Wrexham get ‘Harlem Globetrotters’ billing under Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney – while Tom Brady sees big-spending Birmingham labelled ‘Real Madrid of League One’ by rival boss

That is the opinion of outspoken Rotherham boss Steve Evans, who is preparing to lock horns with two sides generating plenty of buzz in the third tier of English football. The presence of Hollywood co-owners at Wrexham – alongside an award-winning documentary series – has seen the Red Dragons become one of the most talked about teams on the planet.

Birmingham, meanwhile, boast NFL legend Tom Brady among their investors, and raised eyebrows with their summer transfer business – which included the £15 million ($20m) signing of Jay Stansfield from Fulham.

Evans, who is working on a much smaller budget at Rotherham, has joked about the challenges that he faces when it comes to being competitive, telling BBC Sport: “We’ve not played the Real Madrid of League One, we play them a week on Saturday, and we’ve not played the Harlem Globetrotters, which will turn up when Parky brings Wrexham here.

“In all seriousness, we’ll get a measurement after 12 or 14 games. It’s always the situation whether you are League One, Championship or below. You need 12 or 14 games to get an idea because you’ll have played a mix of teams.”

Wrexham and Birmingham are among the early frontrunners in League One, with both sides yet to taste defeat. The Red Dragons sit at the top of the division, after picking up 13 points from five games, but are due at St Andrew’s for their next outing on Monday.