Ryan Reynolds drops all timer response to American couple moving 4,800 miles to Wales after watching Wrexham series
It's not just the World Cup that has won over American fans when it comes to football, as one Texan couple are now set for a move to Wrexham after falling in love with Wales in Ryan Reynolds' Disney documentary.
In some ways, Wrexham's rapid progression through the English football leagues does sum up the American dream, even if they were bankrolled by the millions of Reynolds and Rob McElhenney while still being a non-league football club.
But it's easy to see why the club has attracted so many fans from abroad over the past few seasons, and it's not just thanks to the documentary, which has covered the appointment of Phil Parkinson as manager and the subsequent promotions from the National League, League Two and League One, all the way into the Championship.
It is almost an expectation rather than a hope that the club will one day end up playing at the highest level in the Premier League and now US couple Jeff and Janice Ivey will be there to see it in person, after deciding to sell their home in Texas and instead head to the home of their favourite documentary.
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After speaking to the media about their upcoming journey, it attracted the attention of co-owner Reynolds, who responded in typically witty fashion.
On X, he wrote: "Thank god they didn’t watch Chernobyl."
It's fortunate perhaps that the couple have visited Wrexham seven times already in recent years and have truly fallen in love with the city, so they at least know what they are getting into.
After following the popular documentary, their love affair with the city actually began when they ordered merchandise from Wrexham band Declan Swans, only for only one of their items to arrive.
Jeff emailed to follow-up but once the second sweatshirt arrived, the correspondence with the band's singer, Michael Hett, didn't stop and he suggested that they come to Wrexham to visit the town.
In an interview with the BBC, Jeff said: "If the order had come just fine, I would have sent an email saying, 'hey, thanks, got it,' and that probably would have been it.
"Because we had to keep emailing after that, it really piqued our interest."
Jeff, who has UK citizenship thanks to a Scottish grandfather, has already moved to Wrexham and is now house-hunting, while his wife Janice is in the process of selling their house in Texas.
"[Wrexham] is a working-class town. It's got a rich legacy in history," Jeff added. "The people and the history definitely reminds us of places that we grew up."
Many are predicting another season of progress for Wrexham both on and off the pitch, and considering how much American fans such as Jeff and Janice have bought in since the huge takeover, it's perhaps easy to understand why so many have fallen in love with the city and the club.
Jeff concluded: "They can get promoted, relegated. It doesn't matter. That's our club. We're not coming for the club, that's a plus, we're coming for the community."
Topics: Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney
James Moorhouse