Ryan Reynolds told to fork out for sake of Wrexham stars as another complaint lodged

Wrexham have been without a permanent training facility for almost nine years and concerns have been raised about the lack of investment in a new base

Wrexham's Hollywood owners have been encouraged to fund a new training ground to continue attracting the best players.

The Red Dragons have been without a permanent training base for nearly nine years, having lost full-time access to their former home at Colliers Park near Wrexham in 2016. When Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased the then-National League team in February 2021, one of their primary objectives was to establish a new training ground that is 'worthy of an EFL club'.

However, four years later, despite achieving consecutive promotions, Phil Parkinson and his squad still have to alternate between several temporary locations for match preparations. The on-pitch investment from the two actors has been significant, with over £2million spent on two new strikers during the January transfer window.

Sam Smith from Reading and Jay Rodriguez from Burnley were recruited to aid Wrexham's latest promotion bid as they currently hold third place in League One. This expenditure has been matched off the field with a multi-million pound investment in a new academy training facility. Work is also scheduled to commence this summer on a 5,500-capacity stand at the Racecourse Ground.

However, influential ex-Wrexham manager Brian Flynn suggests that the transfer funds could have been more effectively allocated towards a first-team training base. Following warnings from both former and current players that the club might face challenges in attracting top talent without accelerated improvements, Flynn voiced his concerns at a recent Fearless in Devotion fan podcast event.

"Everything a footballer wants is a proper training ground to turn up to train at every day," he said. "We ask players to improve themselves every single day. How can you expect that when you don't know where you're training or what surface it is? It's impossible. The biggest thing that's going to help Wrexham football club is not two centre forwards – the training ground is key."

Former Wrexham defender Mark Creighton, known among supporters as 'The Beast' and who served the club from 2011 to 2013, supported Flynn's views. He emphasised the importance of a permanent training facility, suggesting it should have been a priority for the owners.

He said: "One of the things you're absolutely going to look at as a player are what the facilities are like. I think that can and probably has had implications and certainly will do the higher you go up. It's nice to hear that we are looking at that, but obviously there's things that are coming before that. That would've been one of the things I would've put right at the start."

Former Wrexham skipper Ben Tozer called attention to the issue prior to his exit last year. The 35-year-old, currently with Forest Green Rovers, mentioned that substantial investment was crucial and would reap long-term benefits.

"I think the big question is the infrastructure behind the club, in terms of the training ground," Tozer said during an appearance on talkSPORT in April 2024. "That's the one big thing that needs to be set in stone. It's hard because also that doesn't financially give you what you put into it, it's going to cost a lot of money to put that in place."

While pointing out the infrastructure challenges, Tozer praised the club's owners as "geniuses" and expressed confidence in their ability to resolve the matter. Deadpool actor Reynolds has admitted the necessity for a new training facility, though he pointed out that planning regulations posed difficulties.

Discussing the issue on the Yours, Mine, Away Podcast, anchored by Wrexham keeper Mark Howard last year, Reynolds said: "We need a training ground badly. There's a bunch of different options we're looking at but yeah it is huge, not just huge for the club but huge for everybody.

"We want it to be something that is experienced by everyone who lives in Wrexham as well so there's a lot of careful planning going into it. It's the same where I grew up in Canada, there's a lot of bureaucracy and it's not just as easy as saying let's build this thing or grow this thing. You have to get 800 permits before you're allowed to."

Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson, who joined the club last summer to steer key off-field developments, comes with an impressive resume that includes a spell at Inter Milan. There he spearheaded both the planning and design of a new training facility as well as redevelopment efforts at the San Siro stadium.

In a January update regarding Wrexham's plans for a new training ground, Williamson said that one of his initial instructions to owners Reynolds and McElhenney was a request for "a lot of money" to drive such initiatives forward. Following this, new minority investors climbed onboard, providing a significant financial boost.

However, Williamson has urged fans to remain patient, despite acknowledging the recruitment hurdles posed by the absence of a proper training facility.

He said: "When we're (potentially) in the Championship and trying to recruit young, top talent to come and play for us versus others, it's really difficult – we even see it in League One. To go to the next level and continue to develop the players the way we want to, we do need to invest in the training facilities.

“However, I'm spinning a lot of plates and I don't want us to spread ourselves so thin that all the plates come crashing down. I want to get a shovel in the ground on the Kop (new stand) first, then I can start to focus as a second priority on the training ground."