Wrexham Co-Owner, Rob McElhenney Talks On Birmingham City’s Ambition In Docuseries On Disney Plus

Wrexham co-owner, Rob McElhenney, has described Birmingham City’s ambition as “inspiring” within the new ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ docuseries on Disney Plus.

Blues and the Red Dragons came into the League One season off the back of a respective relegation from the Championship and promotion from League Two, and were braced for their first league meetings against one another since 1995, the last time the club from the West Midlands had featured in the third-tier.

As a result of the two ownership groups at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park and the Stok Cae Ras, the two sides instantly became two of the most talked-about sides the division has ever seen, despite the fact the likes of Sunderland, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Blackburn Rovers and Nottingham Forest had all fallen as low as this level since the turn of the milennium.

Unsurprisingly, when the season’s fixtures first came out in June, almost everybody associated with the two clubs had their eyes transfixed on when the first ‘Hollywood’ clash would take place, eventually being selected for Sky Sports coverage on Monday, September 16th.

With both clubs starting their campaigns like a house on fire, and Birmingham splashing a club and League One record fee to sign Jay Stansfield on a permanent basis from Fulham, McElhenney’s feelings upon his Autumn visit to B9 alongside a whole host of celebrities have now been showcased globally.

Rob McElhenney praised Birmingham City’s ambition back in September

Unsurprisingly, plenty of discourse was generated on Deadline Day last August as Blues parted with an eight-figure sum for their prized asset, who would make his first league start back at St Andrew’s against Phil Parkinson’s side.

In the top of the table clash, Jack Marriott gave the North Wales outfit an early lead before a Stansfield double and Tomoki Iwata’s first goal in royal blue saw the clash end 3-1 to Chris Davies’ men, with the Wrexham co-owner praising Tom Wagner and minority shareholder, Tom Brady, for the way they utilised such spending power.

“Tom Wagner and Tom Brady are investing in top-end talent, Jay Stansfield is a great example of that. They are paying £15million just for the transfer,” McElhenney said.

“Well, I guess the Toms didn’t **** it up. Stansfield was worth it. Twice,” he added.

“They played like a class above. They put on a clinic and beat our ***. Just because we lost to them, it doesn’t mean we’re going to lay down.

“I look at Birmingham as a great example of a tough town and a tough club who have been down before and risen up. They’ve put the investment and the work in, now they’re going to go out and try to dominate the league. I find that inspiring,” the American concluded.

Parkinson was also left frustrated with the result at the time, but admitted that the quality within Blues’ ranks would see them compete with some of the best the second-tier has to offer.

“We didn’t respond as well as I would have liked, but we’ve got to respect that we are up against a team that is probably top-eight Championship,” the Wrexham boss claimed.

“We were disappointed, as you always are, and it jolted us because we’re a team that’s not used to getting beat. It knocked us a bit.”

The reverse fixture in North Wales was also broadcast around the world, with Lyndon Dykes cancelling out an early Ollie Rathbone curler in a 1-1 stalemate.

Birmingham City’s strength in-depth showed in the final League One standings

Whilst credit has to be given to the likes of Wrexham and Wycombe Wanderers in particular for keeping Birmingham at arms’ length for at least half of the season, Parkinson’s claim would ring true as the campaign reached its conclusion.

The 57-year-old’s side created their own piece of history by becoming the first team in English football history to achieve three successive promotions from the National League to the second-tier, where they will feature for the first time since 1982, but Davies’ men would go on to become immortal in EFL and global history with a 111-point haul and eventual tally of 34 wins from 46 games.

The 19-point gap established at the top of the table is also the biggest points margin between a top two in English football history, which is another reason why many are tipping the West Midlands side to mount a play-off bid heading into next season, although both are expected to continue investing significantly.

It is clear that Wrexham will not be there to make up the numbers, having been linked with established goal-getters such as Callum Robinson and Ryan Hardie, whilst reports have emerged regarding a potentially stunning £50,000 per week contract offer for Fulham captain, Tom Cairney.