welsh club unstoppable even under the restraints of financial fairplay rules.
MacAnthony’s opinion of Wrexham hasn’t altered since the club were transformed by superstars from the world of film and TV. He believes they will soon be a Championship club.
On one of his regular TalkSPORT appearances MacAnthony said: "They’ll be in the Championship and we could still be in League One because they can pay £7,000-£10,000 a week to players and we can’t. That’s the dynamic of the game.
“Fair play to the owners. They bought in to the club with a plan in mind and they’ve managed to finance it by selling documentaries, advertising, and doing deals with skincare companies, drink companies etc, when they’ve had to put very little of their own money in.
"I saw their revenues last season and it was £15-£20 million a year as opposed to £5 million when they first came in. It’s probably even more now.
"Anyone who can do that while also winning promotions deserves credit. They are not breaking any rules and we’d all do it if we could.”
Posh felt the full force of Wrexham’s spending power earlier this summer when both clubs were trying to sign Leicester City centre-back Lewis Brunt. Wrexham offered a reported weekly wage of £3,000 more than what Posh could pay.
Reynolds and McElhenney bought Wrexham in November 2020 for a reported fee of between £2-2.5 million at a time when the club were in their 12th year as a non-league club.
On-field success wasn’t immediate, but they won the National League in the 2022-23 season and followed that up with automatic promotion from League Two last season.
It’s not the underdog story national media keep trying to push, but it is still a fantastic tale.