From non-league to the Championship in three seasons, Wrexham are now the Hollywood-owned Welsh club who have written themselves a chapter in the English Football League record books. Never before had a team in the top five tiers of the English game been promoted in three successive years – until now. Even their owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, would have been laughed out of town for writing a script like this.
In the end it was a dominant 3-0 win over Charlton that sealed their spot in the Championship for 2025-26, another former Premier League team toppled. Ollie Rathbone’s strike and Sam Smith’s double put the Reds on the path to League One promotion with a game to spare, and consigned the Addicks, along with Wycombe and Stockport, to the playoffs.
Wrexham had been hosting Boreham Wood, Dorking and Yeovil as recently as spring 2023. Next year, the visitors to the Racecourse Ground will include Leicester, Southampton and Sheffield Wednesday. The last time Wrexham were in such illustrious company in the second tier was back in 1982. The sleeping dragon has awoken.
Reynolds and McElhenney have often dominated the spotlight in this story and for all their big bear hugs and beaming smiles from the directors’ box, this still felt like a moment for the Wrexham fans to savour. They charged on to the pitch in their thousands at full-time, setting alight red flares, waving Welsh flags and banging drums in delight. And they would not be budged.
Even James McClean, the veteran Wrexham captain, struggled to take in the scenes, as fans celebrated on the pitch around him. “I know it’s the old cliche, but look at this. How do you put it into words? To go into the history books and be the captain and given the honour of leading that is incredible.
“You don’t get success without a strong dressing room and that doesn’t just come from the dressing room, it comes from the management, the fans, our families, the staff behind the scenes – it’s one big group effort. You see how tight we are, we’re a well-oiled machine and a successful one.”
The 12,774 sell-out crowd had arrived in expectant mood, having ticked off their first victory of the day four hours before kick-off, when Leyton Orient’s Randell Williams scored what proved to be the only goal of the game against Wycombe. If that left the Chairboys in a precarious position, two points behind Wrexham having played a game more, it also served as a perfect pre-match pep talk for Phil Parkinson and an extra boost for the home supporters, who created a red wall of noise.
It did not take long for Wrexham’s players to respond to the sizzling atmosphere. A set-piece was tapped short by McClean, with Matty James rolling it onto Rathbone to lash home. It was a blockbuster goal worthy of the occasion. Cue wild celebrations.
The jubilation was to get wilder still. Wrexham’s second goal stemmed from a delicious chip over the defence from James, with Smith swivelling to volley a cute chip into the corner. Even the seldom extravagant Parkinson struggled to contain his emotions this time. Red balloons and pyro went up in the stands. There was more of the same when Smith nodded in his second to seal it with a final red stamp.
For the Wrexham manager, this was a sixth promotion spread across four clubs. Amid all the glitz and glamour and the glare focusing on the club’s owners, the former Bolton and Bradford manager has been the proverbial calm hand on the tiller, the proven coach steering his side up the leagues.
Parkinson dedicated the day to the Wrexham “collective”, his players, the fans and, of course the owners, with whom he may soon start plotting a path to the top tier. “Everyone has been talking about making history all season,” he said. “The trajectory has been a rapid one. You can never take these medals away from us.”
From Reynolds, who had drank a few beers with supporters before kick-off – and will doubtlessly enjoy a few more in the coming days – there was a brief soundbite to the media amid the on-field celebrations. He said: “The aim has always been the Premier League.” The Championship: beware.
