After Saturday's dramatic victory over Borehamwood, Wrexham were promoted to League Two one round early and returned to the professional league for the first time since 2009. The investment of Ryan Reynolds and McE Henry has given Wrexham superior resources far beyond their rivals, however, their upgrade path has not been smooth.
With first-class players, great fans and a top manager, Wrexham has finally achieved his dream this season.
Deadpool creates Hollywood mythology
After Ryan Reynolds poured money into the team, Wrexham got a huge amount of attention. However, in the 2021-22 season, they suffered a double whammy, first losing to Bromley in the FA Cup and then being eliminated by Grimby in the English Conference Play-off semi-finals.
In the documentary "Welcome to Wrexham", we see that Wrexham's players did take a hit, but it didn't make them lose their confidence. From the first game of the season, Wrexham has played with the strong confidence of a championship team.
Of course, the smooth upgrade was possible thanks to the capital injection of two Hollywood stars, who invested a lot in recruitment and infrastructure. In the summer window, Wrexham signed Elliott Lee and signed him to a three-year contract, a rarity in the fifth division.
It is worth mentioning that Elliott Lee played for Championship team Luton last season and was also favored by Henan Jianye in 2018. Although he could remain in the Championship, he chose Wrexham and moved from the Championship to the English Council, and Elliott Lee was relegated to the third division, but it also made him a blow in the English Championship.
However, Elliott Lee is not the only strong signing in the summer window of Wrexham, they have also signed goalkeepers Mark Howard, Tonnickliffe, Foulder and Darby, all of whom have contributed to Wrexham's smooth promotion.
The 12th person was fully supportive
Although this is a cliché, the strong support of fans at home and away is one of the important reasons for Wrexham's promotion. In the first game of the season, Elliott Lee's late-minute goal helped Wrexham win 2-1 over Easterly, a winner that inspired fans.
Wrexham striker Mullin said in an interview in March: "At the end of the day, we are playing for the fans who come to the stadium every week. The owners of every club are important because they will fund the club and keep it running and they have high expectations of the club, but we play first for our family, then for the fans and then for the owners. ”
Reynolds' documentary for the club made Wrexham a global cultural phenomenon. Over the past few months, fans around the world have been following Wrexham. On social networks, Lexham already has 2 million followers, which is almost unimaginable for a non-professional club.
The connection between fans, owners and the team has been crucial to Wrexham's rise and will need to be maintained if they wish to continue to shine in the professional league.
Wrexham will revamp the "racecourse" and once the main stand is completed, Wrexham will be better positioned to meet the growing demand for tickets.
Unstoppable Mullin
This season, Mullin became the player who had the biggest impact on the team. Instead of staying at Cambridge United last season, Mullin opted to move to Wrexham, where he had a strong performance and was even recruited into the Welsh squad. He scored three hat-tricks in the English Parliamentary League, scored twice six times, and in the crucial promotion battle against Notts County, Mullin scored three goals with one shot and two passes.
Such a good performance has attracted the attention of several professional clubs, but he has decided to stay in Wrexham. In 2021, he won the League Two Golden Boot while playing for Cambridge United, and next season, he is likely to win the Golden Boot again.
By the middle of the season, it was clear that Wrexham would compete with Notts County for the only League Two ticket. In order to win the rivalry with Notts County, Wrexham continued to recruit in the winter window, poaching winger O'Connell from Charlton to make his debut for Wrexham, who scored a crucial goal against Altrincham. In addition, Wrexham also poached Chinese Super League Andy Cannon from Hull City and Ryan Barnett from Soli Helmore.
Before the winter window closed, Wrexham unexpectedly signed 39-year-old former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster, who had already announced his retirement back in September 2022. The signings perfectly summed up Wrexham's strategy, and Ben Foster not only expanded the club's influence and promoted its commercial interests, but also the strength of the team.
Ben Foster played an important role in Wrexham's promotion and saved his opponent's penalty in a crucial match against Notts County to help Wrexham secure a crucial three-pointer. After Wrexham's promotion, Ben Foster is likely to stay with him for another season.
A meritorious veteran who beat Jose Mourinho
With deep pockets, Wrexham can attract many managers. However, unlike other bosses, Reynolds continued to have faith in Fer Parkinson's after failing to achieve their promotion goals in 2021-22, and that trust has paid off.
Parkinson's coaching ability is impressive, he once led the team to victory over Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in the FA Cup, and led Bradford, who was still playing in the fourth division at the time, to the Carabao Cup final, which has been called the "Bradford miracle".
Parkinson's extensive coaching experience has allowed him to cope with multi-line matches, and Wrexham's performance in the FA Cup has hardly been affected. It is worth mentioning that in 2013, Parkinson has led Bradford to a successful victory in the second division.
At the time of the acquisition of Lexham, Reynolds said: "Our goal is to be in the Premier League within 10 years and we believe we can do that. ”
After being promoted to League Two, Reynolds was one step closer to his goal.