Hollywood loves sequels, but perhaps not as much as Wrexham’s promotion heroes.
A year after painting the town red in Las Vegas following the Welsh club’s National League title, the players were back in Sin City after being flown across the Atlantic by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Promotion to League One, achieved midway through last month, explains the generosity of Wrexham’s A-lister co-owners, who once again ensured Paul Mullin, Elliot Lee and the rest of the squad got the VIP treatment .
Among those who attended the three-day party was rapper Lil Jon, who wore a Wrexham scarf during a gig at world-famous nightclub Hakkasan. McElhenney also made an appearance this weekend with his wife – and fellow It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia star – Kaitlin Olson. The couple also joined the players on their first trip to Vegas in 2023.
While manager Phil Parkinson and his team enjoyed the quieter pleasures of golf during their post-season vacation, the team was free to enjoy sets from international DJs David Guetta and Tiesto during the trip.
And if that wasn’t enough, forward Ollie Palmer, on his way back, upped the ante again by attending a Met Gala after-party in New York. Palmer and his wife Caitlin met Brit Award-winning singer Raye.
This is the story of Wrexham in Vegas, part II.
It’s the biggest nightclub in a city considered capitalism on steroids – but last weekend it resounded to the chants of “We are the Red Army.”
So Las Vegas welcomed back the stars of the Emmy Award-winning show Welcome to Wrexham for their second visit to the Nevada desert in a year. The venue was Hakkasan Nightclub at the MGM Grand Hotel. The event was a late night party hosted by rap star Lil John. The footballers’ entrance could not have been more grandiose, with images of their goals from the last Ligue 2 season broadcast on the nightclub’s giant LED screens.
Welsh flags were also flown in their honor as the ticker fell. The supporters’ anthem ‘Wrexham FC, We’re the Red Army’ was played over the loudspeakers.
After being led to a VIP area, where bottles of Reynolds-fronted Aviation Gin and a six-liter bottle of champagne awaited them, the players partied into the early hours with Lil John in his cabin by DJ.
It was the kind of special treatment usually accorded to stars of the world of cinema and music, and not to athletes living 5,000 miles from home who had just finished a season in the fourth division of their national championship.
But the Wrexham players took it in stride. Most travelers had discovered this surreal world of glitz and glamor a year earlier.
Hakkasan was also among the team’s first stops in May 2023. Their entrance was then just as high profile with the Declan Swans song ‘Always Sunny in Wrexham’ – which featured heavily in the first series of the documentary and is now a popular anthem on the terrace – played over the PA system and a giant sign spelling out the club name held up by staff.
With Reynolds and McElhenney paying a bill that goalkeeper Ben Foster later estimated was probably £500,000, what followed over the next four days was later described by star striker Mullin in his autobiography as “the experience the most incredible, the most ridiculous and the most insane.”
Highlights included numerous glamorous poolside parties, meeting DJ Steve Aoki at OMNIA nightclub and dining on the terrace outside the Bellagio, complete with giant ice sculptures depicting the insignia of the Wrexham club. Such was the interest in the team that Mullin was even assigned a security guard to escort him to the bathroom on his first night.
This time around, topping off this experience was always going to be a big challenge, but the organizers did their best. Before heading to Hakkasan on Thursday, the first evening the team was treated to dinner at TAO Asian Bistro inside the Venetian Hotel, a favorite of celebrities such as Jay Z and the Kardashians.
The next day began with more entertainment at the Venetian, via DJ Deorro’s set at the TAO Beach Party. Then came dinner at Beauty & Essex at the Cosmopolitan, about a mile down the Strip, before returning to OMNIA at Caesars Palace to party the night away with Dutch DJ Tiesto.
For young defender Max Cleworth, visiting these famous nightclubs was something to savour. A year earlier, he had made the trip but, because he was under the legal drinking age of 21 at the time, he could only join his teammates at the pool and in certain restaurants.
Some of the group were making their first visit to Vegas as a Wrexham player. Among the ‘new arrivals’ were on-loan Arsenal goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo, George Evans and Jack Marriott, as well as former internationals Steven Fletcher and James McClean.
Everyone got into the party mood, including McClean who, along with Mullin, attracted the only negative headlines of the trip. This came via an Instagram post featuring the final line of the song that fans are singing in honor of the Irishman.
“And we fucking hate the King,” appeared on Mullin’s account alongside a photo of the couple in Vegas. McClean, a known republican, added: “We serve no king or kaiser except Ireland. Sue me!”
The post was later deleted, but only after it was picked up by British newspapers. It created unwanted coverage on the day co-owner McElhenney, who has met King Charles and his son Prince William over the past 18 months, joined the players.
He and his wife Olson clearly enjoyed being back on the team, although McElhenney, 47, admitted afterward: “Trying to keep up with the guys is fun, but not when Sunday morning comes around.”
Olson added, however, “Another promotion next year please, this Vegas tradition is fun.” »
For some pillars of the club, there will be no “next year” at Wrexham. Half a dozen senior players – totaling 735 appearances for the Welsh club – will leave when their existing contracts end on June 30.
All were informed of Parkinson’s decision to release them before flying to Vegas, although the news was not made public until the team was in the United States. Judging by the images posted on the various players’ accounts on social networks, this did not really dampen morale. Captain Ben Tozer and long-serving keeper Rob Lainton were both filmed vigorously singing Jamie Webster’s ‘Weekend in Paradise’ despite their departure being confirmed.
The Liverpudlian song has been a firm favorite in the Wrexham dressing room for some time, often performed after big National League wins and even during recent promotion celebrations at the Fat Boar pub.
As a smiling Lainton and Tozer sang along to the tune from a nightclub balcony, Webster’s question at the end of the chorus seemed particularly apt.
Was it a useless three day session,
Or a weekend in Paradise, my friend?
(Top photos: Getty Images)