A Wrexham director has revealed the reason former Manchester United defender Phil Jones was pictured alongside Ryan Reynolds in the stands last weekend.
Hollywood star Reynolds watched on as Wrexham were beaten 3-1 by QPR on Saturday, with the result seeing the Welsh side slip to 21st in the Championship table.
Fans were quick to highlight the presence of former Red Devils defender Jones, 33, behind him.
The former England international, who left Old Trafford in 2023 after 12 years at the club, spent a season out of the game before choosing to call time on his career.
A highly-rated youngster during the early stages of his career, Jones moved to Manchester United from Blackburn Rovers for £16.5million in 2011 and went on to win Sir Alex Ferguson’s final Premier League title at Old Trafford.
His career was blighted through persistent injury issues however, and the centre-back ultimately fell down the pecking order before leaving the club with the long-term view of moving into coaching.
Ex-Man United star Phil Jones (back left) was spotted alongside Ryan Reynolds in Wrexham’s hospitality box during the Welsh club’s Championship clash with QPR on Saturday
A Wrexham director has explained why the ex-Man United defender was present at the match
Some fans had suggested Jones, who has spent time working in Man United’s academy since his retirement, could be poised to join the set-up at Wrexham.
Shaun Harvey, a director at Wrexham, dismissed the suggestions and revealed Jones was present after being invited as a guest by chief executive Michael Williamson.
‘Poor old Phil Jones came as a guest of Michael Williamson to the game, because they live very close together,’ the former EFL chief executive told the Fearless in Devotion podcast.
‘If we had won that game on Saturday, nobody would have cared less that he was there.
‘Then all of a sudden, it’s “What’s this conspiracy that’s going on,” because Phil Jones is watching a game.
‘I can officially confirm that Phil Jones was enjoying his day at Wrexham long before the actual result, and wasn’t there for any other purpose than to extend his learning experience as he’s now a former footballer.
‘There were probably other ex-footballers and ex-managers there who weren’t in the Betty Buzz Suite, but it’s just easy to build a story or a narrative that suits an agenda.’
While Jones does not appear set to join Wrexham in the near future, the former England international this week graduated from the Professional Footballers Association’s Business School.
Jones has been exploring a path into coaching since announcing his retirement from football
Jones secured a diploma in sport directorship and admitted it was an avenue he could explore in his post-playing career as well as coaching.
‘This is something I decided I wanted to do when I retired. I’ve really enjoyed it, it’s been a good networking opportunity as well as an educational one, and I’m really excited about what doors it opens up in the future,’ Jones told the PFA.
‘When I finished playing, I asked myself: ‘Well, what do I do now?’. I like the coaching side of the game, and I’m still really ambitious about that, but I needed something else as well. This gave me a focus which is what I needed at the time.
‘I reached out to the PFA when I heard about the course and it’s something that I was passionate about doing; something I could get my teeth into. The technical aspects of the sporting directorship role I really admire, and maybe in the future it’s a role that I’d like to fill.’
