Welcome to Wrexham

[Monaco_Totty]

And it's hardly surprising that there would have been professional assistance at all stages.
I'm surprised to see you injecting the kind of negativity I'm usually accused of. I don't imagine that all at Wrexham is sweetness and light, long-standing players were released very early on in the new "regime" and others have followed over the period where the club has gained back to back promotions, but the positive effects on the club, the supporters and the town in general can't be denied with media outlets suggesting that the model at Wrexham might be applied elsewhere to other lower league teams, to the benefit of those who aren't the beneficiaries of Sky largesse.

I say again, if only LUFC had been fortunate enough to gain similar stewardship.

Not great 'tho having Shaun Harvey sat on your Board is it 'tho ?
He joined Wrexham in Feb 2021 as an Advisor to their Board when McElhenney & Reynolds announced their intention to buy the club.🤐

Easy to moan about the running of clubs but some fans actually do get involved behind the scenes for no financial reward to try & improve matters - even at Leeds.👍

Any "negativity" you may have interpreted in my views was that imo, lots of smaller clubs have a loyal fan base & most don't get any recognition for that fact particularly the Supporter Trust groups who own or co-own their local clubs - they are from communities too but get scant reward financially for their efforts in keeping a local club afloat.

Great example is how AFC Wimbledon conduct their affairs after what their long suffering fans have been put through, done without the glamour of Hollywood stars mega bucks PR media teams, also Exeter City deserve a shout too as they are owned by a Supporters' Trust & like Wimbledon, the club does not have the same financial capabilities as those clubs with wealthy backers. This means that plenty of work is done by volunteers.
https://thedonstrust.org/about-us/#:...%20the%20world.

Setting up a Supporter Trust ? https://thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/...porters-trust/

Supporter Trusts are also funded by UEFA to work across Europe's leagues giving many fans opportunities to be sat on Boards, maybe the German concept should be a route to be followed.
List of fan-owned soccer clubs around the world - World Soccer Talk
https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/lis...ST-458795.html

Regardless, you posted an interesting topic WTF which obviously i added my view on Supporter Trusts which can become emotive for sure, as i know from my Mums translation stuff for Football Supporters Europe who highlight your concerns of "fan disconnection" from the game regularly.

[WTF11]

Not great 'tho having Shaun Harvey sat on your Board is it 'tho ?
He joined Wrexham in Feb 2021 as an Advisor to their Board when McElhenney & Reynolds announced their intention to buy the club.��

Easy to moan about the running of clubs but some fans actually do get involved behind the scenes for no financial reward to try & improve matters - even at Leeds.��

Any "negativity" you may have interpreted in my views was that imo, lots of smaller clubs have a loyal fan base & most don't get any recognition for that fact particularly the Supporter Trust groups who own or co-own their local clubs - they are from communities too but get scant reward financially for their efforts in keeping a local club afloat.

Great example is how AFC Wimbledon conduct their affairs after what their long suffering fans have been put through, done without the glamour of Hollywood stars mega bucks PR media teams, also Exeter City deserve a shout too as they are owned by a Supporters' Trust & like Wimbledon, the club does not have the same financial capabilities as those clubs with wealthy backers. This means that plenty of work is done by volunteers.
https://thedonstrust.org/about-us/#:...%20the%20world.

Setting up a Supporter Trust ? https://thefsa.org.uk/fan-resources/...porters-trust/

Supporter Trusts are also funded by UEFA to work across Europe's leagues giving many fans opportunities to be sat on Boards, maybe the German concept should be a route to be followed.
List of fan-owned soccer clubs around the world - World Soccer Talk
https://worldsoccertalk.com/news/lis...ST-458795.html

Regardless, you posted an interesting topic WTF which obviously i added my view on Supporter Trusts which can become emotive for sure, as i know from my Mums translation stuff for Football Supporters Europe who highlight your concerns of "fan disconnection" from the game regularly.

The first episode of the documentary explains the role that Harvey was to fulfil at the beginning of the new ownership era, given the inexperience of those new owners. Whatever we might think of Harvey and his relationship with Leeds both within and outside the club, he has done a not too shabby job at Wrexham, credit where its due. His continued presence at Wrexham, and the clubs success, says something about his worth to them, and to infer otherwise (as you did in your first sentence) flies in the face of the evidence.

My whole point in starting the thread was to celebrate the achievements of Wrexham, before, during and after the takeover and to highlight that it IS possible for the clubs in the lower divisions to benefit from "celebrity" involvement. Clearly it's not the first time a celebrity has stepped in (Elton John at Watford, Delia at Naarwich etc), however the fact that high profile individuals have seen fit to invest in a non-league club is in itself significant, and could (big "could") encourage others to follow suit.

Your point about smaller clubs having a loyal fan base is perfectly valid (Eastleigh is one such), but it would be unrealistic to expect all to be recognised as has been the case with Wrexham. That being said, the spotlight that has been shone on lower leagues may work to the benefit of all, we will see. No-one can denigrate the work that supporter organisations do, whether or not they get publicity or the credit they are worthy of. The game here in the UK will never follow the route taken by the German federation, money talks and will always resist such a move.

FWIW I have enjoyed the documentary series (now on episode 4) and would recommend to anyone who just likes a feel good story relating to football.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

I suspect part of the negativity from some is due to the fall in the 2000s from the highs and having to endure the likes of Captain Birdseye, GFH and Cellino.

We went from being a top tier club to a bereft shambles and every time we have a set back I suspect the fear is we slip back into that.

