Could Wrexham fans be about to see the former Welsh captain Gareth Bale at the Racecourse next season?

Wrexham owner Rob McElhenney is going to try.

McElhenney jokingly suggested on social media yesterday that he might try and persuade former Real Madrid winger Bale to come out of retirement to play for Wrexham next season.

Wrexham sealed their promotion to the English Football League after a 15-year absence with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood on Saturday.

Bale, a five-time Champions League winner, announced his retirement at the age of 33 in January after leading Wales to their first World Cup finals appearance since 1958.

The former Welsh captain took to social media to congratulate the club on the promotion in a short five-second clip on Twitter.

In the clip, he said: "Hi everyone. Just want to congratulate you on your promotion and everything you're doing at Wrexham." 

The co-creator of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, McElhenney responded: “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”.

Bale later replied, “depends what course” and tagged in the official account of the golf governing body the R&A - which is based at St Andrew's and organises The Open and Women's Open championships.

The R&A added: “We might be able to help set this up…”.

This comes just a week after former Welsh international, Hal Robson Kanu offered to come out of retirement to play for Wrexham AFC next season. 

He retired in 2021 following a spell with West Bromwich Albion. 

Wrexham, who are co-owned by McElhenney and his fellow Hollywood actor Ryan Reynolds, have already managed to persuade one player to come out of retirement.

Former Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ben Foster resumed his career in March and helped the north Wales club to promotion, memorably saving a last-minute penalty in the crucial victory against title rivals Notts County.