Soccer sensation Wrexham is coming to America. Not simply on tv screens, however on the pitch.
The fifth-tier Welsh aspect, which has develop into a fan favourite since Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney purchased it and launched a documentary sequence, “Welcome to Wrexham,” will play Manchester United in a pleasant on July 25 at San Diego State’s 35,000-seat Snapdragon Stadium.
“We hope to become America’s team — sorry,” McElhenney said at news conference Monday, where he shared the dais with Andrew Cole, a former Manchester United player who is now an ambassador for the hugely popular team, and former U.S. national team star Landon Donovan, who is co-owner and executive vice president of soccer operations for the San Diego Loyal.
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Wrexham will compete in a $1 million, winner-take-all, seven-on-seven tournament in June in Cary, North Carolina. But the match against Manchester United in the United States will be much bigger for many reasons.
“Not bad, not bad,” McElhenney stated. “We’ve been very clear from the very beginning that our ultimate goal is to get to the Premier League, which a lot of people laughed at, but I don’t think they’re laughing at us much now. The truth is, the system is in place for that very thing to happen.
“We had hoped that at some point we’d be playing Manchester United in the Premier League,” he added. “We didn’t realize it would be in three years. Obviously this is a friendly. We had hoped that maybe in eight to 10 years time we’d actually be playing with you guys,” McIlhenney stated to Cole.
McElhenney stated Wrexham will play different friendlies whereas within the United States with particular particulars to come.
Reynolds and McElhenney took over beleaguered Wrexham in February 2021 and their documentary — about their journey, the crew, its followers and its metropolis — premiered in August. Wrexham is the third-oldest soccer crew on the planet and performs within the English National League, the fifth tier {of professional} soccer.
“I believe we can become America’s football team because we don’t have to worry about the regionalization, right?” McElhenney stated. “I’m a massive Philadelphia Eagles fan, so American football, and obviously if you’re trying to grow that fan base in the U.S. it’s tricky because there are various regions where people have their own teams. So with an English football team, or a Welsh team that plays in the English system, we don’t have to worry about that regionalization. So you can be from Des Moines, you can be from Minnesota, you can be from West Texas and be a Wrexham fan.”
McElhenney, who was sporting a Wrexham cap, stated the crew retains promoting out of its gear and is aware of it has a fan base on this aspect of the Atlantic Ocean.
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“We know it’s a lot of Americans, we obviously know the postal codes, but also because a lot of baseball caps are getting sold and that’s not a huge market in the UK,” he said.
Several local United supporters attended the news conference and McElhenney told them: “One more thing I’ve found about football, too, is you can have two teams. Because we’re separated by so many leagues — for the time being — you can have two teams. They’re going to play their hearts out. Maybe you can fall in love with our team as well.”
The match will be part of a summer U.S. tour by Manchester United. A youth-focused team drawn from its traveling squad, supplemented by academy prospects, will face Wrexham as part of a week-long training camp in San Diego.
Cole said he hasn’t seen “Welcome to Wrexham” but knows that the documentary is “spreading football. Football is a global game. Even if you don’t know about football, when it comes to World Cup time, everyone watches football. It’s a language, football is. I think what Wrexham are doing is absolutely fantastic, having the opportunity to come out here and play football out here and spread it throughout the world.”
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Donovan said it’s a big deal that this match is coming to San Diego, which is growing in stature in the soccer world.
“You can argue that these are the two most relevant soccer clubs, certainly by American standards,” Donovan stated. “I’ll say this anecdotally — my spouse is aware of nothing about soccer/soccer in any respect. She is aware of who Manchester United is and he or she is aware of who Wrexham AFC is now, most likely as a result of two cute guys run the present.”
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
