“Makes Football Special” – Rival Gary Neville Marvels at Ryan Reynolds’ Wrexham as He Slams Real Madrid and FC Barcelona’s Controversial Venture

Wrexham AFC is in Football League after spending 15 years in the non-football league. It was an uphill task for the club in financial dire. However, the fans once saved it from the brink of going out of the fifth tier. And the second time, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney came to the rescue.

The Hollywood stars entered into the ownership of the club when it was struggling because of the COVID pandemic. Reynolds and McElhenney’s takeover changed the club’s fortunes. It took the world’s third-oldest soccer club around 24 months after the takeover to get back to the EFL League Two.

Wrexham has been praised by many for its achievements under Reynolds and McElhenney. And now a Manchester United legend applauded the club for its fairytale story.

Rival co-owner hails Wrexham 

Salford City, co-owned by former United defender Gary Neville, will be the rivals of Wrexham in the EFL League Two next season. Neville has become outspoken recently and can be seen giving his honest opinions. United legend sat down with The Guardian and shared his views over Gary Lineker’s fiasco, Super League attempts, and fairytale stories in English soccer, amongst others.  

When asked about the rise of Wrexham to the fourth division under new ownership, Neville said, “The dream of the pyramid in English football is that you can rise from the lower tiers and play in the Premier League. Once we lose that, we lose everything. What clubs like Luton, Wrexham and Stockport have done is what makes football special.”

He raised important aspect of the English soccer pyramid: relegation and promotion. The relegation and promotion system gives a chance to the lower-division teams to fulfill their dream of playing in the Premier League. It was this aspect of English soccer that attracted Rob McElhenney the most. It is the opposite of the soccer league in the US, where there’s no relegation.  

Neville, too, feels the five divisions of English soccer make it fascinating. And he was one of the massive names that criticized the formation of the European Soccer League.

Gary Neville slammed the attempts to create the breakaway league

In 2021, the top 12 European clubs came together and announced a breakaway European Super League. The main clubs behind the idea were the Spanish giants Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. Juventus and six Premier League clubs were also crucial parts of the plan. However, it received a backlash from fans, legends, and governing bodies like UEFA and FIFA.

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Neville also criticized the clubs, including Manchester United for attempting to create the Super League. He again reiterated his criticism while speaking to The Guardian recently. Neville said, “We’re not franchise football. The Super League was an attack on those principles, and it’ll never happen again.” Meanwhile, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona remain determined to start the project.

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Let us know why the top clubs thought of the Super League.