MAX CLEWORTH’S first pre-season game for the senior side was at a small village on the outskirts of Wrexham and now the centre-back has to pinch himself at the thought of playing in front of tens of thousands of supporters during the club’s tour of America.

Phil Parkinson’s men have headed to the States where they will play four matches as part of the preparations for the new League Two campaign which kicks-off with a home game against MK Dons on Saturday August 5.

Chelsea, LA Galaxy II, Manchester United and Philadelphia Union II are the opponents and Wrexham can expect a rapturous welcome.

The club’s popularity has soared in America since Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed their takeover at The Racecourse in February 2021 and the impact of the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary.

A Wrexham Red Dragons side, made up of current, former and guest players, recently competed in The Soccer Tournament - a $1m winner-takes-all seven-a-side event in North Carolina - and were well-backed by the new legion of Reds’ fans.

Cleworth, who came through the youth system at The Racecourse, is looking forward to experiencing it for himself and says it is a far cry from when he made his first-team bow in a friendly against Cefn Druids ahead of the 2019-20 season when he was aged 16.

“I think my first game for Wrexham was against Cefn Druids at The Rock in pre-season,” said the defender, who turns 21 next month.

“Now we are playing games over in America!

“The ones who went over there for the seven-a-side tournament said it was mad.

“If it was mad for that, I can only assume what it’s going to be like when we are there.

“Rob and Ryan are a bit of a pull, they are pretty well known over there, but the documentary has gone well.

“I can’t wait, it will be so enjoyable to see the fans over in America and there might be other fans from around the world travelling to see us.

“It will be an unbelievable experience.”

Wrexham clinched the National League title following a record-breaking 2022-23 campaign and the players continued the promotion celebrations on an all-expenses-paid lavish bash in Las Vegas, with Reynolds and McElhenney funding the trip.

Cleworth was unable to visit all the haunts in Sun City, such as casinos and nightclubs, with his team-mates due to his age and America’s strict laws but it failed to take the gloss off a memorable trip.

“Age was a bit of a barrier but I still got to go to the restaurants and be around the pool at the hotel,” said Cleworth. “When you see the lads enjoying themselves, you want to be a part of it but I still had a good time.

“I am not going to complain about it, I still enjoyed it in Las Vegas.

“There was still plenty to do and I had some unbelievable experiences.

“The restaurants were unbelievable and I will probably never get a chance to eat in some of them places again.

“I am very grateful to the owners.”