A Wrexham team taking the league by storm, beating nearly everyone in their path and finishing top of the pile to be crowned champions and seal a long-awaited promotion. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?
But this particular success story doesn't have anything to do with the work of Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Co. While the spotlight has been firmly on the Racecourse Ground recently, another club have had a season to remember - and all without the help of Hollywood owners.
Wrexham Rugby Club's 1st XV were crowned the Division Two North champions in the Admiral National Leagues this season, winning all but one of their 16 games to finish top and seal promotion to Division One for the first time in 18 years. They also reached a cup final, while the women's and youth teams have both shone throughout the campaign and the club's future looking increasingly bright.
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But while this season has of course been cause for celebration, Wrexham's success has been largely borne out of frustration. Club chairman Nick Partington says that promotion for the 1st XV has been three years in the making, with the team only now back where they belong.
"Obviously, we’re delighted to be promoted to Division One," he tells WalesOnline. "It's a big result for us. But the reality is we should have been there three years ago. Last season, when we returned to rugby after Covid, the WRU decided at the beginning of the season that there would be no promotion or relegation, so that the teams rebuilding didn’t have the fear of being relegated.
"We ended up winning the league last year but, of course, we didn’t get promoted. It was frustrating for us as in the 2020/21 season, we were top of the league with 75 per cent of our games played, but the WRU decided to scrub the season rather than allow the results to stand as they were. So this promotion has been coming for three years."
After twice being denied promotion, it is no surprise that Wrexham have spent nearly all of this season punching below their weight, taking many of the sides in their league apart in one-sided contests. There have been scorelines of 52-0, 65-0 and 79-0, with the team scoring an average of nearly seven tries a game and finishing on a points difference of +540.
Only second-placed Mold have got the better of them this season, beating them 27-15 in the penultimate game of the league campaign before edging a closely fought cup final at the end of May.
"Although we won the league, this season has been frustrating for everybody in that we're not playing at the standard that we should be playing at," Nick admitted. "Apart from Mold, we beat every other team we played and not pleasantly either. It was usually 50 or 60 points to 10 or something like that and nobody benefits from that. It hampers development and we don’t learn anything from it.
"We’ve been at the wrong level for some time now, and that’s not said out of arrogance. The results speak for themselves and we need to develop as a team, and that can only really be done if we’re playing in the right division. So we’re looking forward to finally playing in Division One."
Away from the 1st XV's title-winning exploits, there are plenty of reasons for Nick and all those at Wrexham RFC to be cheerful, with the club thriving across the board.
With more than 250 registered members across 15 age groups, there have been a number of success stories this season. They go all the way from the under-7s Cubs, through to the under-16s team, on to the youth team, 1st and 2nd XVs and the women's side, who finished second in their first full season in the North Wales league.
Meanwhile, the 2nd XV finished third in their division, while the youth team mirrored the 1st XV's accomplishments by winning the North Wales Youth League and getting to the final in the cup. Then there's an inclusive team, the Wrecsam Rhinos, who have unofficially become a part of the club after making the city their home.
"This season bodes well for the club," said Nick. "We've got some good strength in those teams and we're really proud of what they've accomplished.
"It was the Ladies' first season in the North Wales League. We had a ladies team back in the 1980s, which sadly fell away but they reformed two years ago. They had to play 10 friendlies before they could even be admitted to the league, but they've done really well and to finish second overall is quite the achievement.
"The inclusive team has been another real success story for us. They formed a couple of years back and had been at Chester initially but approached us and asked if we could provide them with somewhere to train. So they've come to the club and trained on Wednesdays and we’ve provided them with coaches and coaching facilities. It helps to raise their profile and they’ve been a fantastic asset for the club. One of the highlights of the season was seeing them go down to play at the Principality Stadium earlier this year and play in a three-team round robin tournament with Conwy Dragons and Swansea Vikings. It was brilliant to see."
While they may not have the Hollywood backing that their neighbours do, Nick is delighted by both clubs' success and hopes that the growth of Wrexham as a sporting hub will lead to greater investment in local rugby.
"We have a good relationship with the football club, we ran a joint event with them during the Six Nations," he said. "It's obviously a great story and it has raised the profile of Wrexham enormously, but it would be nice if money was put into other sports in the town too. I think the council are looking at doing that but obviously it's just community rugby and the money is nowhere near the same as it is over at the football club.
"We're very happy with what we're doing - but if you know a couple of movie stars who want to throw a bit of money our way, do let me know!"
After such an impressive season and with an exciting new challenge finally lying ahead for the 1st XV, Nick is hoping for another strong showing next campaign, although he is braced for the step up.
"The real aim for next season is to hold our own and see where we fit in the table," he added. "I think we'll finish in the top half and I'd like to suggest fifth place maybe, but obviously it's a much higher standard and you never know how things are going to pan out with injuries when you jump up to that level and there's a higher attrition rate.
"So if we can see where we're at and consolidate by deepening our squad, that would be good. But beyond next season, the club turns 100 in 2025 and we're already planning lots of celebrations for that. And if we were to become Division One champions in our anniversary year, well, that would be magical."
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