Wrexham will be preparing for life in the Championship over the summer and appear to be heading Down Under.
The last few days have been another extraordinary period in the Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds era.
Wrexham beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 last week, securing automatic promotion to the Championship.
Phil Parkinson has masterminded three straight promotions and the magic of this Wrexham journey means another can’t be ruled out.
Wrexham have more to come according to McElhenney, and the preparations for Championship life will truly begin once this weekend’s game against Lincoln City is out of the way.
We are used to seeing Wrexham head to the United States for pre-season, but that seemingly won’t be the case this summer.
Wellington Phoenix boss on facing Wrexham
Reports suggest that Wrexham will be taking a trip Down Under this summer.
Wrexham have a friendly against Melbourne Victory lined up this summer according to reports from April.
That game would be held at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, with the stadium sponsored by Marvel and a special Marvel superstore on-site.
The ties to ‘Deadpool’ star Ryan Reynolds are clear, but Wrexham’s trip won’t end there.
Wrexham were allegedly heading to Sydney, Perth and Auckland, but the final venue is being changed to Wellington.
Wellington Phoenix would be the opponents in that final game, with boss Giancarlo Italiano now offering his reaction.
As quoted by A Leagues, Italiano admitted that a game against Wrexham this summer would be ‘amazing’.
Italiano noted the ‘cult following’ around Wrexham praising the ‘big ambitions’ under McElhenney and Reynolds.
The Phoenix boss is hoping for ‘good weather’ and a strong crowd but stopped short of admitting that the game is even taking place.
“Yeah, if it happens, it’d be amazing,” said Italiano.
“(It’d) be great to get their pedigree. I know they’re a big club with big ambitions, and they have a bit of a cult following now, but yeah, be great if it could happen.
“I think any opponent from abroad that has some sort of, you know, following would be good, also good to get the fans out. Hopefully it’s good weather, and, yeah, we’ll just see how it pans out,” he added.
Latest reports on Wrexham pre-season trip
The Sydney Morning Herald claim that Wrexham will be facing Sydney FC in July, but no venue has been decided yet.
Their report notes that Australia ranks third in terms of viewership of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, behind only the United Kingdom and the United States.
That is no doubt a huge factor in Wrexham’s decision to switch away from the United States and head to Australia and New Zealand instead.
As quoted by Stuff, Auckland FC chief executive Nick Becker admitted that he was waiting for contact from Reynolds over a potential friendly.
“I’m waiting for Ryan (Reynolds) to give me a shout about that one. I’ve heard that rumour too but we haven’t been formally approached about anything,” said Becker.
Auckland appeared to be the destination for Wrexham’s New Zealand leg, but that appears to be Wellington instead as plans move closer to being finalised.