Celebrity-owned Wrexham continues to impress in Football League Two in its bid for a second consecutive promotion. A recent 1-0 win over Notts County, its title rivals in last season’s Vanarama National League campaign, took Phil Parkinson’s squad to third position on the log after promotion rivals Crewe could only muster a home draw against Harrogate Town.
With two games in hand over Crewe and a superior goal difference, the Welsh sleeping giant is within the playoff positions with 15 games left in its league season. What’s more, Wrexham has also played a match fewer than both sides above it, with two points separating the “Hollywood” outfit from Mansfield Town in second place and a further point from the league leaders Stockport County.
Despite Stockport and Mansfield holding vastly superior goal differences, winning its game in hand could see Wrexham move into second position in the league and level on points with The Hatters at the top. It has become so tight at the top that the odds to win League Two, offered by online betting sites in here, are close between the current top three teams.
Current leaders Stockport are still the favourite at 13/8, while you’ll find odds of 7/4 on Mansfield. Wrexham is quoted at 16/5 by bookmakers, but a few positive results, coupled with any slip-up by the others, could see Parkinson’s team’s odds shorten substantially.
At the beginning of the season, many pundits believed that The Red Dragons, while capable of great things on the field, would be sidetracked by exposure brought to the Racecourse Ground by its famous owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and the ongoing club television documentary “Welcome to Wrexham”, the potential distractions seem to have done anything but.
With its celebrity owners operating on a higher-league-type annual budget compared to its competitors, an expansion to The Racecourse and more money for transfers has encouraged more old and new supporters to matches, with identifiable and established names joining the ranks of the playing staff.
One of Wrexham’s summer signings, 36-year-old Steven Fletcher, was responsible for the only goal against Notts County, his fifth in 14 league matches, with an instinctive volley to seal the three points.
The well-travelled striker, who has appeared in the Premier League for Burnley, Wolves and Sunderland, has provided valuable support for the club’s 14-goal top scorer, attacking midfielder Elliott Lee, signed from Luton Town in 2022, and Paul Mullin, an ex-Everton and Liverpool youth player who has played an instrumental part in Wrexham’s success since signing from Cambridge United a season earlier.
Many other recognisable past and present names, including Ben Forster, James McClean, Eoghan O’Connell, George Evans, Anthony Forde and Luke Bolton, have turned out for the increasingly popular Welsh club.
The effort that Reynolds, McElhenney and their dedicated background staff have put into raising Wrexham’s profile has likely assisted in the on-field harmony between the players, with many sacrificing higher-league football to play at the Racecourse Ground. If the owners’ proactive efforts to grow Wexham’s stature continue, we could see the historical Welsh club in Football League One next season.
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