Stefan Borson: This is why the government shouldn’t have agreed controversial Wrexham deal
Wrexham have attracted national attention after it’s emerged they have received £18million worth of public money to help fund their new Kop Stand.
UK government state aid disclosures have revealed (via The Guardian) Wrexham have received the non-repayable grants from the Welsh government through the local council.
Wrexham are majority owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney), who have helped the club achieve three successive promotions from the National League to the Championship since taking over in February 2021.
Meanwhile, the Allyn family, which has a net worth of more than £1.5billion, purchased a minority stake in the Welsh side in October 2024.
Wrexham have now confirmed a new investor after Apollo Sports Capital – a company with more than £675bn worth of assets under management – has also secured a minority stake in Phil Parkinson‘s side.
Wrexham are ‘close to the Premier League’ after investments
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Wrexham are now in a completely different position to when the process started around funding the Kop Stand development.
Wrexham have recently been valued at up to £350million following their meteoric rise at the Stok Cae Ras, also known as the Racecourse Ground.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the government funding, Borson said: “I think when you contrast it with the position when they originally started this process in 2022, the club was originally part owned by the fans and in distress.
“It then had the investment from Reynolds and McElhenney. They bought the shares for £2m. But it was a National League side and it was a fallen giant in relative terms.
“You could therefore sort of see how maybe in that scenario the government would want to assist with the recovery of Wrexham. Things are very different now.
“They’ve had three promotions on the bounce. They’re close to the Premier League. They’ve got a global franchise. They’re owned by American millionaires and billionaires.”
Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness told Football Insider Wrexham’s agreement with the Welsh government is “absolutely despicable”.
Wrexham owners have charged ‘significant’ interest on loans
Borson insisted the Welsh government shouldn’t be involved with Wrexham’s stadium redevelopment due to the club’s ownership situation.
“There just seems to me to be no need for the taxpayer to be getting involved in this situation and certainly not giving it a grant,” said Borson.
“It may be different if it had loaned the money, but then again, even loaning it seems unnecessary. When McElhenney and Reynolds put their money in, they were charging 8 per cent interest. That’s not insignificant interest, i.e. commercial rates.
“It’s very hard to see why the Welsh government needs to get involved at all.”
It was confirmed last week Wrexham have broken ground on the redevelopment of the Kop Stand, with the project set to be completed during the 2026-27 season and increase the stadium’s capacity to just over 18,000.
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