Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney try to convince Gareth Bale to join Wrexham

Welsh legend seems open to a round of golf, if nothing more, in Twitter conversation
USA v Wales: Group B - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022
Gareth Bale has retired from football but could he be lured into playing for Wrexham?
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William Mata26 April 2023

Days after securing promotion back to the Football League, Wrexham’s Hollywood owners are looking to pull off an even bigger coup in bringing Gareth Bale out of retirement.

And the Welsh legend hasn’t completely rebuffed the idea.

Bale, 33, chose to wind down his contract with Los Angeles FC after playing less than one year back in January, shortly after leading Wales to their first World Cup since 1958.

On Tuesday, he filmed a video to congratulate actors and Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney after the team beat Boreham Wood to officially win the National League.

“Hi Rob,” he said, “Just want to congratulate you on the promotion and all that you have done for Wrexham.”

McElhenney replied: “Hey @GarethBale11, let’s play golf, where I totally won’t spend 4 hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season.”

Since his retirement, the former winger has regularly been spotted on the golf course, a hobby he took so seriously it once was said to have distracted him from focusing on his former club Real Madrid.

In response to McElhenney, Bale tweeted, “Depends which course,” and tagged golf tournament organisers The R&A.

The R&A seemed to like the idea, adding to the thread: “Let’s put some time in the diary to arrange golf 👀 📅

“When are you next free @GarethBale11, @VancityReynolds, @RMcElhenney ? ⛳”

Wrexham fans are already in euphoria having clinched the title but the signing of Bale would give hope of a huge season in League 2.

Reynolds was also quickly on board, tweeting: “I will shave a professional-grade golf course into Rob’s back if you’ll give Wrexham a season.”

Gareth Bale has a well-known love for golf
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On second thoughts, he added: “Update: after an online image search, it appears Rob does not have the requisite body hair to support this plan.”

Reynolds and McElhenney took over the club in November 2020 and their progress has been charted in documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.

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