Wrexham are one of the most popular clubs in the United States but one groundbreaking request has been snubbed.
The rise of Wrexham has been remarkable in recent years and much of that is down to the impact of Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
The arrival of two major Hollywood celebrities has transformed Wrexham into worldwide news – even as a non-league club during the National League days.
Back-to-back promotions certainly help build the hype but arguably the biggest factor has been the success of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series.
The Wrexham story has been shown around the world now, meaning we now see fans from all over the globe heading to the STōK Cae Ras.
American fans can’t get enough of Wrexham and that will be on show again this summer as Phil Parkinson’s men head for pre-season friendlies in the States.
Birmingham City’s Wrexham request snubbed
Fans will love watching Wrexham in friendly action, but what about a competitive game?
The notion of EFL games taking place abroad has been talked about more and more in recent months.
Wrexham’s influence is certainly a major factor in those conversations but few really expected such games to take place any time soon.
Well, Birmingham City have been trying to make it happen.
That is according to the Daily Mail, who claim that Birmingham have asked the EFL for permission to play a League One clash with Wrexham in the US.
Birmingham also have American owners and legendary NFL quarterback Tom Brady is one minority investor in the club.
Wrexham find out the League One fixture list this week and Birmingham seemingly attempted a groundbreaking switch.
Unsurprisingly though, the EFL have completely ruled out that prospect.
Birmingham are understood to be ‘disappointed’ that the EFL rejected the request, seemingly believing that playing a game stateside would have helped build the profile of the EFL.
No Premier League or EFL fixture has ever taken place abroad, so this would have been a truly historic moment had Birmingham been successful.
It’s unclear if Wrexham were even on board with the suggestion and most supporters would surely be completely against the idea.
Wrexham fans want to watch games at the STōK Cae Ras and whilst this new-found popularity has been incredible to witness, taking games away from Wales and over to the States just shouldn’t be in the plans any time soon.
The NFL playing games in England, Germany, Mexico and Brazil has seemingly opened the door for American owners to suggest the same for EFL games.
That won’t be happening this season, but we would imagine that the conversation will rear its head again in the future.