Millions have soaked up the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” and the sausage-making details behind the football club led by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
Wrexham now plays in English Football League One, the third tier of the revered soccer ball-chasing sport in England.
There’s also a growing Padres and San Diego flavor in the 24-team league with Lincoln City FC. The lead investor in the 140-year-old club is Padres minority owner Harvey Jabara.
Former Padres Chairman Ron Fowler and his son Andrew jumped in this spring.
San Diegan and U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan is a strategic advisor for the group.
Nearly 5,400 miles away, in the agricultural heart of the East Midlands, a two-hour train ride north of London, those connections are helping to mold a club that has been the glue for a community.
“The support of this club is so multi-generational,” said Jabara, the managing member of Olive Management, an investment consulting firm based in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Your dad, your grandfather, your great grandfather went to all the matches. We don’t take it lightly, being in a lead role.
“We’re the crazy American who doesn’t know anything about football when it’s not going well. Fortunately, it’s gone well.”
Jabara laughed at the last comment, fully understanding the deep and personal part of the pool into which he, the Fowlers and Donovan have waded.
That’s part of the allure, understanding the importance while working to make sure their fingerprints translate to continued success.
“We’re enjoying it immensely,” Fowler said.
The dominoes began to tumble years ago, when Jeff Moorad began orchestrating the purchase of the Padres from John Moores. Jabara, who knew Moorad, ended up with a minority interest in the team.
The connection continued when Fowler and late owner Peter Seidler acquired the franchise.
Fast forward to a Padres game a few years ago. One of Jabara’s sons loves soccer. They learned that Donovan, the U.S. star, would be in the owner’s suite at Petco Park.
In the suite, his son met the star and Jabara struck up a conversation.
“I told Landon we’d like to take a small interest in a club in Europe,” Jabara said. “We looked for two or three years, presentation after presentation. Most of them were distressed clubs that needed all kinds of fixing and help.”
That intrigued Donovan, who later shared that an intermediary in Tel Aviv pointed them toward Lincoln City. In December 2020, in the heart of the pandemic, Zoom conversations began.
They couldn’t visit the city, the stadium or the people involved.
“This just looked different,” Jabara said. “The quality of the people, the chairman, the CEO. The club had recently been promoted twice. It wasn’t distressed. It was having success.
“All this took place electronically. It got to the point where we said, ‘This is the one.’ We made the initial investment sight unseen.”
Jabara’s share has grown to 32.23 percent, the largest individual piece of Lincoln City’s pie. Chairman Clive Nates owns a little more than 25 percent, while the Fowlers’ stake tops 12.6 percent.
The club operates pragmatically. This isn’t a gaggle of bored, money-soaked people throwing cash at a status-fueling afterthought.
In fact, Lincoln City’s operation offers a glimpse into the measured business practices of the Padres.
“We don’t have a documentary or anything of that nature (like Wrexham),” Jabara said. “We’re more good old-fashioned football. We don’t have the spending capability of a lot of clubs. The Padres talk about ‘costs per win’ as they analyze things. We talk about costs per point with Lincoln City.
“We set our budget and work within our financial means. We try to punch above our weight.”
Lincoln City was 12th in spending among the 24 clubs last season — and finished seventh. They were a win or two away from finishing as high as third. The club opens its 2024-25 season Aug. 10 at Burton Albion F.C.
One of the unique elements of buying into the club was learning Lincoln City’s unique nickname, the Imps. It’s a reference to a devilish, horn-adorned character that, according to mythology, was defeated by good and turned to stone inside the city’s beloved cathedral.
Fowler did not need a crash course.
“I was using the term for probably 60 years,” he said. “I consider it someone who has devilish and cute characteristics. When I saw the Imp on the logo I said, ‘OK, this works.’ That was part of the charm.”
Though Fowler downplays his involvement, Jabara counterpunches.
“His entry into this is phenomenal,” Jabara said. “He’s an incredibly important person in my life. We hit it off (in) my first meeting with the Padres. I had a 26-year business relationship with my father. My father, my mentor, my best friend, my partner, we lost him in 2015.
“There’s been a void in my life, losing my dad. But I’m quick to tell people, the closest resemblance to my father is Ron Fowler. When someone of Ron’s caliber invests in an English football club 5,000 miles away, it’s very meaningful.”
Donovan said the way Lincoln City leaders and Jabara are wired drew him to the club.
“I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of other things like this, but ultimately if the people aren’t people you want to work with or be around, it’s not exciting,” Donovan said from Germany, where he was calling Euro 2024 for Fox Sports. “I’ve been around the sport my entire life, so I don’t need to be around the sport just to be around it.
“This checked all the boxes.”
Donovan’s gut feeling has been reinforced.
“The biggest thing I passed on to Harvey, I said, ‘The reality for soccer clubs around the world (is that) the fans are the absolute emotional owners of the club,’” Donovan said. “If your stance is, you’re going to dictate what’s happening, you’re going to meet a lot of resistance. It’s different in the United States.
“You see owners ousted (outside the U.S.) because of pressure from the fan base. That’s rule No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5. (Jabara) came in the right way. He didn’t make it about him, which a lot of American owners do. He made it clear he wants to help, be supportive and that’s it. Having played a long time, that’s the ideal owner.”
Now, the group with San Diego roots hopes to live its own Wrexham story.
“Only once,” Fowler said of seeing the documentary. “But I’m going to binge-watch it in the near future. Those communities, they live it. It’s a huge thing.”
Welcome to Lincoln City.
