Ryan Reynolds Rob McElhenney Wrexham 2023Getty

'Huge game!' - Phil Parkinson expects Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney to attend Wrexham's first League Two fixture against MK Dons after 15-year absence

  • Dragons back in the Football League
  • Promotion secured in record-breaking style
  • Hollywood co-owners fully committed

WHAT HAPPENED? The Dragons have spent 15 long years on the outside looking in, with it requiring a takeover from two Hollywood superstars in order for them to become upwardly mobile once more. The National League title was secured in record-breaking style last season – with Reynolds and McElhenney regular visitors to North Wales – and Wrexham now know that they will be opening the 2023-24 League Two campaign with a home date against MK Dons on August 5.

WHAT THEY SAID: Wrexham boss Parkinson has told Sky Sports when asked if Reynolds and McElhenney will be at SToK Racecourse for that historic fixture: “I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they come over because it is – in the history of the football club - a huge game. To be out of the league for 15 years, this signals the return of the club into league football. I’m sure if they can possibly be here, they will be over.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Reynolds and McElhenney have invested heavily in Wrexham as a club and a community, and continue to draw up ambitious long-term plans, with Parkinson adding when asked if they are excited about the challenges to come: “Very much so. The aim when they bought the club was to get this fantastic football club back into the EFL. It has been 15 years of pain for our supporters and we managed to achieve it. Now we can really relish the challenge that the EFL brings.”

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WHAT NEXT? Parkinson says that Wrexham - along with fellow fourth-tier new-boys Notts County - are “looking to be right up there” next season, with the Dragons hoping to complete shrewd business in the summer transfer market that allows them to compete for back-to-back promotions.

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