When Wrexham's first Hollywood season ended in final-game tears
"We actually thought it was going to be Russell Crowe," he laughs of the time the rumours of a film star takeover began in September 2020, with games still behind Covid's closed doors. "I can remember the talk before a friendly with Cefn Druids at the Racecourse and someone had mentioned that he'd had a grandfather from Wrexham - so we were getting bought by Gladiator. " Liverpudlian Rutherford joined Wrexham from Southport in 2016 and made 199 appearances before his release in 2021 The squad were told a few weeks later of the closely guarded identities as the process to take control from the supporters' trust began, with all aware of what it could mean.
"We'd been on a bit of a rollercoaster," Rutherford says. "As a squad, we'd been close to promotions a couple of times, then close to going to the Conference North before Dean came in and got us organised. "There was Covid so all those fears about what it could mean for the club with the finances, and then the takeover happened.
"There was a narrative that as players we knew it was good for the town and the club but not for the players, but it wasn't quite like that. We weren't resigned to our fate. "As a group, it actually galvanised us; we wanted to be part of the story, we wanted even more to be successful and get that first promotion, but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be.
" Rutherford said that he had been "realistic" about his own future, knowing deep down he was losing sharpness and had started to encounter hip problems - ones that now mean he needs a replacement. "I was good value for money, but as soon as they could raise the wage ceiling, they could find better players," he says. "That's football.
" Cue the likes of Paul Mullin and - after a play-off defeat in Phil Parkinson's first year - promotion after promotion after promotion, leading to the chance of a fourth and final one from the Championship. For Rutherford a spell in the Welsh leagues followed, but time is now spent split between some coaching, taxiing two of his boys to football training and working in a showroom of a hardware store. All a world away from the millions on the line for the internationals in Parkinson's squad aiming for the Premier League, one that has been rebuilt season on season with £30m-plus spent last summer alone.