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The club\u2019s financial records for their promotion-winning season aren\u2019t yet available, but the records from the season prior paint a clear picture of the new owners\u2019 willingness to part ways with cash in their bid for promotion.<\/p>\n
\u00a31.2m spent on transfers and agents \u2013 up from just \u00a310,000 the year before \u2013 alongside a 294 per cent increase in football costs and losses of \u00a32.9m which far outweighed the average net loss for a club in the National League, which sits around \u00a31.1m according to Deloitte\u2019s Annual Review of Football Finance.<\/p>\n
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The second season of Welcome to Wrexham follows the club\u2019s title-winning campaign in the National League <\/p>\n
Some of that can be explained by their 404 per cent increase in revenue \u2013 up to nearly \u00a36m \u2013 but, regardless, the picture is as clear as ever. The big spenders rise to the top.<\/p>\n
One of last season\u2019s big revenue drivers is expected to be Welcome to Wrexham<\/em>, the hugely popular fly-on-the-wall documentary. The second season airs this week, showcasing the club\u2019s second full season under their new owners, a campaign which ultimately concluded in Wrexham\u2019s promotion back to the Football League for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video<\/p>\n Sign up now for a 30-day free trial<\/p>\n The show has attracted eyeballs and acclaim for its presentation of a football club at the heart of its community, and rightly so. In the second episode of the new series, for example, the story follows a young 17-year-old autistic fan, Millie Tipping, who strikes up a heartwarming relationship with star striker Paul Mullin whose own son, Albi, shares the same disorder.<\/p>\n That focus on the community is an uplifting thread that runs throughout the documentary. But it\u2019s also no wonder when the alternative is confronting the fact that Wrexham seem intent on financially bulldozing the lower leagues with boatloads of cash and hefty wage bills.<\/p>\n After all, there were no other clubs in the National League last year whose kits were adorned with the sponsorship money of a social media giant like TikTok. No other teams in England\u2019s fifth tier who could ring up and tempt a former England international goalkeeper out of retirement to help secure promotion.<\/p>\n Republic of Ireland international James McClean was one of Wrexham\u2019s big summer signings <\/p>\n This year, their squad has been boosted \u2013 yet again \u2013 by the arrival of talent from higher divisions in the form of Will Boyle, George Evans and James McLean, the latter a \u00a3250,000 signing from Wigan Athletic reported to be on \u201cchampionship wages\u201d.<\/p>\n When added to a squad that had already picked off supreme talents from the leagues above when the Welsh side were still in the National League, it\u2019s clear to see why the bookmakers had them right at the top of their odds sheet. Money talks.<\/p>\n They are not the only ones following this path in League Two. Salford City were the poster boy for big spending when they first reached the division under the \u2018Class of 92\u2019 ownership group. Stockport County too, who pipped Wrexham to promotion in the documentary\u2019s first season, have spent handsomely, bringing Nick Powell to the club after he left Stoke City in the summer.<\/p>\n But as Wrexham\u2019s documentary hits TV screens, it should be the big spending of Reynolds and McElhenney that is put under the microscope. The celebrity status and goodwill garnered from the documentary should not distract from the vast spending that could dramatically alter the lower league landscape.<\/p>\n Their openness with the fanbase and their effect on the local community is to be celebrated. One only has to look into the shenanigans at Southend United and Scunthorpe Town to realise stable ownership is far from guaranteed. <\/p>\n However, look beyond that and their on-field strategy \u2013 fueled by inflated sponsorship income and aggressive spending \u2013 is creating an unwanted blueprint. <\/p>\n Succeeding in the Premier League has long been dictated by an owner\u2019s willingness to spend. Football must now avoid a world where big-name owners, vast sponsorship deals and the same ability to spend are the only ways to journey up the football pyramid.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.independent.co.uk\/static-assets\/images\/mobile-stores\/Amazon_Prime.svg\")
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