Shaun Harvey reveals what really made Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney ‘fall in love’ with English football
Wrexham director Shaun Harvey has played an understated role in the club’s rise to stardom under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in the last few years.
When Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were looking into becoming the new Wrexham owners in 2021, they brought in Shaun Harvey as a director, later becoming a non-executive director at the Racecourse.
The Hollywood duo needed a person behind the scenes who knew the ins and outs of the game and Harvey is certainly that man, having served as CEO at Leeds United as well as chief executive of the English Football League.
It’s fair to assume that Harvey’s knowledge of the game has played a huge part in the club’s success. Last season Wrexham earned a third-straight promotion and next season will play in the second tier of English football for the first time in more than 40 years.
It’s a hugely exciting time for the club who just this Century spent 15 straight seasons in the non-league. Now we’re talking about Wrexham potentially signing Christian Eriksen following his release from Man United, as well as Wrexham having a £25million transfer budget for this summer alone.
Shaun Harvey reveals what drew Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney to English football
Speaking in a recent interview on the Rich and Rob YouTube channel, Harvey was discussing Wrexham and what initially attracted McElhenney to the club and more broadly to English football.
Harvey explained how McElhenney watched the Sunderland ‘Til I Die series and instantly fell in love with the game, and the idea that a team can work their way from the bottom of the pyramid to the top. Whereas in most US sports, there’s a roster, and if a team finishes at the bottom they’re not relegated.
“Rob’s a massive sports fan first and foremost,” Harvey said. “But falling in love with this principle of promotion and relegation… well he didn’t fall in love with the principle of promotion and relegation, he fell in love with the principle that you could you could take a team from the bottom to the top. That was the bit that excited him.”
Harvey then went on to say: “The other magic was the impact that the football club has on its community and what does it mean to its community… We’ve got 92 [teams] in a much smaller area so everybody has their own.
“So that means the football club has such a more meaningful and significant impact on the community from which it takes its name, and being able to energize and improve a community through the fortunes of its premier sports team.”
Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham dream has only just begun
Whilst McElhenney would’ve dreamed about Wrexham being in this position now, to have actually pulled it off is incredible, and the Hollywood star doesn’t intend on stopping here.
After securing promotion from League One, McElhenney played down the idea of Wrexham consolidating, suggesting that he and indeed Reynolds are intent on getting Wrexham into the Premier League.
A couple of years ago Reynolds predicted Wrexham could be in the Premier League inside 10 years and the club are bang on track to achieve that.
Despite all the swirling rumours of McElhenney and Reynolds selling Wrexham, or at least a stake in the club, the pair certainly invested in the Premier League dream, which is now just 46 games away from potentially becoming a reality.
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