- Wrexham are on their way to the Championship after a third promotion in a row
- But their latest set of accounts shows the financial cost of that achievement
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Why Jude Bellingham’s move to Real Madrid paid off for Liverpool
Wrexham are looking forward to a season in the Championship after being catapulted through the Football League by Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The north Wales club, who were languished in the fifth tier of English football after relegation from the Football League in 2008 and nearly going out of business, were transformed when they were bought by the pair of actors in 2021. They have now overseen three successive promotions amid hugely publicity driven by the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.
But before preparations for next season can be put into place, Reynolds and McElhenney will have to stump up the cash for their side’s achievement this time around.
Wrexham’s accounts for the 2023-24 season, which were published on Companies House on March 31, reveal that promotion to the Championship will cost the club £2.3million in transfer clauses and bonuses.
The figures for the year ended June 30, 2024 show that the club incur a liability of almost £1.5m for promotion-related payments to their players and staff.
In addition to that, the amount due to other clubs as part of promotion transfer clauses stands at £875.000.
Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds (right) bought Wrexham in 2021
Wrexham fans invaded the pitch at full time as the club won promotion from League One
McElhenney, Blame Lively and Reynolds greet a Wrexham fan ahead of Saturday’s match
It is a sign of Wrexham’s rapid growth that, although those outgoing are far from insignificant, they are dwarfed by the club’s increase in revenue — both recorded and projected.
The club’s revenue for for their first year back in the Football League, the season they won promotion from League Two, was £26.7m.
To put that into context, Deloitte’s most recent annual review of football finance has the average Championship club revenue at £22m (excluding parachute payments from the Premier League).
Four years ago, before the club’s Hollywood takeover, Wrexham’s non-league revenue was little over £1m.
And while their latest promotion has made them liable to some additional costs, life in the Championship could mean at least an extra £13 million per year in revenue.
Playing in the second will bring with it more television exposure — and an estimated £8m TV income — with 328 Championship matches being shown on Sky Sports this year compared to 248 in League One.
Premier League solidarity payments for Championship clubs would mean Wrexham would receive around an extra £5million per year, a huge jump from the £780,000 in payments they currently receive from the top flight.
This will supplement the club’s burgeoning revenue streams. Their last set of accounts show that the club’s association with huge brands and a stadium naming-rights deal saw commercial revenue boom to £13.18m. Matchday revenue was up to £5m and shirt sales helped drive retail income to £4.45m.
Wrexham players were able to toast their hard fought promotion to the second tier
Wrexham are planning to expand their Kop stand ahead of their season in the Championship
The Welcome to Wrexham documentary has been transformative for the north Wales club
The club do not actually receive any direct income for the Welcome to Wrexham series but the exposure the show gives — along with the profile of their Hollywood owners — drives their commercial success.
The financial picture at the club looks distinctly rosey with loans from Reynolds and McElhenney, that had grown to £15m, having been cleared — leaving the club loan free.
In short, the club are now in a position where they are not so much bankrolled by their celebrity owners but, after an initial injection, are benefiting from the increased revenue their arrival has brought. The club have had more matches screened in the United States than any other Football League side.
With work on a new Kop stand potentially beginning at the end of the season, further expansion has already been talked about as a way of increasing revenue as Wrexham’s off-field growth keeps pace with its march up the football pyramid.
