‘I went undercover to the game... I wasn’t impressed’

Les Reed has acted as a football strategy adviser to Wrexham throughout the club's meteoric rise under Hollywood stars' ownership, and tells Zach Lowy of their long-term ambition

- By Zach Lowy

Anticipation is building to a fever pitch ahead of the 2025-26 Championship season, and this afternoon, Wrexham are preparing to play their first match in the compelling and cruel second tier of English football since the 1981-82 campaign.

The north Wales club have undergone a seismic metamorphosis since being purchased by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds through Wrexham Holdings LLC in November 2020, becoming the first club in the history of England's top five football divisions to achieve back-to-back-to-back promotions.

And while there have been several protagonists in that journey, one of the most important instigators in their growth is Les Reed.

After a lone managerial spell at Charlton in 2006, Reed rebuilt his reputation at Southampton as head of development, eventually winding up in a surprise role as a football strategy adviser to Wrexham's board in 2021, with the Red Dragons starting their incredible rise through the English football pyramid.

"It was the strangest conversation I've ever had in terms of getting a job and starting overnight," Reed tells The Independent.

"I got a call from [Wrexham director] Shaun Harvey, who said, "They want you to look after the business and the football strategy. I'd worked with Shaun before when he was the CEO at the EFL, so I said, 'Why not?' "There was one game left in the season after the completion of the buyout, away at Dagenham, and then we had 10 days to come up with the released and retained list of players. He asked, 'Can you get to the game and work on the list?' I'd never seen Wrexham play in the current era, and I didn't know any of their players... I went to the game undercover, and I wasn't impressed."