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“The way they run the club is incredible…”
On the latest episode of House of Football, Irish defender Eoghan O’Connell was the special guest and spoke about his time at Wrexham so far under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney
The Cork native joined the Welsh club in January and helped them earn promotion to League Two, ending a 15-year absence from the Football League.
O’Connell left Charlton Athletic in League One to join Wrexham, dropping down two divisions. The defender’s decision was vindicated as the club are certainly on the up under the stewardship of their famous owners.
Wrexham under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny.
Wrexham have taken the world by storm ever since the club was taken over by the Hollywood duo McElhenney and Reynolds in 2020.
As the Welsh club went to front-page news overnight, and their stock has only grown since. Wrexham is possibly one the most well-covered clubs in the English Football League system. On Disney+, there is the Welcome to Wrexham docuseries and there are the vlogs of veteran goalkeeper-turn-YouTuber Ben Foster.
On that speeding train up the leagues is Cork native O’Connell, who joined the club on the last day of the January transfer window and hasn’t looked back since.
Since joining the Welsh side, he has been a key difference, starting as a centre-back in 15 out of a possible 19 games in the second half of the season. The Douglas man even scored a crucial winning goal on his debut away to Altrincham.
On House of Football, the 27-year-old about his life since joining the club and the relationship he has with the star owners.
O’Connell recalled his first day at the club and getting a surprise phone call that evening.
“I had done the medical and it was like 10, 11 o’clock and I don’t think I’d eaten all day,” he said.
“So, I pulled in to get some food. Next thing some American numbers popped up on my phone, and I thought, ‘Oh here we go’.
“I spoke to Rob [McElhenney] that night and, you know, and they’re very clued in about everything now.
“So, we were kind of discussing things, the game and just everything in general and they knew the ins and outs, obviously, at the club and were just explaining that side to me.”
“The way they run the club is incredible…”
Irish defender Eoghan O’Connell on playing for @wrexham_afc under @vancityreynolds and @rmcelhenney and getting texts from the two Hollywood stars 🤯
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How Rob and Ryan run Wrexham
“The way they run it is incredible,” he continued.
“There’s no ego from them, they’re there for us. They come over as much as they can for games and they’d be in the dressing room after having a chat.
“But the way they run it is incredible. And at the same time, you kind of think, coming from the outside like that, they’d be putting their nose in it – they literally just let the manager do his job and it’s really incredible the understanding they have for it.
“The way they run the club and just, speaking to them about it, they’re definitely in it for the long haul.
“They’re obsessed with it, they love the lads. Sometimes you’d be sitting on the couch and you’d get a message from one of them, just like kind of having a conversation, it’s mental really.”
You can check out our full conversation with Eoghan below.
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