It would only be a tiny applying of the brakes on an unbelievable journey
Rutherford was released after Wrexham's 2021 playoff failure, missing the club's subsequent rapid ascent through divisions under Reynolds and McElhenney's ownership. The documentary-featured club has invested £30m+ annually and now stands on the brink of Premier League football, a journey Rutherford predicted would take 11 years.
- Rutherford was released in 2021 after Wrexham's playoff failure, missing the club's subsequent rise under Reynolds and McElhenney
- Wrexham has invested £30m+ in players and climbed from non-league to the Championship in four years
- Rutherford predicted in 2023 that Wrexham would reach the Premier League in eleven years; they may do it in four
As Wrexham faces a decisive Championship playoff match, former player Paul Rutherford reflects on the club's dramatic transformation under celebrity ownership, contrasting his own heartbreaking exit with the team's meteoric rise.
Paul Rutherford was alone in the dressing room when it became clear his time at Wrexham was finished. Five years ago, on the final day of the season, he received a straight red card for a rash challenge. The cameras caught everything—his anger first, then the anguish as the reality settled in. Wrexham drew 1-1 that afternoon, and the point wasn't enough. Rivals elsewhere won their matches and took the playoff spot by a single point. The club would spend another year outside the EFL, exiled from professional football, with the world now watching because of the documentary that had just begun following them.
Rutherford was one of Wrexham's longest-serving players, nearly 200 appearances in a red shirt. He knew what was at stake went beyond just getting out of non-league. The manager, Dean Keates, was sacked the next day. Rutherford was released the day after that, along with ten others. He found out while in the maternity ward waiting for his third son to be born. "It felt like my world was imploding, that I'd let a lot of good people down," he says now, looking back at those images of himself alone in the changing room.
At the time, the takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney was still fresh. The squad had heard the rumors starting in September 2020, when games were still behind closed doors because of Covid. Someone had mentioned that Russell Crowe might be buying the club—his grandfather was from Wrexham, so the joke went that Gladiator was coming to rescue them. When the actual identities were revealed a few weeks later, the players understood what it could mean. "There was a narrative that as players we knew it was good for the town and the club but not for the players," Rutherford recalls. "But it wasn't quite like that. We weren't resigned to our fate. As a group, it actually galvanised us."
Rutherford was realistic about his own prospects. He was losing sharpness, and hip problems were beginning to set in—problems that would eventually require surgery. "I was good value for money but as soon as they could raise the wage ceiling, they could find better players," he says. "That's football." What followed was a blur of promotions. Paul Mullin arrived. Then came the new manager, and after a playoff defeat in his first year, promotion followed promotion followed promotion. The club that had been stuck in non-league was suddenly climbing through the divisions. By last summer, they were spending £30 million on new players alone. Now, on the brink of the Championship playoffs, they're one win away from the Premier League.
Rutherford's own path diverged sharply. He played in the Welsh leagues for a time, then moved into coaching and other work—driving his boys to football training, working in a hardware store showroom. His middle son is now in the club's academy. He was never contacted by the new owners after his release, but years later he was invited to play in an invitational Wrexham side in a tournament in North Carolina, alongside other former players like Mark Howard and Lee Trundle. Seeing the club's new global fanbase in person was overwhelming. "Honestly, it's hard to put it into words how big it's become unless you see it," he says.
When he was out there in America, he made a prediction. He said Wrexham would be in the Premier League in eleven years. He thought they'd spend a few years in League One, then five or six years grinding through the Championship. "To think they could do it in four is just phenomenal," he says now. "I don't want to say it would be a Hollywood story, it'll be more like something out of Football Manager." But there is still a final day to come. Saturday brings Middlesbrough, and a win secures the playoff place. Anything else leaves it to chance. Rutherford knows better than most that even a club owned by movie stars doesn't get to write its own ending. "It's bittersweet that we couldn't get that promotion and what happened," he says. "But I can look back now and say I was one of those who played a small part in the story and be proud of that. It would only be a tiny applying of the brakes on an unbelievable journey—they're still on their way."
Citações Notáveis
It felt like my world was imploding, that I'd let a lot of good people down— Paul Rutherford, on his reaction to being released after the 2021 playoff failure
It's a global brand but the football club is still at the heart of it. It's kept its soul.— Paul Rutherford, on Wrexham's transformation under celebrity ownership
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
You were there at the beginning of this whole thing, when Reynolds and McElhenney first took over. What did it feel like in the dressing room?
Honestly, there was this strange mix of hope and uncertainty. We'd been close to promotion a couple of times, then close to dropping down. When we heard about the takeover, we didn't know if it would help us or push us out. But the squad wanted to prove we could be part of it.
And then you weren't. You got that red card on the final day, and suddenly you were gone.
The timing was brutal. I was in the maternity ward when I found out. My third son was being born, and I'm learning I won't be going back. You miss the whole thing that follows—the promotions, the documentary, all of it.
Do you regret that moment? The challenge that got you sent off?
Not in the way you might think. It was a rash decision in a high-pressure moment. But I was realistic about my future anyway. My body was telling me something. The new owners could afford better players. That's just how it works.
You went to North Carolina years later and saw what Wrexham had become. What was that like?
Surreal. The fanbase, the scale of it—you can't understand it until you're there. I remember thinking they'd be in the Premier League in eleven years. Now it might happen in four. It's almost unreal.
Do you feel like you missed out on something?
Of course. But I can look back and say I was part of the story, even if my chapter ended early. The club kept its soul through all of this. That matters to me.