BOX OFFICE, ON & OFF THE FIELD

WHEN YOU take a step back and think about what has actually happened to Wrexham in the last couple of years, it’s still quite surreal.

Taken over by two famous actors in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Rob McElhenney and Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds, a documentary streamed on Disney+, players with their faces plastered all over billboards around the world and the global spotlight on a squad with a galaxy of stars who, realistically, should nearly all be playing higher.

A community in north Wales has also been transformed, given reason to believe and has renewed hope in their football team they may have started thinking would never get out of the National League.

And that’s probably why a manager who exudes the calm of Phil Parkinson has been so key. The former Colchester United, Charlton Athletic, Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers boss has seen it all before.

Tomorrow the main event everyone has had marked on the calendar for some time arrives, as Notts County roll into town for what has been billed as one of the biggest games in football’s fifth tier, if not the biggest, in recent memory.

A shock defeat to FC Halifax Town on Friday has ramped it up even more. But Parkinson, of course, takes all the noise in his stride. And why wouldn’t he?