\u201cI was introduced to Rob by Steve Horowitz,\u201d says Moore, referring to the Inner Circle Sports partner who has been instrumental in a number of major sports takeovers, including the purchase of Liverpool by the Fenway Sports Group in 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve asked me to meet Rob, who lived in Los Angeles but wanted to make the two-hour drive up to me (in Santa Barbara) for a chat. Within a few days, he\u2019s knocking on my door. Rob is like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mac\u2019s determination not to waste time was understandable. Here was an opportunity to tap into an extensive business knowledge, built up over 35 years in which Moore had worked in senior roles for gaming giants Sega, Microsoft and EA Sports, and sportswear firms Patrick and Reebok.<\/p>\n
Crucially, in terms of Mac\u2019s plan to buy Wrexham in partnership with fellow actor Ryan Reynolds, Moore had spent three years from 2017 as chief executive at Liverpool<\/a>, during which he had overseen the club\u2019s first title of the Premier League era, a Champions League final win and another trophy in the old, annual version of the Club World Cup to go with record-breaking revenues off the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d just moved back from Liverpool and just bought this house,\u201d says Moore, who has lived most of his adult life in the United States and remains an advisor to the Wrexham hierarchy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a great chat. I told him the club was amazing, the community, the town. Rob explained to me about watching Sunderland \u2018Til I Die. He\u2019d never met Ryan at that stage (the pair having famously \u2018met\u2019 initially over social media<\/a>).<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea was he wanted to drag me back to Wrexham, in the nicest way. My Californian wife is in the background, going, \u2018No, no, no!\u2019 We have six kids between us, all American. All adults now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d just bought this house. It was the middle of Covid. So, it wasn\u2019t for us. But I said I was more than willing to do what I could to help. I\u2019d advise, I\u2019d get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Peter Moore with Mohamed Salah on the day Liverpool signed the forward in 2017 (Andrew Powell\/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Moore was as good as his word.<\/p>\n Validation of the two actors\u2019 intentions was required, especially in Wrexham, where, amid the excitement, there was an understandable scepticism best articulated by the question, \u201cBut why us?\u201d<\/p>\n Via a series of interviews ranging from the BBC and the Financial Times to the local Wrexham Leader newspaper, Moore moved to allay those fears and doubts. Through his contacts at EA Sports, he set in motion the process that led to Wrexham being featured in FIFA 22, unprecedented for a then fifth-tier, non-League club and huge in terms of spreading their name internationally.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job was to kind of evaluate them,\u201d says Moore, a lifelong Liverpool fan whose family moved from that city to neighbouring north Wales when he was 10 years old. \u201cThe more I talked to both of them, the more I could tell they were genuine. They wanted to do good. They were going to go in with both feet, and had the vision and the global reach to get this going.<\/p>\n \u201cMy job was to figure out how I, as a Wrexham lad who had been gone 40-odd years, could explain this to people. How their hearts were in the right place and they had the wallets to make a difference, plus the vision and strategy to be there a long time.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, they then started talking about the fr**ging Premier League when Wrexham were still in the National League! I\u2019m thinking, \u2018Easy now\u2019. But look how close they are today (one promotion away from the top flight).\u201d<\/p>\n Wisla Krakow boast an impressive array of honours, including 13 league titles and five Polish Cups. Wrexham, in contrast, have never played top-division football, last season\u2019s seventh place in the second-tier Championship being the highest finish in their history.<\/p>\n But there is one parallel between the two clubs and that\u2019s how both were rescued from financial oblivion by their fans.<\/p>\n In Wrexham\u2019s case, this included \u00a3100,000 being raised in just 24 hours to prevent the club being kicked out of the Conference<\/a>, as the fifth level of English football\u2019s pyramid was then known, paving the way, eventually, for the Supporters\u2019 Trust to take charge for a decade.<\/p>\n Similarly, Wisla only survived in 2019 thanks to a crowdfunding campaign, believed to be the biggest in Europe, as fans raised around \u00a3850,000 ($1.1milllion at the current rate) to save them from bankruptcy.<\/p>\n Under majority shareholder Jaroslaw Krolewski, who invited Moore to become an advisor last July, Wisla returned to the top flight in May to spark memorable scenes as an estimated 50,000 fans packed into the city\u2019s historic main square to celebrate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s going to be a great, long weekend,\u201d says Moore, about this friendly arranged to mark Wisla\u2019s 120th anniversary. \u201cReminiscent of the old days when Wrexham would win the Welsh Cup and have all these great European trips to the likes of Porto, Anderlecht, Hadjuk Split.<\/p>\n \u201cThe American tours are great, but I tell you they are in for a treat in Krakow.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Wisla Krakow fans celebrating top-flight promotion in May (Beata Zawrzel\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Asked about Saturday\u2019s likely atmosphere, he laughs: \u201cThere may be more pyro involved than I\u2019m comfortable with. I talked to Yonit Sharabi, who worked with me at Liverpool and is now supporter liaison (at Wrexham).<\/p>\n \u201cYonit is brilliant, does things by the book and took care of the Liverpool fans through the Champions League. But I\u2019ve warned her this will be a little different!\u201d<\/p>\n Sharabi is far from the only member of staff at Wrexham who worked under Moore during his three years at Anfield. Several others have made the move to the Raccourse Ground, including chief of staff Tina Roberts. Moore believes this off-field experience, together with the new Kop stand opening next year<\/a>, can only help Wrexham\u2019s push to become an established Premier League club.<\/p>\n \u201cI did say a couple of years ago, \u2018At some point, take a breather. Stabilise\u2019,\u201d he says about Wrexham\u2019s rise from the fifth tier to the second in a record-breaking three years.<\/p>\n \u201cWas I relieved (they didn\u2019t go up last season)? Maybe it\u2019s time to get the new stand built, start bringing in the matchday revenues we need to, start having 14,000 to 17,000 crowds regularly and stabilise.<\/p>\n \u201cYou do see clubs like Luton Town who come up (to the Premier League in 2023) and are not ready. Kenilworth Road (Luton\u2019s stadium) was just not ready. And look at them now (in the third division after successive relegations). You are catapulted into this world and you can\u2019t handle it. You\u2019re not built to handle it.<\/p>\n \u201cOne thing I will say, through knowing as many people as I do who work in the front and back office at Wrexham \u2014 they are building a club who can handle the Premier League. From (CEO) Michael Williamson to Tina to Shaun (Harvey, director), obviously, you\u2019re building an infrastructure in human talent, as well as the stadium, that will be ready when the team on the pitch is ready.<\/p>\n \u201cClubs have just not been ready in the past. But Wrexham will be. When that stand is built, it will be amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Once this weekend\u2019s anniversary knees-up in Poland is over, Wrexham will play Manchester United in Helsinki, Finland, on July 18 before embarking on their third U.S. tour of the Mac\/Reynolds era. First up on that trip, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, are Leeds United, followed by Liverpool in Yankee Stadium, New York, and then Sunderland at MLS club Philadelphia Union\u2019s Subaru Park.<\/p>\n After that, the \u2018real\u2019 action begins with a Carabao Cup first-round tie away to fellow Championship side Middlesbrough on August 7, followed 10 days later by a visit to Cardiff City for a Welsh derby that kicks off a league season expected to feature a concerted push for another promotion.<\/p>\n \n Jaroslaw Krolewski and Peter Moore announcing the Wisla v Wrexham match in January (Marcin Golba\/NurPhoto\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/poland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MOHAMED-SALAH-PETER-MOORE-LIVERPOOL-scaled.jpg\")
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