Why Paul Rutherford left Wrexham just as they became a global sensation under Reynolds and McElhenney

Viewers of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary will be familiar with how Paul Rutherford’s five years at the Welsh club came to an abrupt end.

Having been sent off in the final game of the 2020-21 season at Dagenham & Redbridge and shown to be inconsolable afterwards over Wrexham’s play-off hopes being dashed, the Liverpool academy graduate was among 10 players released just a couple of days later. That, though, tells only part of the story.

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“It was a weird four days overall,” says the 35-year-old. “I got sent off on the Saturday and we missed out on the play-offs. Sunday, Dean (Keates, then manager) texted all the group to say his journey with Wrexham had ended and thanking the lads for their efforts.

“Monday, I’m in the labour ward with my wife (Gemma) when I found out I was being released. There is no good time to get the news your contract is up, believe me. And I don’t hold finding out like that against anyone. But it did help complete this scenario, as on the Tuesday the baby was born.

“A bizarre four days when I didn’t know if I was coming or going.”

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Life has calmed down only marginally since then. Rutherford has spent the past two seasons playing part-time in the Welsh Premier League with Bala Town. His ‘day job’ these days is as a team leader with do-it-yourself chain B&Q, while most evenings are spent ferrying sons, Riley and Ronan, to training at Liverpool, Everton and Manchester United.

“Riley is 11,” says the proud father about his eldest son, who last weekend was representing Everton in a German tournament. “He’s already a better player than me. He scores goals for a start!”

With the coaching company, Two Touch Football, Rutherford set up with pal Scott Brown on the Wirral also possibly expanding to a second night in the near future, ‘busy’ doesn’t seem to do justice to his schedule right now.

Nevertheless, the midfielder will find time this week to once again don the colours of Wrexham in the inaugural Soccer Tournament in the United States. Wrexham Red Dragons, led by current first-team coach Dave Jones and featuring a host of former players including Lee Trundle and Andy Morrell, will face Serie B side Como 1907 who boast Cesc Fabregas as player-coach, US Women, and Say Word FC in the group stages.

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“It is great to be representing the club again,” says Rutherford. “And in America as well. A no-brainer for me. As soon as I could make it work logistically, with work and family, I was made up.

“Looking at our fixtures, it’ll be a big test. Hopefully, we won’t embarrass the club or anything. For me, it’s just another good memory associated with Wrexham. Not often you can say Cesc Fabregas is part of the opposition.

“Something to tell the kids about. And maybe get them to think, ‘Frigging hell, you weren’t half bad were you Dad?'”

Having left Wrexham just three months after the 2021 takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Rutherford has missed out on the club becoming something of a global sporting sensation.

A taste is likely to come his way this week, however, when the $1million winner-takes-all Soccer Tournament gets underway in Cary, North Carolina.

“I’ve got a good mate who lives in Chicago,” he tells The Athletic. “He texted me not so long back, saying he’d just bumped into a set of lads and got talking. He’d mentioned my name and all these American lads knew exactly who I was from the (Welcome to Wrexham) show.

“That blew my mind a bit. No one knows who I am in my home town, never mind America. Mind, if it is like that on the trip then I won’t be coming back!”

Rutherford’s reaction to being sent off in what proved to be his 186th and final league appearance for Wrexham explains why the name of someone who also played for Chester City, Barrow and Southport resonates among sports fans across the Atlantic.

Having been dismissed for a high tackle on Dagenham’s Matt Robinson just a few minutes after being brought off the bench, he returned to the dressing room in an angry mood, shouting “F— off!” to no one in particular.

This soon gave way to sorrow at letting the side down, as is clear when the cameras find him sitting slumped on a bench. Wrexham, needing a win to qualify for the play-offs, level the score at 1-1 on 89 minutes, which brings Rutherford to his feet as he shouts “Come on boys!” through the dressing room window as his team-mates chase a late winner.

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The hope proves only brief; the final whistle brings tears and despair for someone who is clearly inconsolable despite the best efforts of Keates and his players. The scenes feature in the second episode of the first series, and even the hardest of hearts will surely have been moved by such raw emotion.

