Wrexham’s fame-hungry Hollywood schedule comes back to bite with MK Dons on the money in front of Hugh Jackman
RYAN REYNOLDS and Rob McElhenney stroll around the pitch perimeter before kick-off signing autographs, posing for selfies and chatting to fans.
They are with Hollywood buddy Hugh Jackman — the latest celebrity to take in a game at the Racecourse Ground.
Inevitably, they are followed around by a Disney crew filming the latest instalment of Welcome To Wrexham as the circus that surrounds this club continues unabated.
That is ironic seeing as one of Jackman’s most famous films The Greatest Showman told the story of a circus.
Saturday’s match was historic for the world’s third oldest professional football club as they made their long-awaited return to the EFL after 15 years.
And you can bet your bottom dollar those TV execs in California were hoping their latest offering was going to have that American Dream ending.
But we British do more gritty reality in our movies and Graham Alexander and his MK Dons were more than happy to play the villains
They silenced the star-struck Wrexham faithful by racing into a 2-0 lead inside 10 minutes thanks to an own goal from Eoghan O’Connell and a Mo Eisa strike.
And although Jacob Mendy pulled one back before the break, Jonathan Leko’s second-half double put the Dons in control.
Home-grown Jordan Davies pulled one back before Daniel Harvie scored Dons’ fifth with a late injury-time Anthony Forde strike only consolation for Wrexham.
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But the football reality was that the hosts looked jaded and flat against a team which were sharper, more clinical and quite frankly better prepared.
Wrexham, to please their Hollywood owners and their new American fanbase, had to fly out for what I thought was a ridiculously scheduled and sometimes self-indulgent two-week pre-season US tour.
MK Dons, during their build-up, took on local teams Wealdstone, Barnet, Coventry and Northampton on these shores and went on a short training camp to Germany including a friendly against Bundesliga 2 club VfL Osnabruck.
But Reynolds and McElhenney flew their team across the pond for a breathless two weeks, which included friendlies against Chelsea, LA Galaxy 2nd XI, Manchester United’s kids and a second string Philadelphia team.
On that tour they were in North Carolina on the East Coast which saw them face a strong Chelsea side and got thumped 5-0.
Then they flew to the West Coast to LA via Denver to take on LA Galaxy 2nd XI, winning 4-0, before beating a United youth side 3-1 in San Diego.
And following that they were back over to the East side to visit McElhenney’s home city where they drew 1-1 against Philadelphia Union’s second string.
A huge thunderstorm saw that game delayed for more than two hours at half-time.
McElhenney of course stars in the famous US sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
The players finally arrived home less than a week before their EFL curtain raiser — and were weary and jet-lagged for a few days, which did not lend itself well to doing proper preparation ahead of facing MK Dons.
So it was no wonder they did not look up to speed against a team that were completely on the money from kick-off.
I questioned manager Phil Parkinson after his press conference about the scheduling of the US tour and the lack of matches against local opponents.
And he told me it was because the commercial opportunities of going to the States were too great to pass up.
So therein lies the problem for a League Two club that have more social media followers than several Premier League sides. They are committed to promoting their global brand.
That means there is always going to be a trade off between what is right football-wise and what is right commercially.
The Hollywood pair bought the club for £2million and the Disney series alone has made them around £7m. Each episode rakes in around £430,000 profit.
After a decade and a half outside the EFL, there is now a real feel-good factor at the club.
Tickets for Saturday’s game sold out 12 hours after they were put on sale, such is the excitement in the town.
Wrexham are building a new 5,500 seater stand, replacing the old Kop, which will increase the capacity close to 16,000.
And the Welsh national team will be playing their first international at the Racecourse for four years when they take on Gibraltar in October.
There is no doubt all the Hollywood stardust sprinkled on this club will make them sometimes unpopular among the League Two community.
But that is mostly down to jealousy.
Most clubs at this level would give their right arm to have what is going on here in North Wales.
Despite all the razzmatazz of Reynolds and his movie star pals, Wrexham are still a lower-league club that will always be loved and cherished in their community long after the circus eventually leaves town.
The Dragons got a record 111 points to clinch last season’s National League title after an incredible ding-dong with Notts County, who got 107.
Yet the Magpies also shipped five in their opening-day defeat at Sutton.
And that led one Wrexham fan to wryly remark: “It’s going to be some relegation battle.”
Now that really would make for true compelling British drama.