Steven Fletcher reveals craziest stories from time at Hollywood-owned Wrexham

• Steven Fletcher reveals all on his time at Hollywood-owned Wrexham

• The ex-striker reveals his best stories, including playing golf with Joe Pesci and starring in a commercial with Channing Tatum

• Fletcher says Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney encouraged players to take advantage of them

Steven Fletcher speaks exclusively to Ladbrokes on his two years at Championship club Wrexham. The former striker reveals all on his relationship with Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and his craziest stories, including starring in a commercial with Channing Tatum.

The craziest thing about playing for Wrexham...

The craziest thing about playing for Wrexham - and this is honestly the truth – is that some of the things I experienced and received from some of the club’s sponsors over the two years I was there, I didn’t even get in the Premier League.

Like, honestly, there are some massive brands associated with the club now, you’ve got the likes of United Airlines and HP… there’s loads, and even more you don’t even know of.

But they wanted to give us everything, so we were literally coming in sometimes and there’d be a laptop, and goodie bags in everyone’s seats in the dressing room, and you’re just thinking ‘we’re in League Two!’

It was crazy; we were going to Las Vegas on United Airlines, we were going to Los Angeles for pre-season… that just sums it up, really; we were just a League Two team and now we’re playing against Chelsea and teams like that in pre-season friendlies – all the time you’re just thinking ‘what’s going on here?!’

It was incredible; when we got to LA, we were treated like massive celebrities… we went to a red carpet event and got suited up by Marks and Spencer, because they were sponsors as well. We’re at this red carpet event and I’m sure hardly anyone knew who we were!

Me and one of the other lads, Elliot Lee, spent a few days in LA after we went to Vegas, and Rob [McElhenney] had called me and asked me if I wanted to go and play golf with him. So me and Elliot went and had a bit of downtime with Rob, and he introduced us to this golf club which is basically just for Hollywood A-listers.

You can only imagine the kind of people who were on the tee boxes – you had people from Home Alone, Entourage, John McEnroe was there, and everyone’s just waving to each other... and then you’ve got me and Elliot Lee trying to talk to Joe Pesci while he’s teeing off!

I know it’s still quite raw and probably easy for me to say, but it was the best two years of my career. You know, if you look back at my career and the teams I’ve played for, yes I’ve had some good moments at every club; I won the League Cup with Hibs when I was 21, and I thought ‘wow, this is what my career is going to be like’, and then I never won another trophy again!

I was never in sides who were challenging for titles or playing in Europe… I’d basically spent most of my career fighting relegation – that was the reality. So to leave Dundee United, who had just been relegated, and all of a sudden find myself going back-to-back promotions with a team very much on the way up, and going out to LA for pre-season training, playing golf with Rob and all of these huge names, it was incredible.

Starring in an advert with Channing Tatum...

It’s always a good buzz when we know the owners are coming, because they’ll always bring someone with them, whether it’s a Channing Tatum or a Will Ferrell.

And while the documentary crew play a massive part in things around the place, Rob and Ryan do also like to keep things as quiet as they can, especially if they’re coming over for a game, or to training.

Sometimes we’ll find out the day before a game, and like I say, if they’re over – particularly Ryan – they’ll bring someone with them, and that’s really good for the players.

We’ll be in the changing room before a game and they’ll bring one of their mates in to come and talk to us, and they’re more than happy to take pictures, or whatever.

Obviously there was the time we ended up shooting a commercial with them – this is their influence, by the way; I’m calling it a commercial! We shot an advert for the Super Bowl, for a coffee brand who sponsor the club, and Channing Tatum was involved in that.

He came in as a kind of motivator for us in this little sketch, and obviously that kind of thing doesn’t happen at a club like Wrexham unless your owners are Hollywood actors.

I actually got to play a major role in that clip because me and Channing had a little face off, and I never thought I’d be that close to his face… he was so close I had a few women in my DMs asking me what he smelled like!

Rob and Ryan encouraged us to take advantage of them...

I think a few players – who I won’t name! – took full advantage of the owners being who they were… but listen, why not? The owners encouraged it, if anything. 

I think it’s more of an American thing, but they definitely take advantage of what’s in front of them, and helped the players do the same as well.

If we ever wanted anything, they always wanted us to ask, rather than go without. Some of us, like myself, are pretty quiet, and I don’t like asking for things, but when it comes to golf, if Rob wants to get me to Augusta, he’s more than welcome!

A few of the lads definitely had doors opened for them which would never have been opened before, and that’s great.

You know, when Rob and Ryan took over, some of these lads were non-league players, and they’ve now got over 100,000 followers on Instagram! They’d be the first to admit that never would have happened without the owners getting involved with the club.

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