Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney: Hollywood owners recognised Wrexham's 'huge potential'

Wrexham's Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds recognised the "huge potential" of the club says manager Phil Parkinson.

McElhenney and Reynolds completed their takeover of the Welsh club earlier this year.

The club begin their 14th season in the National League at Solihull Moors on Saturday.

"They wanted to buy a club they could go on a journey with and that's why they chose Wrexham," Parkinson said.

"One of the reasons Rob and Ryan chose Wrexham is because of the huge potential.

"But I think everybody knows that - there's huge potential with the catchment area."

Deadpool star Reynolds has said previously that he wants to turn the club into a "global force".

Parkinson replaced Dean Keates, whose contract was not renewed, as manager with club chief executive Fleur Robinson saying he was the "man they wanted".

The former Sunderland boss says he is in regular contact with the club's owners, in particular McElhenney, the man behind American sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

"Since I've been in they've been incredibly supportive and understand there's a long term vision for the club in terms of building the infrastructure," Parkinson told BBC Sport Wales.

"But the short term project is building the squad that enables us to win games and to get to the top end of the league.

"Everything I've discussed with them they've tried to be supportive and you can't ask for any more.

"They are very, very genuine in what they want to achieve at this football club. They want to win and so do I.

"We're going to do everything in our powers to give ourselves the best chance of making that happen.

"We've been trusted by the owners and we want to justify that trust by doing the jobs to the best of our abilities."

"One thing is absolutely sure, if we don't succeed it won't be for a lack of hard work.

"We as a staff are giving absolutely everything to bring success to this club."

Parkinson's managerial career includes spells with Colchester United, Hull City, Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers.

But it's another of his former clubs, Bradford City, where he sees similarities with Wrexham.

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"When I went into Bradford it had had a lot of years of troubled times, on and off the pitch," said Parkinson, who guided the Bantams to the League Cup final and promotion in 2013.

"I looked at that and thought 'If I can get that going, it's a real sleeping giant'.

"It reminds me a lot of Wrexham - the passion in the area for the football club.

"My aim is to do a similar job, like I did there, here.

"This club's been out of the Football League for too long, but we've got no divine right to get back in there as the supporters and players know.

"But we've got to earn it every step of the way and we've got to make sure the supporters have got a team they can be really proud of."

Parkinson acknowledges that the expectations will be on Wrexham securing promotion to League Two.

Wrexham were relegated in 2008 and although Parkinson knows promotion is the club's aim they must not get ahead of themselves.

"For us it's got to be the aim. but there are another 12 teams at least who are having the same conversation," he added.

"Yes, we're setting out to be successful, but let's not look too far ahead. Let's concentrate on our next game as you've always have to do,

"But we're building a squad, that as a staff, we feel is capable being at the top of the league."

The new manager has brought in seven new faces during the close season, most notably striker Paul Mullin.

Mullin was last season's League Two player of the year having scored 34 goals in Cambridge United's promotion winning campaign.

"What we set out to do at the start of the summer is trying to get that extra bit of quality because you need quality to win games of football," Parkinson said.

"But equally those players who've played at a higher level have got to have the right mentality to play in this league.

"I feel with Paul he ticks those boxes. He's determined to be a hero here with the Wrexham supporters.

"He's a great lad and he's fitted in well with the rest of the group and so far I've really enjoyed working with him. He's a really good player."

Parkinson, who also signed former Burnley midfielder David Jones this week, is also hoping to bring a few more players in before the end of August.

"Everybody knows that once the window closes other teams in the division have got the ability to do short term loans and we don't," he said.

"We've got to make sure that when the games come in thick and fast we've got cover in all departments.

"There's two or three areas we're not happy with yet and we are trying to rectify that.

"By the time the window closes I'm expecting us to have added to the squad."

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