How did it happen? What made you think it was a good idea?
It was really when I heard about the idea of promotion and relegation, something that we don’t have in American sports. I found it so fascinating that a club could climb from the lower leagues to the top or from the top down. And then, doing a bit more research, I realized that there were a number of clubs that had been in the top echelon of English football and had descended over the decades into a rather precarious position, which has obviously been accelerated by the pandemic.
As someone living in DC, I kind of feel compelled to point out that if you wanted to buy a team in disarray, you could have just bought the commanders.
Yeah, I feel like I get a version of it almost every day on social media when people talk about all their distressed, sadly maligned teams. Or sometimes it is fortunately decried. In some cases, I feel like some of these clubs and their ownership might deserve a bit of a scolding. No comment on who I’m talking about specifically.
Were you interested in football before?
No. I have to call it football, by the way. Even if it’s for an American publication.
It’s not that I didn’t like sports. I just wasn’t as interested as other sports and American sports. I have never invested in it.
Sports fans are intense here, but over there it’s on another level.
Yeah, it’s a huge part of their culture, a huge part of their identity, and they take it very, very seriously. So that’s something we had to take into account when we decided to go ahead with the adventure. We wanted to make sure it wasn’t just something we did as a business move or just as a lark or something we thought was fun, but something we thought we could really invest our time and heart into.
Do you and Ryan see yourself as the owners of the team in 10 years?
Oh yes. I mean, I think it’s a gig of a lifetime. We realized that very early on. But we don’t see ourselves as owners. The club has been around since 1864 so we feel like we are just the stewards who will hopefully leave it better than we found it.
It’s kind of a semi-false philosophical question, but did you learn anything about yourself by owning a lower level football team?
Yes I have. I learned that I have the ability to be riddled with anxiety. And it’s not something I’ve ever really felt before. I have never felt this level of anxiety, certainly not at a sporting event. It is unlike any other sport. For 90 minutes I pace – I can’t even sit still. I have to move my body to get rid of nervous energy. It’s really fascinating. And devastating.
I can kind of tell by looking at footage of you watching the games that you’re a real fan because you never really look happy.
No, you’re miserable all along. I’m very excited before the opening kickoff and then I’m just kind of in a state of misery for 94, 95 minutes. And then I’m either jubilant or devastated for two or three days until the next game.
At the end of the season, Wrexham failed in their attempt to move up a division. As an owner, this must be tough, but I wonder as a storyteller, is this a better ending for you?
It’s interesting that you say that because I’ve made sure of that even over and over and over again so as not to fall into the depths of despair – that it’s actually not a bad ending for the documentary as far as the the story goes. You know the story of “Rocky”, he loses. And what happens is you get more invested in Rocky, not because he becomes the champion, but because he gave it his all and fell just short, and now you want him see win. So that’s what I hope. That’s what I keep telling myself, and that’s what I keep telling everyone.
And in the meantime, you keep filming “Always Sunny”, and you created “Mythic Quest” and you have a whiskey line. Is there something inside you that just won’t relax?
Fair question. No, I think I’m at a time in my life where I have a lot of opportunities. I study history and know that in our business, success ends for everyone. And you never really know when it’s going to be. So any opportunity you can keep hitting while the iron is hot should be taken.
I’m not a regular watcher of “Always Sunny,” but I really enjoy the show’s blooper reels on YouTube. You make each other laugh so much.
Yes. I mean, I find these things contagious for that very reason. It just reminds us, actually, that when we start the writers room every year, we never watch whole episodes. We watch the blooper reels because it reminds us how much fun we actually have doing the show and why we keep doing it.
It’s amazing to me that this is the longest running live action comedy in history. You have his fate in your hands. Is there a part of you that worries about unplugging it?
No, I’m not really worried about that. I mean, we’re still talking about whether or not we want to keep doing it. And it always comes back to the same place, that is to say, we ask a few questions. Are we still having fun? Yes. Is there still an audience? Yes. Are we still able to do what we want? Yes. And do we still have something to say? Yes. So if we get a no in any of those boxes, we’ll quit. But I don’t see that happening in the foreseeable future.
This interview has been edited and condensed. For a longer version, visit wapo.st/magazine.
