On the brink: The scenario facing Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham
The champagne is on ice for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Soccer is the new love of the Hollywood celebrities and there’s a big day in store for the Welsh club they bought unexpectedly in 2021.
Wrexham, which has been thrust into the spotlight because of its famous owners, could seal promotion from the fifth tier of the English game on Saturday. It would mark the realization of the first part of their dream of ultimately getting Wrexham all the way up to the Premier League, the world’s most popular soccer league.
A look at the scenario facing Wrexham and what the team can look forward to:
WHAT’S THE SITUATION?
It’s simple: Wrexham has a four-point lead over Notts County in the National League and needs three points from its final two matches to guarantee promotion to League Two, which is the fourth tier of the English soccer pyramid. Its first shot comes against Boreham Wood at home on Saturday. There is only one automatic promotion place in the National League, with another spot coming from the playoffs, in which Wrexham lost last season.
WHO’S IN LEAGUE TWO?
By gaining promotion to the 24-team League Two, Wrexham would be playing in the same division as Salford, the Manchester-based club owned by five members of Manchester United’s Class of 92 — Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt. In 2009, the league had star power in the form of Notts County, which briefly came under ownership of a consortium from the Middle East that brought in Sven Goran Eriksson as director of football and former England defender Sol Campbell as a player.
IS THERE A TV DEAL?
Sky, the British broadcaster owned by Comcast, has a deal with the English Football League — the three divisions below the Premier League — worth around $150 million per season through 2024. The vast majority of live matches are in the second-tier Championship.
IS THERE A CASH BOOST?
In League Two, each club receives around $1 million per season, half of which comes from a “solidarity payment” from the Premier League. Since Reynolds and McElhenney came on board, Wrexham has typically had home attendances approaching 10,000 per match, which would be one of the highest in League Two.
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