Wrexham midfielder Ollie Rathbone has described his upcoming match against former club Manchester United as a “humbling experience.” The 29-year-old, who developed through United’s academy, stands alongside notable contemporaries such as World Cup stars Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay.

Although Rathbone was released by United in 2016 after spending eight years at the club, he expresses deep gratitude for the time he spent there. “They really looked after me in quite important years, and I can’t say a bad word about it,” Rathbone commented. “It was something I’m very proud of to go through that academy.”

Rathbone emphasized the foundational skills he gained, stating, “I kind of got a real good base of how hard you have to work to be a footballer. And even though it’s such a glamorous club, it kind of really drilled in the basics into me of what it takes to be a professional footballer.”

He acknowledged that his experiences instilled a strong determination to pursue a professional career in football, fully aware of the challenges ahead: “It gives you that determination to have a career because you’re fully aware of how difficult it’s going to be and how hard you’re going to have to work.” Rathbone anticipates that playing against United will bring back fond memories, saying, “It will be a bit of a humbling experience playing against them again.”

Rathbone, who hails from Blackburn, did not secure a place in the first team like Rashford and McTominay did. Following his release in the summer of 2016, he joined Rochdale and spent five successful seasons at the club. “It’s got a good record of producing players to play in professional football,” he noted about United’s academy, adding, “A lot of people speak about the Marcus Rashford’s, the Scott McTominay’s that have gone on to the top level of European football. But there’s also hundreds of players that have had fantastic careers in the league.”

Rathbone highlighted that Manchester United takes pride in all their players: “I know that the people at Manchester United are just as proud of them as they are of the headline names.”

In 2021, Rathbone moved to Rotherham, where he contributed to the club’s promotion to the Championship during his first season. He joined Wrexham in the summer of 2024 and has become an integral part of Phil Parkinson’s squad. However, Rathbone faced a setback when he sustained a serious ankle injury during a pre-season match against Sydney FC in July 2025, causing him to miss the first 20 league games of the season. He described the injury as a “nightmare,” but made a comeback by scoring a late equalizer against Watford last December, becoming a regular player for the remainder of the season in which Wrexham narrowly missed out on the Championship play-offs.

“I think if you look back at last season, our form from the Christmas period onwards was promotion form, definitely play-off form,” Rathbone reflected. “I think that first quarter of the season was probably just the team gelling together, kind of working out where we were as a group.”

As Wrexham prepares for the second season in the Championship, the team will travel to the United States next week to face Leeds United, Liverpool, and Sunderland. However, before that, Rathbone looks forward to Saturday’s friendly at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium against the club he left a decade ago. “As soon as it came about, it was quite a bit of a pinch-me moment,” he shared. “To travel around Europe and play in one of the best clubs in the world is a privilege, really. It’s something that I know that we’re all really, really looking forward to.”

Rathbone noted the importance of high-profile friendlies in raising the team’s intensity: “It kind of makes you raise your game a little bit that you can’t really afford to coast through. So, it does bring the intensity up to where it needs to be going into the season. I think, compared to this time last year, we know that we’re at that level now, so I think we will hopefully be able to start as we left off.”