Wrexham v Notts County: How Magpies have added 'theatre' to Hollywood showdown
- Published
Wrexham's top-of-the-table meeting with Notts County will attract a worldwide TV audience thanks to the interest generated by the Welsh club's owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds
Notts County know they have packed the National League title race with all "drama and theatre" that Tinseltown could want.
The Magpies and Wrexham are both locked on 100 points and only separated by goal difference after Friday's games, are on record-smashing pace, and meet on Monday in what is being described as the biggest game in the history of fifth-tier football in England.
Wrexham's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have turned the battle at the top of non-league football into a global streaming hit.
And while Notts boss Luke Williams says the documentary series is "brilliantly entertaining", he is not about to settle for his club being seen as a support act.
"How exciting is it to see big players, players that have incredible form, with Hollywood owners and a famous club - an incredible club - in Notts County," Williams said.
"There is a lot of very good ingredients for a great story and for great theatre.
"And I think we are very fortunate to be involved in the production of this. We have to enjoy it.
"Of course we have a determination and desire to win, but ultimately football is about people being able to experience emotions and experience drama - and it's all there."
While Wrexham's owners have brought a never-before-seen level of glamour to the non-league game, Notts are used to wrapping themselves in star power.
Singer-songwriter Jake Bugg is a lifelong fan who sponsors the club's away kit, with his name synonymous with their success this season as it is embossed on the front of their shirts.
Wrexham have undoubtedly raised the profile of the league, but Notts have proven to be the competition's biggest draw, attracting record-breaking attendances for the division.
Hollywood stars v Danish brothers
Christoffer (left) and Alexander Reedtz have been the owners of Notts County since 2019
Wrexham and Notts, who have swapped the lead in the National League title race numerous times this season, have much in common.
Hope was returned to them by new owners when times looked increasingly tough; fortunes were transformed by strong-willed managers; and goal-hungry strikers have delivered in stunning fashion.
But in almost every facet, the two clubs have gone about their pursuit of success in entirely different ways.
Reynolds is a comic book anti-hero on the silver screen and and McElhenney is most famous for being a comedic misfit in US sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Notts are owned by Danish brothers Alexander and Christoffer Reedtz, neither of whom would likely pass as a wise-cracking action hero or the 'jacked' sort of character their Wrexham counterparts portray.
While Reynold and McElhenney have made a docuseries about figuring out how to run a football club, the Reedtz brothers put all they knew as owners of statistical analytics company Football Radar to the ultimate test when they bought the then ailing Magpies in the summer of 2019.
Mullin v Langstaff
Paul Mullin was the National League golden boot winner last season, with Macaulay Langstaff leading the race this term
Changes of ownership rejuvenated both clubs, but it is the glut of goals delivered by the fifth tier's two most prolific marksmen that has fired these two sides to the brink of promotion and breaking the 105-point record for the division.
Wrexham's Paul Mullin has plundered 34 goals, but even he has not been able to keep pace with Notts' record-breaking striker Macaulay Langstaff, who tops the scoring charts with 41.
They share an insatiable appetite for goals, but their route to spearheading these two attacks are vastly different.
Mullin dropped a division after top scoring in League Two in 2021 to supercharge Wrexham, while Langstaff took up a step in the non-league pyramid last summer to produce what has been a career-defining campaign in front of goal.
Notts boss Williams says both sides find themselves facing the same conundrum.
"The reality is I can't sit here and tell you, 'Don't worry, we have an easy way to control Paul Mullin.' It's impossible to say that," Williams said.
"The guy is a very good player, he is outstanding.
"But we have a striker who is also incredible. I don't think they have a quick fix to stop Macca either."
Parkinson v Williams
Phil Parkinson is in his second season at the helm of Wrexham, while Luke Williams has been in charge of Notts County since last summer
Plotting Wrexham's game plan is the hugely experienced Phil Parkinson - a manager with a number of higher league promotions and a major cup final appearance to his name.
Notts have Williams, whose only previous experience in senior management ended with relegation to League Two with Swindon in 2017.
Still, the reputation he went on to build as head coach of Bristol City Under-23s, plus and assistant manager at MK Dons and Swansea City, led Notts to believe he was the one to "help us achieve our goal of promotion and getting back to where we feel we belong".
What promotion from the National League means to Notts is reclaiming their identity as the "world's oldest football league club".
When they dropped out of the English Football League in 2019, it was the first time the 161-year-old founding member of the league had done so.
In each of their previous three seasons trying to return, they have reached the play-offs. The nearest they have come to date is losing the play-off final in 2020.
Following Notts' win over Wealdstone on Friday, coupled with Wrexham's defeat at Halifax, the two sides are level on points, with the Magpies top by virtue of a three-goal superior goal difference.
However, the Welsh side have a game in hand, meaning victory on Monday could go a long way to deciding who goes straight up and who has to settle for a place in the play-offs.
"It would be a massive positive if we go there and win," Langstaff said.
"We would put massive pressure on them, and while they have the advantage of the game in hand, you still have to win those games.
"It would put the pressure on them and give us that confidence and belief to go on and try and win the league. But there would also be tough games to come after that."