It was not so long ago that American owners seemed well on their way to ruining British soccer. This year, they are well on their way to winning it over. Literally.
In the season ending this month, teams owned by Americans are poised to finish first and second in the top three tiers of British football.
Like virtually all global soccer leagues, the leagues encompassing England and Wales are fluid, with the top teams from lower leagues being promoted upward at the end of the season, and the bottom teams demoted down a level. That means the clubs of American owners are finding success, from mighty Liverpool in the Premier League down to comparatively modest Wrexham in the third tier (inscrutably named League One).
Why We Wrote This
In recent years, American investors have scooped up soccer clubs at all echelons of the English leagues. This year, it’s paying off as U.S. owners sweep the tables.
The success is, to some degree, just the law of averages. Eleven of the 20 Premier League teams are now owned by Americans or American companies. With the Premier League broadcast in 189 countries and clubs relatively cheap, British soccer has been an attractive prospect for investment funds and billionaires for years now. (Everton, a Premier League mainstay, recently sold to an American consortium for $500 million; the Phoenix Suns basketball team sold in 2023 for $4 billion.)
Yet there’s some evidence that American owners are also starting to figure things out. There are exceptions, of course. American owners are responsible for the wreckage that was once the crown jewel of British football, Manchester United.
But something of a model for success is emerging. Call it the Wrexham Way, with the Welsh club’s Hollywood owners showing how to get pretty much every step right.
- Show you genuinely care about the culture and history of the club and support its deep connection to the community.
- Invest a lot of money.
- Step back and let people who know soccer run the soccer side of things.
The investing part has actually been the easiest. From the start, most American owners have infused significant cash in their investments. That’s most obvious in League One, where Wrexham finished second to American-owned Birmingham City and its famous minority investor, Tom Brady. This year, League One teams spent $58 million to buy players from other teams. That’s more than in the previous eight seasons combined.
“American owners have shown they are willing to invest a lot of money in football clubs,” says Dan Bennett, a writer at Hayters, a British soccer news service.
But that has often come with some measure of arrogance. American owners secretly schemed to create a so-called super league that would have crushed the local culture of British football. (They then apologized.) Chelsea’s American owner got eye rolls for suggesting an all-star game. Manchester United’s owners long showed more interest in savvy marketing than in actual soccer.
On all counts, Wrexham owners Rob McElhenny and Ryan Reynolds (who is Canadian-born with U.S. citizenship) have done the opposite.
“You can’t fool a football fan. They can see through an owner pretty quickly,” says Andy Gilpin, executive editor of the Wrexham Daily Post. “Rob and Ryan know the players, they bought into being fans, they give donations to local causes when they come to town, they’re gracious on social media.”
“They’ve been pitch perfect,” Mr. Gilpin adds.
Challenges lie ahead. The spending war is already driving up ticket prices, and that’s pricing out everyday fans. For a sport built on community connection, a crisis of identity looms.
But from Birmingham City to Burnley to Bournemouth, many American-owned clubs are also feeling a new sense of hope. Said one Birmingham City fan to ESPN: “There were teething problems at first, but … we can accept a few mistakes along the way because the transformation in the club has been amazing.”
