When Hollywood came to Wrexham, everyone expected a fairy tale ending. But as the Welsh club now pushes for the Championship play-offs, former player Paul Rutherford knows better than anyone that even the best scripts don't always go to plan.
This Saturday, Wrexham faces a defining moment. Beat Middlesbrough and they're in the play-offs. Anything less, and they're left hoping for results elsewhere. It's the kind of high-stakes drama that has made the club's documentary series a global sensation, with celebrity co-chairmen Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac once again in the spotlight at the latest season launch in Los Angeles.
But five years ago, when Reynolds and Mac were just a glimmer of a takeover rumor, Rutherford lived through a very different final day. Sent off for a reckless challenge, he sat alone in the Dagenham dressing room—first furious, then heartbroken—as his world collapsed around him. Wrexham drew 1-1 that day, missing the play-offs by a single point. The cameras captured every tear.
"It felt like my world was imploding, that I'd let a lot of good people down," Rutherford recalls. At the time, he was one of the club's longest-serving players, and he knew more than promotion was at stake. Manager Dean Keates was sacked the next day. Rutherford was released the day after, along with ten others.
"And the rest is history," he says now with a wry laugh. Now 38, his final appearance in a Wrexham shirt was that painful afternoon in 2021, ending a five-year run of nearly 200 games. He was in the maternity ward, waiting for his third son to be born, when he got the news he wouldn't be coming back—missing the club's rapid ascent under its new A-list ownership.
"We actually thought it was going to be Russell Crowe," he laughs, remembering the takeover rumors. Instead, it was Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who transformed the club's fortunes and turned it into a global phenomenon. But as Wrexham prepares for another decisive day, Rutherford's story is a reminder that in football—even with Hollywood money and a documentary crew—you can't always write your own ending. Sometimes, the script writes itself. And sometimes, it breaks your heart.