Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Hollywood duo that took over Wrexham AFC, are facing pressure to backtrack on one of their initial commitments.

Upon their dramatic entry into soccer team ownership, the actors listed “hard promises” to preserve the club’s legacy, fully ruling out relocation, renaming, or rebranding. Now, voices from the Wrexham podcast RobRyanRed are lobbying for a change, suggesting it might be time to refresh the club’s logo.

Clubs like fellow Welsh side Cardiff City have found themselves mired in controversy over similar changes, yet ardent supporter Nathan Salt, expressed his openness to evolving the crest. He also saluted modern looks adopted by Premier League teams Liverpool and Aston Villa.

While presenting the podcast, Salt said: “I know in the mission statement that Rob and Ryan said they wouldn’t move Wrexham out of the stadium and they wouldn’t rebrand, which was a hard promise. But it got me thinking, what would it take for people to be open to the conversation of changing the crest?”

Salt admitted that he found some rebrands appealing, citing Bristol City’s newer, sleeker badge as a step up. He also pointed to another instance, “Aston Villa is another good example. Liverpool changed, and they got rid of everything but the liver bird.”

Wrexham’s badge features two red dragons clutching a football, paired with Wales’ national colors of green and white. The crest also includes the Prince of Wales’s feathers and the German motto “ich dien”, translating to “I serve.”

Salt’s fellow broadcaster, Rich Fay, expressed initial reluctance towards altering the badge, but on deeper reflection considered the implications of its current elements.

A picture showing the Wrexham logo

A picture showing the Wrexham logo ( 

Image:

AMA/Getty Images)

He said: “Initially when I was asked the question, I was very much of the view of ‘why change it’.But when I actually think about it, it’s got the feathers on it, and it’s got ‘ich dien’ or ‘I serve’.”

“It’s the Prince of Wales motto, and you then open a James McClean sort of can of worms, because there’s lots of connotations to that.My personal opinion is that I don’t stand for those two things, so why should that be on my club’s badge? There’s certainly an argument to modernise it.”

Additionally, he mentioned the duty of co-owners Reynolds and McElhenney: “Rob and Ryan’s duty is fundamentally for them to always protect the club and act in the club’s best interests, but sometimes we don’t know what our best interests really are.”

Despite all the talk, Wrexham hasn’t made moves to revamp the crest, though a document from August suggests it could be up for future discussion.

The recently unveiled fan engagement initiative, as detailed in documents circulated among the English Football League and Football Supporters’ Association, states: “The club understands that certain aspects are crucial to the club history and identity and are committed to reflecting this by identifying ‘heritage assets’ which cannot be altered without consultation with supporters.”

It further specifies that “The crest and colours have been identified as heritage assets and if the club wishes to make a material change to the club crest or the recognised home kits colours, they must undertake a thorough and extensive consultation process with supporters.”