Liverpool 'turned down' by billionaire investors for Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham

Liverpool 'turned down' by billionaire investors for Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham

The Allyn family were announced as Wrexham's new minority investors last year, and have now lifted the lid on why they chose the Red Dragons over Premier League giants Liverpool

Kaleen and Eric Allyn (left) chose to invest in Wrexham alongside Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds (Image: Kya Banasko/Getty Images )

An American family who sold their business for £1.5billion ($2bn) have revealed why they chose to invest in Wrexham over Premier League giants Liverpool. The Allyn family from Skaneateles in upstate New York owned the medical device company, Welch Allyn, for more than a century before selling it in 2015.

In October, it was confirmed that the family had acquired a minority stake in Wrexham, co-owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. Kaleen Allyn, who oversees the family's private investment portfolio, became an executive director at the club in January, having previously worked on Wall Street.

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She has now disclosed how they originally considered investing in several Premier League teams, before choosing Wrexham. While Liverpool celebrated their 20th league title at Anfield over the weekend, Kaleen and her dad Eric were on the pitch at the Racecourse Ground with Reynolds and McElhenney, toasting Phil Parkinson's side's promotion to the Championship from League One.

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Allyn told The Athletic it was the community focus at Wrexham which ultimately drove their decision to invest in the Welsh outfit. Her family are involved in several philanthropic initiatives back at home which are aimed at tackling poverty and improving people's lives.

Explaining how their interest came about, she said: "I got a call from someone I'd worked with a long, long time. They knew our family story for the last 20 years and said: 'Have you ever thought about investing in football?'. I was thinking: 'Buffalo Bills? I don't want to invest in football'. Even though my family love the Buffalo Bills.

"He said, 'No, no, no. I mean English football'. So, we started to look into this. We looked at some Premier League-level teams but you become a fraction-of-a-fraction owner. You are a small, small investor. You don't have a lot of power. You can't really engage.

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Kaleen Allyn and her dad Eric have invested in Wrexham (Image: Geraint Lloyd )

"I explained this wasn't really compelling to us. He replied: 'No, Kaleen, think lower down in the pyramid'. I'm thinking, 'Surely lower down means more risk'. I don't know if I can look my family in the face and say: 'Hey, this is going to be a great investment and be safe'.

"He just said: 'I can't give you their names at the moment but you do need to speak to these people I have in mind, please trust me' — and that's how I got introduced to Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney."

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Allyn had yet to watch Welcome to Wrexham, the hit docuseries charting the actors' journey as owners, but was taken aback by their vision for the club and the wider community. Meanwhile, Eric had already secretly paid a visit to Wrexham and the pair both quickly fell in love with the city after being warmly greeted by the local fanbase.

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A decision was quickly taken to invest in the club, leading to a joint venture being set up with Reynolds and McElhenney, known as Red Dragon Ventures LLC. While the exact size of the Allyns' stake in Wrexham is unknown, several large share sales have followed since their arrival.

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Allyn said she was enjoying the hands-on nature of her role at Wrexham, which includes aiding the development of the Wrexham AFC Foundation and the club's academy. She also stressed the need for the club to be sustainable against the backdrop of its meteoric rise up the leagues.

She said: "Even when we were looking at other clubs, we were, like: 'We want to be true partners with whoever we work with'. Yes, Liverpool is an amazing club and when we were looking at that, we were, like: 'This could be a great opportunity' but this isn't what we want.

"We want to be true partners and get our hands dirty; be part of the story of what's happening. That's the biggest honour. Everyone is so excited to move fast with these back-to-back-to-back promotions but do it in a way that you're not just trying to get this to the highest point and then watch it fall back down.

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"We want to have sustainable, long-term growth. It's been great Phil has been able to create a team that’s gone back-to-back-to-back, and the management’s job now is to make sure this is sustainable."

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