Wrexham TST star warns that club's U.S. tour could become unsafe due to 'mad' American fans

Wrexham TST star Paul Rutherford has warned the club's first-team that their pre-season tour of the United States could become unsafe.

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WHAT HAPPENED? Rutherford played for Wrexham's team at The Soccer Tournament, which offered a prize of $1 million (£785,000/€916,000) and attracted stars from across the globe. Wrexham beat Cesc Fabregas' Como 1907, a US Women's team and Say Word FC but lost in the knockout stages to Beasley United, a team of former US men's national team players. And Rutherford claims that the "mad" American fans flocked to see Wrexham. He says "74% of tickets" were bought to watch the Welsh side.

WHAT THEY SAID: Asked about the reception the men's team will receive when they head to the United States for their forthcoming pre-season tour, Rutherford admitted that security will have to be tightened, telling The Leader: “It will be incredible for them. Shaun Harvey touched on it a bit when he said he knew the documentary had been successful but he didn’t realise quite how big it was going to be.

“He said it will probably make us change a couple of things when the first-team comes across, just for safety reasons and so on. Those lads are going to experience a Premier League tour.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: The combination of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buying Wrexham, as well as a Disney+ documentary showing their ups and downs, has seen the club's popularity sky-rocket, as well as their form on the pitch, as they won promotion to League Two last season. They will play Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as two other games, in the U.S.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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Getty Images

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WHAT NEXT? Wrexham are set to face Chelsea on July 19 as their exciting summer spate of fixtures gets underway.