ACCORDING to Wrexham director Humphrey Ker, Bolton Wanderers nearly got the Hollywood treatment.

Back in 2019, as the club’s future hung in the balance and administrators searched for a way out of the complicated financial maze they had entered, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney also happened to be in the market for a football club.

Such was the state of Bolton at the time, the phrase ‘buyer beware’ seemed apt. Sharon Brittan and the Football Ventures consortium stayed the distance – the only credible bid to do so – and Reynolds and Mcelhenney moved their sights to a slightly more manageable project in North Wales.

“They were available for what was a massively reduced price for a club of that size, history and infrastructure,” Kerr remarked to The Athletic last year. “But we felt it was just too big a fish, in a way.”

Both Reynolds and Mcelhenney have invested significant sums into Wrexham, the last set of financial accounts in March showing they had more than doubled their funding from £4 to £9million after the club was promoted to League Two. The wage bill alone rose from £4m to nearly £7m in 2022.

Whether they could have had the same impact whilst untangling the legacy problems of administration and former ownership is up for debate – but Ian Evatt believes the outcome has been good for both clubs.

“It is hard to think what it would have been like, but I’ll say two things – number one, we have got the best ownership group in the EFL,” he said. “I think the way they go about things, what they have done for the community and for this club is huge and I am extremely fortunate to be their manager.

“Number two, what Phil Parkinson has done under that pressure and that spotlight is great credit to him and his staff. I have huge admiration for that.”

Wanderers have not played Wrexham in a league game since they gained promotion from the old Fourth Division under Phil Neal in 1988. Robbie Savage – who would go on to play for the Reds – came up with the decisive strike on a day remembered by thousands of travelling supporters at the Racecourse.

The two clubs met again the following year in the Sherpa Van Trophy with Mark Winstanley scoring twice in a 3-1 win at Burnden Park, the first of which certainly bears repeat viewing on YouTube.

This fixture, some 36 years after their last in the league, is given some added spice by the fact Wrexham are managed by Parkinson, a man who presided over 157 games at Bolton between 2016 and 2019.

His time in charge included some real high points, a promotion from League One, a miraculous escape from relegation on the final day of the following season, courtesy of Aaron Wilbraham’s winner against Nottingham Forest.

But Parkinson also had to endure some frightful issues in the boardroom from day one. The night before his first competitive game against Sheffield United he did not know whether several of his new signings would be given clearance by the EFL as the club were still in a strict transfer embargo.

Problems with promotion bonuses the following summer led to his players refusing to play a pre-season friendly at St Mirren, and worse was to follow as monthly wages began to be paid late, then by the end of his third season, not at all.

Wanderers became the first club ever to cancel a Football League fixture because their players had gone on strike, their game against Brentford eventually deemed a walkover.

Relegated by a distance, Parkinson barely managed to scramble a team together to start the following season at Wycombe with the club in administration. And when senior players once again refused to play against Coventry, Bolton were forced to play their youngest-ever team – dubbed the Junior Whites – who fought for a memorable point against the future champions of the division.

Evatt has encountered plenty of ups and downs in his four years at Wanderers but not quite to the same extremes.

“He’s solid, and to go through that and behave the way he did, then to go to Wrexham with that scrutiny and keep the players focused, himself and the staff focussed on the day job, winning football matches, is great credit to him,” he said.

“I have had a few conversations with him, I don’t know him too well personally, but what I have found and what everyone tell me is what a good bloke he is, personally, so I am looking forward to sharing a beer – it might have to be a low calorie one for me now – but, yeah, I want to say what I have said here. I have a huge amount of respect for him and I wish him the best of luck, moving forwards.”

Parkinson - the very epithet of a football man - did not necessarily cut a figure who would be comfortable in front of the Disney documentary cameras during his time with Bolton. But he will be bringing a touch of Hollywood back to his former club this weekend.

Would it all give the game a different feel?

"Well we've got a Hollywood Bowl," laughed Evatt. "It's two football teams trying to get three points and that's where it stays for me.

"I have got a lot of respect for Phil and that team, they have done incredible things. Hopefully we can give the best version of ourselves and make it difficult for them.

"I think what has happened at Wrexham is good for football but particularly for the EFL, to have that showcased on a worldwide stage is great. Obviously everyone knows about the Premier League but they don't know the EFL is a brilliant competition right through the pyramid. The more we can publicise that, the better for everybody."