Wrexham, on the cusp of what comes next
Wrexham overcame Notts County at the Racecourse Monday. Automatic promotion is close at hand. Here, a rumination on my visit to Wrexham and changes on the horizon
This past winter, I found myself in the UK again. I tend to find myself there. Arriving, a wry and unwavering border officer welcomed me in a warm British embrace. Mulling through my passport pages he remarked in dry monotone, “so you’ve been here before then”.
I agreed that I had, and he ushered me in, little trace of emotion detected.
This time, for the first time, I made a point to visit Wales. I wanted to see Wrexham, wanted to watch the team play, wanted to interview the coach and players.
I did all of that. And three months on from my visit, the team in question took one long, meaningful step toward achieving the overarching goal of its soon to be televised season.
Wrexham beat Notts County at the Racecourse Ground on Monday. Now sitting top of the table once more- mere weeks remaining, a game in hand, bettering their nearest contenders- Wrexham look poised to clinch automatic promotion. (Only one club does in the National League).
Once they do so, should they do so, the plan is to accelerate the climb. Why stop?
Promotion for Wrexham means entering League Two— thus breaking into the English Football League, and exiting non-league football. They would then have three leagues to ascend before they feature in the world’s top flight, the global juggernaut of sports viewership, the most prestigious football league on the planet: The Premier League.
According to Ryan Reynolds, the plan is to do just that. And they plan to do so “within ten years”.
Now, the mighty rise of a non-league team from a working class Welsh town- a forgotten place, lurching toward Premier League contention- is, on the one hand, a classic tale of David met Goliath. The thing is, David is owned by Hollywood millionaires… Hollywood millionaires who’ve packaged and sold a story, plucking a few Goliaths to play among the Davids and accelerating their way.
The story remains alluring. Though undoubtedly, part of the alluring story is the investment it takes- and changes that come- when a David goes about seeking Goliath.
The changes that come
Time moves fast for small Welsh towns, especially one’s ushering their way into the future.
Watching yesterday’s clash of non-league… err, titans? The first thing to strike me was the dead end. It no longer looks so dead.
… They don’t actually call it the “dead end”. That’s just the image etched in my brain.
And that’s just how it looked for over a decade— empty, falling to pieces, closed off. What they actually call it is “The Kop”. They also call it part of the furniture. Or, so I was told by the friendliest journalist I’ve ever sat next to in a press box, who’d gestured toward the dilapidated section saying: “that’s just part of the furniture here”, when I’d asked.
At the time of my visit, The Kop was in full disrepair. With its back to the center of town, the sun shines through neglected rows, highlighting moss and growth in place of a historic standing section. So I was told by those speculating, the end fell to ruin as standing room only lost favor at the football.
As I watched Wrexham wrest all three points from Solihull Moors (a characteristically high-paced, haphazard, high-scoring affair) my eyes drifted several times toward the rather poetic and forgotten Kop. The post-Christmas afternoon settled sun-rays of kindness on its cascading degeneration. One singular security bloke sat halfway amid that kindness, smoking a cigarette, observing the chaos below.
That long-familiar Wrexhamian character, that empty stand where people once stood, that emblematic piece of Racecourse furniture, is on its way to disappearing. In fact, it struck me watching the game this Monday that it’s already been torn down. Mounds of dirt replace it.
In most ways, in logical ways, that’s a very good thing. In sentimental ways, let’s spare a few tears for changing times.
Rob and Ryan were given the green light to renovate the aesthetically displeasing section last November. They’ll be thrilled to remove the eyesore, poking its nose into their Hollywood backdrops.
The work had not begun on my visit. But as just pointed out, the Kop behind Ben Foster’s heroics this Monday are clearly now mounds of dirt.
Once complete (perhaps by the 2024/25 season) the Racecourse Ground will accommodate 15,500 supporters. That’s a 5,500 supporter increase! And with hefty emotional weight attached— the renovation means Wrexham can once more host international football matches, for example the Welsh National Team.
Picture it with me: Kieffer Moore scoring his next goal at the Racecourse.
Who needs strange, sentimental, forgotten and roped off sections when you’ve got Kieffer Moore instead?
The project, like Rob and Ryan’s broader project, is not yet done. And it will take considerable time to climb toward their intentions. Should they climb that high, so much is theirs to gain.
Though some things could undoubtedly be lost, as Wrexham buries David and becomes Goliath.
Wrexham 3- Notts County 2
The success on Wrexham’s doorstep is downwind of many things. One of those things is money. But the wind isn’t made solely of dollars.
Perhaps more important than the money is the idea. For an idea is precisely what Rob and Ryan have sold to the world. And it’s the idea specifically that people are watching. That idea– like the communal hope of all of Wrexham– is promotion.
Nobody, it must be said, has been sold that idea with more earnesty, or more necessity, than Phil Parkinson and his players. The success of Wrexham’s project hinges upon their belief— not the dollars necessary to entice them.
I interviewed Paul Mullin after his hat trick in the Solihull Moors match last December. Sitting at a small table with a bottle of champagne and the match ball waiting, it felt like sitting next to some guy in a pub— one who’d also just watched an exciting match of football instead of played in it. And I’d say with near certainty, Paul Mullin is bought into this lofty promotion project as much as anyone else on earth.
I spoke also with Phil Parkinson that afternoon. And Parkinson emphasized two things more than any: the goal right now is the English Football League; and, equally important, my job is to represent a working class town.
That clarity of focus and working-class representation is perhaps a comfort, especially to any concerned at the changes that may come, or a club that could forget its people, seeking multiple promotions.
Perhaps I project, maybe I’m bought in, but I believe I saw that character shown multiple times Monday, as Wrexham steadied from early deficit, then rallied multiple times to ensure their path to promotion is protected.
Wrexham poised for the lead in the first half. Despite the promising start, camera pans to Rob McElhenney showed a man evincing calm, but not at all feeling mellow. He’s prepared his whole life in Philadelphia to watch sports like that.
They made dangerous run after dangerous run, making honest men of Notts County’s attempt at a high line. Little was asked of the latest crown jewel added to the grand Wrexham idea, Ben Foster.
Least, not until the fourth minute of stoppage time in the first half, when a free-kick awarded to Notts County found its way past Foster. Parkinson, stoic, funneled through the rain to speak with his team, down a goal at halftime.
Minutes into the second half? Who else but Paul Mullin. Score level.
Shy of minute 70, Paul Mullin chased a well-placed ball down the right, crossing for Jacob Mendy. Mendy (already having himself one hell of a performance) collected the ball at the far post, sending it to the back of the right corner.
Goal Mendy. Assist Mullin.
Minutes on, Wrexham conceded again off a set piece. This time it was Kyle Cameron, wide open, heading the ball past Foster on a play following a corner. 2-2.
After just a few minutes more, Wrexham pulled ahead again. This time it was Ollie Palmer crossing from the right wing, finding Paul Mullin. Mullin, well covered but composed, tapped the ball to Elliot Lee, who buried it.
Goal Lee, assist Mullin.
With three goal involvements for Paul Mullin, Wrexham lead 3-2. The minutes dwindled. But terror struck, as a handball in the box served Notts County a penalty in stoppage time of the second half. Ben Foster, of course, saved it.
Wrexham won the match. Wrexham sit top of the table. Wrexham look poised to clinch automatic promotion. Wrexham may soon enter the next phase of their journey.
As they celebrated, of course, the demolished Kop, and the half-built construction of a new era loomed behind them.
This is incredibly well done. Thank you!