‘Ludicrous’ – Birmingham slammed for dragging Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney & Wrexham into ‘ridiculous’ request for League One game in the United States

It has been claimed that the Blues – who have American owners on board and NFL legend Tom Brady as an investor in the club – sounded out the EFL regarding the possibility of hosting a League One meeting with Wrexham in the United States.

That request is said to have been knocked back, with Hollywood co-owners in North Wales quick to distance themselves from any role in the discussions. Said concept was always likely to be a non-starter, with Birmingham attracting criticism for the manner in which they are trying to tweak an established system.

Former England international Carlton Palmer, who is a West Midlands native, has told Football League World of a bizarre sequence of events: “I mean, this is ludicrous really. I find this beyond belief that the American owners of Birmingham City [are] requesting to play their League One match versus Wrexham in the USA next season. It’s just absolutely ludicrous. You know, they’ve bought an English Football League club and that’s where the league’s played.

"It’s a non-starter. It was never going to happen. I mean, you’ve never heard Wrexham and their owners, they’ve never come out and mentioned anything like that. It’s never going to happen, and it’s just a non-starter. It’s absolute nonsense. You know, if you’re looking at this, and you’re a Birmingham City fan, you’d be thinking, ‘Right, are these people really serious, who have come into the football club? Are they really serious, or is this just something for them to promote what they’re doing in the USA or whatever?’ It just really is nonsensical and was never going to happen from day one. Ridiculous request.”

There will be plenty of eyes on Birmingham’s meetings with Wrexham in the 2024-25 campaign, given the celebrity faces in their respective boardrooms, and the first of those clashes is pencilled in for September 14 at St Andrew’s. A return date at SToK Racecourse is due to take place on January 25, although both games may yet be moved for television coverage.