"Can we do a Wrexham?"

An increasingly common question that football fans and club owners are asking themselves when they see what two Hollywood superstars have done in north Wales.

Transform a struggling non-league side into a globally-recognized brand with back-to-back-to-back promotions. Why can't that be us?

Those who run - or follow - Merthyr Town are no exception.

"At the moment we're on a fabulous run and everyone's taking notice. They want to be a part of it," says chairman Les Barlow.

"We're speaking to people weekly [about potential investment]. Some have got money, while others..."

The Martyrs might be four tiers below Championship side Wrexham but they are one third of the way towards replicating the triple promotion winners at the Stok Cae Ras.

Promoted as champions of the Southern League Premier South in 2024-25, Town are third in National League North, seven points off the leaders but with the luxury of a 15-point cushion inside the play-off zone. They have won 18 of their 29 matches so far.

Back-to-back promotions, then, a very real possibility at Penydarren Park.

In some ways, you might think pure survival is all that really matters given fan-owned Merthyr Town are a phoenix club that rose from the ashes of the old Merthyr Tydfil FC, which went into liquidation in 2010.

But who wants pure survival?

Not Merthyr. They're aiming to get back into the fifth tier of the English game for the first time since 1995, when a gradual decline in fortunes saw them relegated from the old Vauxhall Conference and spiral down through the backwaters of the Southern League.

Ultimately, the dream is to join the four other Welsh sides who play in the English Football League (EFL) - Wrexham, Swansea City, Cardiff City and Newport County - a level Merthyr have not graced since before World War Two.

But how realistic is that? And are there any potential investors - or Hollywood film stars - with deep enough pockets to potentially bankroll a Wrexham-type rise?

Moving Merthyr forward

Merthyr are not short of star names who have dipped into their own wallets to help. Line of Duty star Vicky McClure and her filmmaker husband Jonny Owen, who is from Merthyr, are among the club's 150-plus owners, along with former Wales international Joe Morrell.

But any major takeover - by a company or individuals who could potentially propel Merthyr up the divisions at speed, like Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have done at Wrexham - would likely lead to a big change in its ownership structure.

"Unfortunately we're a fan-owned club," said Barlow, who has seen more ups and downs than most during his 65-year involvement with Merthyr, from player to kitman, physio to boardroom leader.

But fan-owned is what Wrexham were before Rob and Ryan breezed into the Stok Cae Ras and changed the world as Red Dragons' fans knew it back in 2021.

"Yes, and those guys [Rob and Ryan] came in and put their hands in their pockets," said Barlow.

"We haven't come across anybody like that at the moment, but we have had some good sponsors and, as I say, we're talking to people weekly.

"We're starting now for next year. Irrespective of where we end up, we still want to be in a better position financially and stadium-wise than where we are now.

"One side of the ground is perfect, but we've got another area which I think the Romans built when they had a fort in the corner!"

Keep moving, keep looking for new forms of investment. A responsibility to do that comes from a need to keep supporting the man leading Merthyr's charge for a second successive promotion, manager Paul Michael.

"We're working as hard as we can because we want to support this guy, and we want the best team we can afford," said Barlow.

"The better the results we can get with this guy in charge...it helps a long way."

Appointed after leaving Yate Town in April 2022, Michael has transformed Merthyr from relegation candidates in Southern League Premier South to National League hopefuls.

"It's been a real step into the unknown, but we've grown and grown and got better and better," said Michael, who has managed to overcome the loss of 23-goal top scorer and Penydarren cult hero Ricardo Rees, who signed for National League promotion chasers Forest Green Rovers in December.

"Over the past few weeks we've probably been the most in-form team in the league, yet we're competing against full-time teams. We've got no right to stay up there, really.

"If we were fortunate enough to get to the National League we would try to take it all in our stride. It would be an unbelievable achievement for a part-time team, though we've still got a long way to go.

"What's happening here is fantastic for Welsh football, not just Merthyr Town."

Needless to say, Merthyr fans are loving life at the Park right now. The Martyrs are enjoying their best spell since the late 1980s - headlined by their famous European Cup Winners' Cup win over Italian side Atalanta in 1987 - and the early 1990s, when they finished as high as fourth in the Conference.

And plenty of supporters share the dream that the Martyrs can indeed do a Wrexham and copy the north Wales club's eye-catching journey up the pyramid.

"Having been a fan-owned club themselves, I'd say Wrexham are an inspiration for clubs like ours," said Gavin Burns, a blogger and writer for the 'Banking on the Martyrs' fanzine. He used to be a Cardiff City season ticket holder but fell in love with Merthyr Town when he moved to the area in 2011.

"Looking at Wrexham as a blueprint, I think Merthyr are the up and coming team in Welsh football at the moment.

"With the fantastic job the team is doing, the attendances going through the roof, the stadium we've got and the potential catchment area around the valleys, there's no reason why we can't do back-to-back-to-back promotions."

Bethan Hurley, a lifelong Merthyr fan, also hopes the club can attract a rich benefactor or two to help them follow Wrexham into the EFL.

"We're one division below where Wrexham's fairytale story started so if there are any Hollywood investors out there, please get in touch," said Hurley.

"I'd love to see us get promoted again. I'm born and bred in Merthyr, and I've stuck around through all the suffering - good, bad and ugly. Never known anything else.

"I was born in 1988 - a year after the win over Atalanta, but my mother was pregnant with me at the time. So I was there at the game!"

Just like those European glory days, fans are cramming into Penydarren again to help spur Merthyr on, with almost 4,000 there for a 2-2 draw with Hereford on 30 December.

Having suffered rare back-to-back defeats over the past week against Southport and AFC Telford United, Michael's side are preparing for a long 330-mile round trip to former Football League stalwarts Darlington on Saturday, 31 January.

But this time, the rare luxury of a hotel stay the night before the game.

"Most clubs who come to us have an overnight stay," said Michael. "We've had to limit our own overnights to clubs in the north east of England...so we'll be doing that on Friday and preparing as best we can. We're looking forward to it."