Deadpool, Brady & Hollywood: Birmingham face Wrexham in L1 blockbuster

Birmingham and Wrexham’s long journeys to what already feels like a pivotal moment in the 2024/25 season are unique in some ways, yet markedly similar in others.

The Blues flirted with relegation from the Championship for seven seasons before finally succumbing earlier this year, while Wrexham spent 15 years outside the EFL before two successive promotions brought them to this point.

Both clubs now have solid foundations and US-based owners with lofty ambitions to take their respective clubs back to the second tier this season, then to the Premier League and beyond.

Rumours of a request to play this fixture Stateside were quickly denied, but there is no doubt Monday night’s clash at a sold-out St Andrew’s – live on Sky Sports Football – is League One’s blockbuster match of the season so far.

In anticipation, we look at the transformation of two clubs with dreams of stepping out of the wilderness and into the light.

Monday 16th September 7:00pm


Kick off 8:00pm

Who are the owners bringing US glitz to the EFL?

Birmingham’s chairman is American businessman Tom Wagner, a former managing director at Goldman Sachs. He is director of Shelby Companies Limited – a subsidiary of Knighthead Capital Management Group – who own a controlling 45.96 per cent share of the club.

Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady owns a minority share in the club, having invested in Shelby, but reportedly has no voting rights and acts more so as the face of the club to spread the message and drum up interest across the pond.

Birmingham may have Brady and the Peaky Blinders, but Wrexham have Hollywood.

Inspired by his friend, comedian and writer Humphrey Ker, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Rob McElhenney decided he wanted to buy a football club in the UK.

He brought Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds – whom he had famously never met before – onboard and the pair bought the club in November 2020, after 98.6 per cent of the Wrexham Supporters’ Trust voted to approve the purchase, which was completed in February 2021.

The Disney+ series Welcome to Wrexham has piqued interest significantly. Players and staff have become small-screen stars in their own right and it has been so popular around the globe that a fourth series was commissioned earlier this year.

New stadiums and Champions League dreams

If it was not already clear, the ownership of both clubs feel the sky is absolutely the limit – and the targets are brave.

Wagner and Co are planning to leave St Andrew’s – Birmingham’s home since 1906 – and move into a brand new, purpose-built stadium, with a capacity in excess of 60,000, by August 2029. A near-50 acre site under a mile away was purchased earlier this year.

The new stadium would be the jewel in the crown of a planned Sports Quarter in the city, which Wagner estimates will cost between £2-3bn. It would incorporate “training facilities for both men and women, a new academy, community pitches and commercial space to support innovative local businesses, all within walking distance to the city centre”.

“My timeframe is lunacy but we’ll look to get this completed in five years,” Wagner told BBC Sport earlier this year.

“Five years from August, we’d be in. In a perfect world, if everyone works with us at the same pace, we’re willing to work. I’m going to keep saying it, even if it makes people sweat. A lot of it is outside of our control, but that is the goal.”

It goes without saying that the aim is a Premier League return, though they will have to wait a little longer than hoped to add to their seven seasons in the division given the miserable relegation from the Championship last season.

Wrexham’s owners, meanwhile, have been more vocal about the fact they want it all.

“Our ultimate goal is to build a sustainable model that will allow us to not only get to the Premier League, but sustain in the Premier League and eventually win the Premier League and be in the Champions League.”

McElhenney has not minced his words.

He and Reynolds want a stadium to match those ambitions – but it will not involve moving to a new location, rather significant expansion works to take the SToK Cae Ras to a capacity of 55,000.

Reynolds has made it abundantly clear they are not in the project to make money, but that they will need “outside investment” in order to remain sustainable as the journey to rise up through the English football pyramid continues.

Investing millions in the squad to help the cause

This is not just talk, either, though that is pretty clear for everyone to see anyway. Money is very much being put where mouths are.

Wrexham demolished their Kop at the Cae Ras in January 2023 and have plans to build a 5,500-seater replacement as part of their ongoing improvement and expansion work on the stadium. Construction has been held up by “additional complications”, though, and a temporary stand that holds around 3,000 remains in place.

The Welsh club spent more than many of their peers this summer to bring in highly-rated midfielder Ollie Rathbone from Rotherham and Gambian striker Modou Faal from West Brom, with the latter reportedly breaking their previous transfer record.

They also paid fees for Lewis Brunt, Sebastian Revan and Dan Scarr, but Arthur Okonkwo, George Dobson and Callum Burton were signed for free.

But, for the most part, the squad at Phil Parkinson’s disposal is mostly made up of players who helped the club to promotion last season. Reynolds and McElhenney want to achieve their goals without alienating the fans of a community club who are sticking with them.

Last season, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, Wagner boldly said relegation would have no bearing on future investment. “You can’t talk about making a multi-billion-pound investment and worry about the next two fixtures,” he said.

And he wasn’t joking.

The Blues signed 13 first-team players permanently in the summer, shattering the previous League One transfer record to bring Jay Stansfield to the club from Fulham. The 21-year-old forward was on loan at the club in 2023/24, and scored 13 goals and provided three assists in all competitions.

Goal machine Alfie May came in from Charlton, too, as did goalkeepers Ryan Allsop and Bailey Peacock-Farrell and a player from each of Celtic, Hearts and Rangers.

Academy product Jordan James was sold to Rennes in the summer, but his reported £8m transfer fee can be counted as pure profit on the Blues accounts.

A League One title battle in the making

It came as no surprise the two teams were priced among the bookmakers’ favourites for promotion to the Championship before a ball was kicked in 2024/25; most just cannot compete with their financial backing.

They have both lived up to expectation so far, too. Wrexham sit top of League One after five games, with Birmingham down in fourth with 10 points and a game in hand.

The style implemented by Blues boss Chris Davies, which places a heavy focus on possession, has seen the Blues create fewer chances, but take more shots and, as a result, score more goals.

Wrexham, meanwhile, have averaged less than 40 per cent possession so far this season – around 10 per cent down on last term – but they have thrived as a result of the tweak necessary to help them adapt and have kept four clean sheets on the trot.

It is very, very early days in the season, but neither has lost a league game yet – and they will both want it to stay that way on Monday night.

Parkinson has been promoted from this division twice before and his Wrexham side are seeking an unprecedented third straight promotion. Birmingham are simply hoping their stay in the third tier lasts no more than one season and they can start to look towards the Premier League again.

The targets of both teams are achievable. But who’ll get the early upper hand?

Watch Birmingham vs Wrexham live on Sky Sports Football from 7pm on Monday September 16; kick-off 8pm.