Within hours of the finals of the European Championship and Copa America on July 14, attention will turn to pre-season for many of the most famous clubs in Europe.

Manchester United have a friendly match against Norwegian side Rosenborg on July 15, while Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa have games two days later. Yet the main event of pre-season is the now customary money-spinning tour where European clubs travel thousands of miles across the world with the objective of growing their fanbase, consolidating ties with existing supporters and unlocking fresh revenue potential.

This summer, the United States is the location of choice for many of Europe’s largest clubs. Premier League clubs Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Wolves, Crystal Palace, West Ham and Bournemouth will all be in the United States, along with League One side Wrexham, who have become a streaming sensation under the ownership of actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. La Liga giants Real Madrid and Barcelona will also be in the States, along with AC Milan from Italy. Arsenal and Chelsea’s women’s sides are also crossing over the Atlantic this summer to face NWSL side Gotham.

The motivations are hardly surprising. The U.S. is the centre of the football universe…

Wrexham will compete in both the men’s and women’s versions of The Soccer Tournament (TST) being played in Cary, North Carolina, this summer.

The seven-a-side event carries a $1million winner-takes-all-prize pot and last year ticket sales topped 30,000 for the inaugural tournament.

Almost 50 per cent of those identified as supporting Wrexham Red Dragons, effectively a ‘Legends’ team made up of former players and current goalkeeper Mark Howard.

This meant the likes of Andy Morrell, Lee Trundle and Paul Rutherford were treated like A-listers at an event that also boasted former U.S. internationals and players with World Cup and Premier League experience.

Andy Morell pumping up the @Wrexham_AFC Red Dragon fans after their lNSANE TST WIN!

Are the @Wrexham_AFC supporters the best fans in the world, or what pic.twitter.com/xRPFJH0sNm

— TST (@TST7v7) June 1, 2023

“Wrexham’s involvement in 2023 helped put TST on the map and resulted in our event selling out,” says TST founder and CEO Jon Mugar.

“They are undoubtedly America’s team and understand the spirit of our festival as well as everyone.”

Wrexham director Shaun Harvey adds: “Last year’s tournament saw the club make its U.S. debut and it was a great experience to welcome…

Harrogate being one of the more genteel towns to boast an EFL club, Wrexham’s James McClean had a rare quiet night.

Not on the pitch, you understand, where the 34-year-old former Republic of Ireland international, again sporting the captain’s armband, was his industrious self as Phil Parkinson’s side came up against a wall of blue as Harrogate Town ground out a hard-fought goalless draw.

Off it, however, was a different story with the small band of 260 followers who made the trip from the Yorkshire spa town seemingly devoid of the type who tend to believe the price of a ticket equates to an entitlement to shout all manner of abuse at a footballer.

McClean has come up against plenty of these in Wrexham colours already this season, his every touch jeered at some away grounds to underline why, in the past, he has claimed to be the subject of “more abuse than any other player in England”.

A refusal to wear a poppy during matches near Remembrance Sunday — a day in November to commemorate British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts — explains the terrace vitriol.

He’s explained himself numerous times, reasoning that to do so would offend people from his community in home city Derry, the scene of the Bloody…

Will there ever be such a thing as a normal existence for Wrexham AFC under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney?

Probably not, judging by another surreal couple of days that underlined, once again, how life at this previously provincial football club has been turned upside down.

First, Prince William rode into town on Friday lunchtime with his extensive security detail to mark St David’s Day, the patron saint of Wales. Like many before him, including Hollywood stars Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd, the King’s eldest son headed straight for The Turf, a pub now familiar to millions through the success of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary.

Having poured a pint behind the bar alongside landlord Wayne Jones and then downing a shot of whiskey with Wrexham co-owner McElhenney, the Prince of Wales moved next door to The Racecourse Ground to meet men’s manager Phil Parkinson and Steve Dale, the women’s team boss.

Ben Tozer and club captain Luke Young were also on hand to present William with a team shirt. A little over 24 hours later, Wrexham were running riot on the same pitch, as a first half hat-trick from Paul Mullin, surely the people’s choice Prince of (north) Wales, helped set up a…

Wrexham Women captain Keren Allen isn’t necessarily one to court the cameras.

“I’m quite an awkward person so being in front (of the camera) for me is still a bit, ‘Whooah’,” she explains. She’s just been asked about life at a club whose every step is followed by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary crew.

“But then there are others, such as Rosie (Hughes, striker), who absolutely love it. She shines in front of the camera.”

Leaving her reticence aside, however, Allen is in no doubt as to the benefits that come from the team being in the spotlight. This includes the show’s ability to shine a light on important matters such as mental health. Her team-mate Lili Jones was featured in series two speaking with such poise and candour about her late father Gareth taking his own life.

“I remember just before the show went out and Lil was stressing at training, not quite knowing how she would come across,” says the 27-year-old defender, signed last summer ahead of the club’s maiden season in the Genero Adran Premier League.

“Credit to her because she came across absolutely amazing. The levels of maturity she has considering everything she has gone through.

“She showed it is about more than being a player. It was amazing to see. I think it is really important that…

The popular business lifelong Wrexham supporter Steve Tapp had built up over the previous decade or so was in ruins following a burglary and there seemed no way back.

