21 April 2023 , 10:10
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Wrexham fans are scrambling around for shirts ahead of the team's crucial promotion match against Boreham Wood on Saturday.
The Welsh minnows, who are owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, will win the National League title if they beat Boreham Wood at the Racecourse or match Notts County's result. Second-place County travel to Maidstone United on Saturday.
Wrexham have become one of the most talked about football clubs in the world since their Hollywood takeover, which was formally competed in February 2021. That has given the local community a huge tourism boost by creating a "gateway" for fans to visit.
Ryan Reynolds has turned Wrexham into a tourism hotspot (Getty Images)Wrexham shirts have become gold dust, with some selling for as much as £79.99 on eBay. This season's home, away and goalkeeper kits have all sold out after the club's website. Strategic advisor Shaun Harvey has admitted they misjudged the demand.
More than 24,000 shirts were sold by January. As quoted by The Leader, Harvey told the Rob, Ryan, Red Podcast: "24,000 shirts have been and gone. At first, well, I thought we'd ordered too many. And I suspect if you'd have asked most people how many they think we should order at the start of the year, they wouldn't have got to 24,000 either."
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Harvey added: "Next season, we're going to order a lot more shirts. We're looking at ordering 35,000 shirts next season across three kits. I'm still no wiser now to this day if that's the right number. We'll do better, because there will be more shirts earlier. We can top up that order again when the first lot of orders come in."
Good luck getting your hands on a Wrexham shirt! (Getty Images)Do you have a Wrexham shirt? Let us know in the comments below!
Wrexham have taken global football by storm following the release of their docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham . That has made the club a household name in the United States, with fans flying over to Wales to experience the local community.
Sarah Jane Gardner travelled from Portland, Oregon to enjoy a pint and a pie at the Racecourse. "I just wanted to be a part of the community and experience the tingle in the air when the end of the season wrapped up," she told the BBC.
Jim Jones, the chief executive of North Wales Tourism, has celebrated the impact Reynolds and McElhenney have made on his beloved country. He added: "We could not buy the promotion that [the owners] are bringing to the area.
"It's a great gateway for people who visit Wrexham to then visit the rest of beautiful north Wales. I think there's not a lot that we really have to do because Rob and Ryan are doing it all for us.
"Hopefully Wrexham will go from strength to strength, not just on the pitch but also in terms of their economic regeneration which includes tourism."
Wrexham have not played in the English Football League since their relegation from League Two in 2008. They will tour the United States this summer, with friendlies against Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea pencilled in.