Non-league football: How ‘Wrexham effect’ is trickling down

The Wrexham effect has also spread far beyond home shores, with ever-increasing numbers of foreign investors putting money into semi-professional clubs.

Earlier this month, former England striker Andy Carroll signed for National League South side Dagenham & Redbridge on the same day the club announced a Qatari takeover from their American owners.

Two National League North outfits last year received funding from overseas, with King’s Lynn Town securing cash from Singapore and a 15-person consortium of Los Angeles-based investors putting their money into Telford United.

Elliot Stroud runs a website for people looking to invest in football clubs. Within a year of launching his company in 2023, he created a separate portal purely for non-league clubs, which now occupy 70% of his time. The reason, he says, is Reynolds, McElhenney and their Welcome to Wrexham TV show.

“People saying they want to ‘do a Wrexham’ has become a bit of a term,” admits Stroud. “It’s definitely had an impact.

“It’s amazing how many potential investors I speak to who just want to talk about the show, how realistic it is to do what they’ve done, and how much money it will take. It very, very often comes up in conversation.”

At Real Bedford, McCormack’s ambition of taking the club from the 10th tier to the Premier League has begun with three comprehensive title wins. Continue at this rate and his side might one day meet Wrexham in the upper reaches of English football.

“Our club is unstoppable with what we want to do,” he says.

“Football disruption is great. The downstream benefit is the expansion of football itself. It’s new energy.

“Wrexham, as a town, has been transformed by Ryan Reynolds and I love it. Hopefully we are going to transform Bedford – the Wrexham thing has been great for everyone.”