McElhenney reflects on 'magical' Wrexham season

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Rob McElhenney became Wrexham owner alongside Ryan Reynolds in February 2021
  • Author, Chris Wathan
  • Role, 大象传媒 Sport Wales
  • Reporting from Stok Racecourse

Wrexham co-chairman Rob McElhenney says the club are taking things "one step at a time" following back-to-back promotions.

The It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor was at the Racecourse as already-promoted Wrexham celebrated their move into League One with a win over champions Stockport.

It comes 12 months after Wrexham's return to the Football League, with fellow owner and actor Ryan Reynolds expressing delight on social media at "an incredible finish to another season and another promotion".

The Hollywood pair completed their takeover in February 2021 with Reynolds insisting the long-term dream was the Premier League.

"It's been a magical season," McElhenney told 大象传媒 Sport Wales. "It's been an incredible year and this was just the icing on the cake."

McElhenney said he kept in contact with Reynolds during Saturday's game and explained the Deadpool star was disappointed to be absent as Phil Parkinson鈥檚 side secured the runners-up spot.

Huge overseas interest in the club, as a result of their celebrity owner involvement and access-all-areas documentary, helped Wrexham achieve record turnover in recent accounts.

McElhenney was asked whether the predictions of reaching the top flight were now being taken seriously, but he said: "It's just one step at a time."

He added: "We didn't expect promotion to come so quickly. I'd be lying if I said we didn't expect that we would be up there - and that鈥檚 just based on conversations we'd had with Phil [Parkinson] throughout the off-season.

"Even as we stumbled at the beginning, he had a steady hand and he felt we'd be up there near the top - if not the top three then in play-off contention - so we felt pretty confident, but you never know with football."

Wrexham's slow start to the season 鈥 and mid-season stumble 鈥 had seen some criticism of Parkinson before he silenced doubters in steering the club to the third tier for the first time since 2005.

It was Parkinson's fifth promotion of his career, and McElhenney praised his achievement by saying: "The man has done nothing but deliver constantly and consistently."