“I was dreading watching back the documentary,” he says when asked what it was like watching that footage 15 months later when the show was released. “Do I really need to see this? Will I be comfortable? As in, I am not an ultra-emotional person, certainly in terms of showing that emotion.

“I didn’t cry when I got married. Or when the kids were born. So, knowing my reaction in the dressing room was going to be on Disney and that thousands, potentially millions, of people are going to see it, I’m thinking, ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake!’

“In the end, I was quite comfortable with how it was done. Even if there were bits that were not quite in the timeline of how things actually happened. The clip of me at home was filmed after I was sent off. But shown as if it happened beforehand.

“Anyway, as people have seen I’m effing and blinding in the dressing room at one stage. I’m then crying my eyes out. I was also on the phone to my wife. She was upset, I was upset. It was horrible, as I felt like I’d let myself down, the fans down, my family down, the manager down.

“But then, only a couple of days later, the baby arrives and I was able to put things into context.”

The episode emphasises the fragility of life far from the Premier League spotlight, where contracts are invariably short and financial worries plentiful with mortgages having to be paid and bills met.

It is why any takeover, never mind one featuring two Hollywood stars, can be a double-edged sword for players at the club involved.

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“Initially, all the lads thought it was Russell Crowe buying the club,” says Rutherford with a chuckle. “Gladiator is coming into Wrexham! Seemingly, he had family in the area.

“We actually found out it was Ryan Reynolds just before we played a friendly on a Friday night. There are mixed feelings for everyone when a takeover happens. You’re pleased that the club is going to get a boost. But then there is the uncertainty, as often it means a change of manager and all that comes with it.

“I was pretty realistic about myself at the time. I was 33 that year, coming up to 34. I could see the signs. If I was a manager, I’d be thinking, ‘Do I need a 34-year-old right-winger who has played ‘x’ amount of games at this level? Or do I go and pay that little bit more to get someone younger because my budget is a little bit higher?’.

“I knew it was going to be the end of my journey. You have a shelf-life, as a player. Look at James Milner now at Liverpool. His cycle is coming to an end at Anfield. The big thing is to maximise those cycles and enjoy them.

“From my angle, I was just determined to enjoy the next few months. Hopefully, we could get ourselves in the play-offs and promoted to leave the club in a better place.”

That longed-for promotion at the Racecourse had to wait until this year, Wrexham having followed missing out on the play-offs in Rutherford’s final season by losing to Grimsby Town in the play-off semi-finals the next season.

In between playing and training with Bala and ferrying his sons to football training, Rutherford did manage to get back to his former club for a couple of matches last season, including the nerve-shredding Easter Monday victory over Notts County.

“What an atmosphere!” he says. “I was in with the fans and it was brilliant to see how much it means to people. And how happy they are. I was fully aware of where my career was going (at the time of his release) so there’s no bitterness from me about how things have played out. I’m just made up for everyone.

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“If anything, it probably makes my career look better. I’ll be able to say, ‘Yes, I played for Wrexham’ in years to come if anyone asks about my career.”

Rutherford will, of course, be donning red again this week in the United States. He admits to not quite knowing what to expect in a four-day tournament that sees the 32 teams split into eight groups before reverting to a knockout format.

Among the teams competing in the seven-a-side competition are Borussia Dortmund, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Ham, Israeli Premier League’s Hapoel Tel Aviv, and MLS’s Charlotte FC.

“I realised when I signed for Wrexham that this was going to be the biggest club I’d play for,” adds Rutherford, who moved to the Racecourse from Southport in 2016. “To play there for five years is something I am proud of achieving. Especially as every contract was for one year so it was a constant battle to get that next deal.

“We were so close to achieving that goal of promotion, too. Literally within a whisker of going up (in 2018-19). If we’d beaten Leyton Orient in one of our head-to-heads, we’d have gone up instead of them (as champions).

“As for the tournament in the United States, there will maybe be a few surprises in terms of the format. Whenever I have seen my son Riley play in tournaments on the continent for Everton, they tend to do it slightly differently where they have roll-on, roll-off subs. It means you can lose track of who you are playing against at times.

“But I’m looking forward to it. Mainly because I can’t wait to pull on a Wrexham shirt again.”

(Top photo: Lewis Storey/Getty Images)