“I was ready to pack it all in,” says the owner of Wrexham Trainer Revival about the October 28 break-in last year that saw £8,000 ($10,200) worth of stock stolen. “The shop had been ransacked and I went home that night to tell my wife that was it. I’d have to close, sell what was left on eBay and look for another job. I was devastated.”

Unbeknown to Tapp, an American couple who had befriended him on a transatlantic visit to see where the award-winning Welcome to Wrexham documentary was filmed had decided to help.

A GoFundMe page was immediately set up by Kirsten and Ray Webb and donations soon flooded in.

“I’d been blown away by the messages on social media,” he says. “But then this lovely couple I’d only met once before in person set up the GoFundMe. Suddenly, all these people were throwing money in. For that to happen in a working-class town, where there isn’t a lot of money around, was incredible. It was really emotional, watching the total go up.”

Then came the moment that left Tapp genuinely speechless, as Ryan Reynolds and Rob…

Where does a former NFL coach with a Super Bowl title to his name go on holiday for the new year? Wrexham, of course.

Paul McCord and his family swapped Florida for north Wales to take in the League Two match against Barrow after becoming passionate fans of the club through the documentary Welcome to Wrexham.

It meant leaving behind the Tampa sunshine and daytime temperatures of 22C (71.6F) for highs of 9C but Paul, wife Mindy — a successful coach in women’s lacrosse — and nine-year-old son LJ couldn’t have been happier.

“Being here in Wrexham to celebrate the new year meant so much,” says Paul, a member of the coaching team who took the Baltimore Ravens to Super Bowl glory in 2001. He sports the commemorative ring he received after the 34-7 victory over the New York Giants.

“This is our second visit to Wrexham. We first came over in March 2023, for the Southend United game. Then, we took in the U.S. tour last summer, watching the games in Chapel Hill, Los Angeles, San Diego and Philadelphia.

GO DEEPER

Wrexham, Chelsea and the $20m match

“That was great, as we got to meet up again with people like Wayne (Jones, The Turf landlord and breakout star of the documentary), who we met on that first visit to Wrexham.

“We’ve fallen in love with the place and the people. In…

A glance at Rob McElhenney’s office wall in Los Angeles suggests the good times have only just begun for Wrexham.

Since joining forces with Ryan Reynolds to complete probably the most unlikely takeover in British football history, there have been many moments to savour for the creator of sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Promotion back to the EFL was the big one. But there have been plenty of others to cherish, including Ben Foster’s pivotal penalty save against Notts County and reaching Wembley in the pair’s first full season at the helm.

After each of those notable successes, McElhenney would squirrel away a few blades of grass from the Racecourse Ground pitch in his pocket as a souvenir.

Now, thanks to an inspired birthday present from his wife and It’s Always Sunny… co-star Kaitlin Olson, those little keepsakes serve as a daily reminder of the huge strides Wrexham have made under their Hollywood owners and the burning desire of the acting duo to keep driving the Welsh club forward.

“As I grow older, I recognise you must take time to take a breath and enjoy what it is you’re doing,” McElhenney tells The Athletic. “If we’re not taking stock of where we are and where we’ve come (from), then what is the point?

“I’m staring right now, in my…

Wrexham have announced United Airlines as their new front-of-shirt sponsor for their men’s and women’s teams.

The newly-promoted League Two club had been sponsored by social media company TikTok since the summer of 2021, shortly after their takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

But that deal expired at the end of last season and Wrexham will now have the U.S. airline on the front of their shirts heading into the new campaign.

“We seek out sponsors that match the spirit of both Wrexham Association Football Club and the people of Wrexham,” said Reynolds and McElhenney.

“We could think of no better sponsor for the next phase of our quest than United Airlines. The team, town and fans around the world are united as never before and United Airlines is committed to elevating our story and journey.”

Wrexham signed two-year sponsorship deals with TikTok, travel company Expedia and Reynold’s Aviation Gin at the same time, crucially before the impact of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series became apparent and the club’s exposure rapidly grew.

SToK Cold Brew Coffee signed a deal with Wrexham last month to sponsor the Racecourse Ground, which will now be known as the StoK…

Wrexham, former U.S. men’s and women’s national team players, a Spanish football legend and TikTok stars are competing for $1 million in a 7v7 tournament — and it’s happening at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina.

Yes, you read that right.

What seems like the most fanciful of fever dreams is a reality at The Soccer Tournament (TST), going on now in North Carolina’s Research Triangle. Set up like the World Cup, 32 teams signed up for the tournament which is set up with groups of four competing in a round-robin group stage and a round of 16 single-elimination knockout before the finals. The five-day event concludes Sunday, June 4 with the winning team claiming the collective $1 million prize. Second place, as the organizer says, gets nothing.

From the founders of The Basketball Tournament, which started in 2014 by Jon Mugar, the idea of TST was born in 2020 when soccer players Mike Volk and Henry Tembon reached out to Mugar about the soccer version of the competition. With the help of former MLS star Alecko Eskandarian, and NBA’s Chris Paul, TST began.

The Athletic has on-the-ground coverage all weekend from Pablo Maurer and Felipe Cardenas, but here are a few quick hits to get you up to speed.

Where and when is the TST tournament?

The TST tournament is taking…