In Exeter, a match to show how Reynolds and Mcelhenney wrexhams have recharged the climb

At the end of a week, when the true influence of Hollywood to Wrexham was laid by a balance sheet with almost as many new records as the Musikbus HMV, it was appropriate that the Welsh club should go on the long trip to Exeter City.

The Devon Club is in the 21st season of fan possession, the same model that Wrexham kept afloat over water for more than a decade before Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney drove into the city.

Like the 2-0 winner on Saturday, Exeter in the National League years in her case between 2003 and 2008-in the National League was able to have been approved after the former owners.

Today, the Devon Club is rightly considered one of the best in EFL, which optimally uses the limited resources to establish itself as an outfit in the league. Wrexham Manager Phil Parkinson is certainly a fan.

“This is a good club and it is totally respect for the job you did,” he says. “I love her story with the situation in possession of fans and how, like us ourselves, this club had difficult times, but kept going.”

Exeter’s mid-table position in the past three years has been in a division in which they stood against some relative giants, with Birmingham City, the youngest member of the Premier League-Alumni, to visit St. James Park to Sheffield Wednesday, Derby County Town and Portsmouth that had taken the trip to the southwest.

Wrexham may never have played higher than the second stage in its history, but the unveiling of this week about the huge turnover of £ 26, two, which is achieved by the Liga -Zwei campaign of last season in Stōk Cae Ras, means that they can be added to a list of League One Clubs with exceptional financial muscle.

In order to get into the context for the current campaign, Portsmouth, Champions of this Division in 2023-24, rose in 13.6 million GBP over the same financial period and the second-placed derby GBP.

Exeter’s accounts for the last full financial year are not yet available, but 2022-23 was the annual turnover in St. James Park 5.8 million GBP, including GBP 1.39 million in GBP. A winning of £ 312,000 was achieved in one season when the club took 14th place in the first division.

This wisdom and in particular the care of young talents that are to be sold for profit has characterized this era of fan ownership in St. James Park. In the absence of a great benefactor.

Sold clauses are particularly important and offer exeters promptly deductions in addition to the initial fees paid for Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu, which were sold to Brentford and Chelsea in 2017.

Before two summers, Ampadus change from Stamford Bridge to Leeds United acquired his youth club more than 1 million GBP. Jay Stansfield’s move from Fulham to Birmingham City also proved to be lucrative. The sales clause in its broadcast from 2019 to Craven Cottage is expected to bring in another £ 2 million.

Not too long ago, a similar degree of attitude to Wrexham’s only hope of a better future seemed to be a better future after mismanagement and poor decision -making in the fans in 2011.

For the next decade, the support of the supporters conducted the show with the support of around 4,000 members who pay their annual u boats.

The success in the field turned out to be outside of the reach, and Wrexham sackled 98 points in 2011-12, only to get the conference title from Fleetwood Town and then lose 12 months later in the play-off final against Newport County. The irony of Fleetwood and to a lesser extent from Newport, both of which benefited from a rich supporter, was not lost.

In front of the field, however, the Trust converted that a club initially had £ 750,000 a year to a debt -free and in the bank when it was bought by Reynolds and Mcelhenney in February 2021.

As soon as Hollywood had arrived in North Wales, the expenditure of restrictions went out of the window when the new owners tried to relieve an escape from the non-league over a number of loans.

This ambition remained in the EFL once, although – like the latest accounts reveal – with WREXHAM has now been led to more sustainable lines.

A wage bill of 11 million GBP in 2023-24 can not only be the understanding of the last League two clubs of the past year, but also most of the division colleagues from Wrexham this time.

Sealing of the victory from the position 👏 👏

🔴⚪️ #Wxmafc pic.twitter.com/qpmqn85Rec

– Wrexham AFC (@WREXHAM_AFC) March 29, 2025

However, this was made possible by this record-breaking turnover of 26.7 million GBP, which was partially increased by seven times the sponsoring income to 13.1 million GBP and other considerable boosts for matchday and retail income.

This newly discovered sustainability on the back of such a large level of income also brings a very great benefit. Like Wrexham – in contrast to others in the first division, whose business model is largely dependent on the sale of players, can stick to their best talent in order to continue to drive the leagues further up.

Max Cleworth and Arthur Oconkwo’s performance at this level have not been unnoticed. The duo is the calm that was embodied in the comfortable victory against Gary Caldwell’s team to only sharpen this interest.

Just like Sam Smith, Ollie Rathbone (who achieved the game on Saturday), Ryan Longman, Lewis Brunt and George Dobson – were all signed in the past 12 months, while a remarkable shift in recruitment policy has started to reduce the average age and to enable the page more mobility.

The enormous financial resources that Parkinson has made possible to recruit such a talent means that there is no real upper limit how far the Welsh club can go. In contrast to exeter, possibly due to the restrictions of a fans-led setup, which inevitably match the commendable aspects, a team of volunteers contained the garbage from the stands within 15 minutes after the final pipe.

Wrexham is not completely on the sustainability front. They lost GBP 2.7 million to 2023-24 and a similar deficit will be forecast for this season.

But after all the years in North Wales, in which he tried to do every pound of the work of a celebration, while the trust of the supporters praised the lights, the time that Wrexham really arrives is to dream great.

(Top photo: Matthew Ashton – Ama/Getty Images)