I quite like the approach of the 49ers and I don’t think there is much to complain about since they took sole custody of the club and they seem to be quietly getting on with things behind the scenes.

The fact they continue to attract investment is surely a good thing?

Undoubtedly, some people are just negative (can’t think of anyone on here though - oh wait) and will moan about anything.

[WTF11]

I suspect part of the negativity from some is due to the fall in the 2000s from the highs and having to endure the likes of Captain Birdseye, GFH and Cellino.

We went from being a top tier club to a bereft shambles and every time we have a set back I suspect the fear is we slip back into that.

I quite like the approach of the 49ers and I don’t think there is much to complain about since they took sole custody of the club and they seem to be quietly getting on with things behind the scenes.

The fact they continue to attract investment is surely a good thing?

Undoubtedly, some people are just negative (can’t think of anyone on here though - oh wait) and will moan about anything.

Not very subtle are you?

I suppose that refers to me describing Ferrell as a chump in the associated thread? He must be heartened to see how fervently you come to his defence (he surely must read all the posts?), such a shame that the majority of posters seek to make fun of the news, eh what?

[spaldy]

I am generally positive in nature. It's a defense mechanism to modern life and insanity. You don't live 64 years and act like a 30 YO without the positive outlook.

However, the whole indoctrination and propaganda machine that Hollywood is part of is just a bridge too far. I really wish that it had spared our club. Plenty of clubs they could have tainted before ours. I know he's a minority investor but, in today's world, the extremes seem to have a way of controlling the vast majority that just want to get on with their lives and enjoy simple things. Hollywood is the ultimate "do as I say and not as I do". I do give Reynolds credit that he's actually a capitalist that, in his phone venture, has gone up against the biggest of the controlling phone companies (verizon, comcast, t mobil etc), and held his own. He's much more representative of the blue collar mindset than our investor.

I do like the professional athletic company ownership model. Many of the successful teams in sports use this model and it's worked well. It's not fan driven but its the only way that seems to get you to the big time exposure. The 49's structure typify that new era. Just hope they don't pay much attention to any single minority investor and his woke garbage. Sports is not about wokeness and equity. Plenty of other places to get that stuff. Just play the game and see who's best. There is a winner and a loser.

[spaldy]

On a more positive note. regardless of the outcome of the playoffs I do think we'll be uniquely positioned to do very well in the league next year. I think the future looks much better than it did a year ago at this time.

[Orgoner]

Shaun Harvey, despite our chequered history with him, was probably a very sensible choice for Wrexham as he will be aware of the many pitfalls lurking out there.

Lessons learned, to a certain extent, at our expense...

[WTF11]

I suspect part of the negativity from some is due to the fall in the 2000s from the highs and having to endure the likes of Captain Birdseye, GFH and Cellino.

We went from being a top tier club to a bereft shambles and every time we have a set back I suspect the fear is we slip back into that.

I quite like the approach of the 49ers and I don’t think there is much to complain about since they took sole custody of the club and they seem to be quietly getting on with things behind the scenes.

The fact they continue to attract investment is surely a good thing?

Undoubtedly, some people are just negative (can’t think of anyone on here though - oh wait) and will moan about anything.

Not very subtle, hmm? So in a thread which is almost completely positive, you seek to inject barbed comments about posts in another completely separate thread. And I'm the unnecessarily argumentative one (or are you referring perhaps to someone else? As if).

This thread was started in at attempt to widen the viewership of a documentary I genuinely find heartening, and as I mentioned in the opening post, I held off commenting until the new owners had the opportunity to show their worth (and not just in a material sense), which I think they have done.

Some might query what has this to do with LUFC? It's illustrative of what can be achieved if there is common cause between owner, supporters, management (of the footballing activities), players and the wider community, something it would be great to see happening at LUFC where the core fan base are fiercely loyal, where the wider supporter community ache for owner and club generally to "get" what it is to support Leeds, something we haven't had for a very, very long time.

[Monaco_Totty]

A top TV Producer can push out 15 high quality 45 min episodes per season at maybe 1 million dollars each where 90 minute movies can cost tens, even hundreds of millions of dollars to make & often take 2 years to shoot & get produced - Fact !

To be fair most A-list "tv shows" aren't exactly lacking in production quality either, so what's happening at Wrexham is clever PR, imo, in making something for peanuts as there ain't as much film mogul money floating around in la-la land today in trying to make the required buck out of poor script catalogues on shelves & not to many rich egos willing to buy global bigger clubs either.

Apparently Wrexham pulls in between £7m-£10m a year through sponsorship deals now as a result of the Disney channel show.

As for the budding philanthropists, there are plenty of indirect ways the documentary makes money for them too.
SToK Coffee Brew (who mean nothing to me) bought naming rights for Wrexham's stadium in May & tech giant HP have signed lucrative deals with the club to piggyback on the exposure provided by FX, who stream "Welcome to Wrexham" in the US & Disney+, who do the same in the UK - so the dollars roll in for now, for sure.

Glad you're engaged in an activity you enjoy & good that your brain produces dopamine watching the show which obviously promotes feelings of pleasure, excitement & happiness for you & many others.
So if makes good viewing to you & others, then glad your all enjoying it ! 👍

[Billyni]

On a more positive note. regardless of the outcome of the playoffs I do think we'll be uniquely positioned to do very well in the league next year. I think the future looks much better than it did a year ago at this time.

Hmmm think the best hope is to go up immediately. After that, we are just another championship club trying to attract players and not lose our best one's like the rest. Finding it hard to imagine we will have a better chance next year.