Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham face £49million wake-up call as Championship opener announced

Wrexham’s first season in the Championship for 43 years is set to be a challenging one after the Welsh side’s fixture list for the 2025/26 campaign was announced

Wrexham have been given a harsh reality check of the hurdles they’ll face in the Championship after confirmation of next season’s fixture list. The Welsh side’s first match is set to be a challenging one as they head off to Southampton, a team that was relegated from the Premier League in April.

Wrexham’s co-owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, have said manager Phil Parkinson will receive financial support this summer to assemble a squad capable of holding its own in the second tier. The Hollywood duo have a combined net worth estimated at roughly £291m ($400m) from their acting careers and savvy business ventures.

But they will face a club receiving Premier League parachute payments in their first match on August 9. Clubs that have been relegated from the top flight continue to get a portion of the revenues for at least two more years as they adjust to life in the Championship.

In their first season post-relegation, Southampton are projected to receive about £49m. The amount is approximately five times what typical second-tier teams receive through solidarity payments and TV broadcast deals.

The Saints are owned by London-based investment group Sport Republic, led by Rasmus Ankersen, Henrik Kraft, and main investor Dragan Solak. Solak’s estimated net worth is a staggering £1.4bn, as reported by news magazine Nedeljnik, making him the second-richest individual in Serbia.

On the other hand, Kraft’s wealth is estimated to be around £2bn, which partly explains why Southampton are tipped to lift the Championship title next season. Their personal fortunes significantly outstrip those of Reynolds and McElhenney.

However, Wrexham have a secret weapon in the form of the Allyn family from New York, who became minority investors in the club last October. For over a hundred years, the family owned US medical device manufacturing company Welch Allyn Inc.

In September 2015, the firm was sold to Hill-Rom in a deal believed to be worth just under £1.5bn at current rates. The Allyns have since shifted their focus to investing in private and public markets, and Wrexham have benefited from several substantial cash injections since their involvement.

While they may not have the financial muscle to compete with recently-relegated Premier League clubs, football finance expert Kieran Maguire reckons the Red Dragons will still be in the top half of the table in terms of their spending power. He also pointed out that the popularity of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary is one of the main factors behind their financial strength.

Speaking to talkSPORT earlier this year, Maguire said: “Wrexham made three times as much as any other club [when playing] in League Two, more than any other club in League One and they would be in the top half of the Championship.

“Therefore they’re not that far behind the Championship’s big hitters – the likes of Stoke and Norwich. It’s an incredible achievement in terms of bringing in money. It’s also their ability to become an international brand which has really driven this.

“[Promotion] adds another £8m of TV money because they will be in the Championship. That would put them fairly close to all of the clubs except for those who will be in receipt of parachute payments in the Championship.”

He added: “I think that they are in a very strong position from a PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) point of view. Last year they lost £2.5m, they can lose £39m over three years when they get to the Championship.

“They have the capacity to invest in players and invest in improving the infrastructure and I think they will be an exhilarating proposition to watch because everybody’s eyes will be on them.”

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