Ahead of Wrexham‘s League One fixture against Birmingham City, co-owner Rob McElhenney added some playful pre-match banter by bringing Eli Manning into the conversation. McElhenney referenced Manning’s history with Tom Brady, a part-owner of Birmingham, using a lighthearted joke as their teams prepared to face each other.
McElhenney posted a picture of Manning wearing a Wrexham shirt and pointing to the club’s dragon crest on social media platform X. The post was shared with his 1.1 million followers, injecting a bit of fun into the football rivalry between Wrexham and Birmingham.
“We are honored that Eli Manning has coincidentally (because Co-chairmen Rob McElhenney and Ryan begged him) joined the Wrexham fanbase, just in time for our match over at Tom Brady‘s Birmingham on Monday night,” the caption read.
In their head-to-head history, Birmingham City has dominated Wrexham, securing five wins out of ten meetings since 1928, while Wrexham has only managed two victories-the most notable being a 3-1 FA Cup win in 1997.
“Now I can beat Tom Brady in football and futbol. Go Wrexham,” Manning wrote.
The Brady-Manning rivalry
The banter-filled exchange between McElhenney and Manning was well-received by fans, although Brady himself hasn’t responded to the dig. The football rivalry has echoes of the NFL, where Brady holds a slight edge over Manning in regular-season games, but Manning famously beat Brady in two high-stakes Super Bowl matchups in 2008 and 2012.
Manning’s success in those Super Bowls, especially the one that ruined Brady’s shot at a perfect season, has become part of NFL folklore.
Brady’s Patriots had cruised through much of the regular season with high-scoring performances but were unexpectedly shut down by Manning’s Giants in a tense 17-14 Super Bowl loss.