Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have given an insight into their long-term ambitions for Welsh football team Wrexham, who they hope could eventually see the capacity of their Racecourse Ground stadium increase hugely to 55,000.
The Hollywood duo have already transformed the fortunes of the historic but unlucky club through their $2.5 million acquisition in 2021 and the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary series, which is broadcast around the world.
Following back-to-back promotions, Wrexham will play in the third tier of English football next season.
The Hippodrome currently has a capacity for just 12,600 fans, with plans to build a new stand with a capacity of 5,500. But Reynolds and McElhenney’s vision is to build one of the biggest stadiums in English football.
“We have a plan in place now that would eventually work from stand to stand, so eventually you have all four sides. It’s hard to say for sure, but we think we could attract between 45 and 55 thousand people,” McElhenney told entertainment website Collider.
“Like the whole city could go to the game,” Reynolds added.
The largest club stadium in the English league is Manchester United’s Old Trafford, which has a capacity for 74,310 people.
Reynolds and McElhenney have so far been frustrated in their attempts to develop the Racecourse, which they hoped would see a new stand opened for the start of the 2024-25 season.
In view of continued delays, a temporary stand was erected last season.
“It’s a lot harder to build in the UK than, I’ve found, almost anywhere else in the world,” McElhenney said.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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