National League champions Wrexham are set to relegate another former English Football League (EFL) favourite when they travel to Torquay on Saturday.
Wrexham, who will play in the EFL next season after winning the National League title, relegated former Championship club Yeovil by beating them 3-0 at the Racecourse 10 days ago. Unless something dramatic happens on Saturday, Torquay will suffer the same fate.
That's because Torquay go into Saturday's season finale three points behind Maidenhead with an inferior goal difference. Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney, who offered his condolences to Yeovil earlier this month, could find himself doing the same this weekend.
Wrexham, who are also co-owned by Ryan Reynolds, have enjoyed a fairy-tale season under their Hollywood custodians. They won promotion to the EFL last Saturday and are expected to win at Plainmoor. Even if Torquay win, they are still likely to go down.
To stay up, Torquay will need beat Wrexham and hope Maidenhead lose at Gateshead, with a seven-goal swing going in the Devon club's favour. In other words, Torquay need to thump Wrexham and hope Gateshead inflict a similar defeat on Maidenehead.
That seems highly unlikely, as Wrexham have lost just three league games all season - with none of those defeats coming by more than a two-goal margin. If Torquay do achieve the seemingly impossible, it'll be a greater fairy-tale than Wrexham's.
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Remarkably, EFL regulars Torquay, Yeovil and Scunthorpe will all play in the sixth tier of English football next season. McElhenney was keen to pay tribute to Yeovil after Wrexham confirmed their relegation. He tweeted: "One thing that was lost in the excitement last night was that Yeovil were relegated.
"I spoke with their managers, a few players and supporters. They were devastated. This sport can be so heart-breaking. They fought hard to the end. I wish them luck and hope they’re back up soon."
Wrexham will be hoping Saturday's game is the last they ever play in the National League, but Torquay will be praying for an immediate return to the fifth tier. Speaking to BBC Radio Devon, Torquay boss Gary Johnson said: "It’s sad, but the club’s strong, it’s gone down before and it can come back up.
"We have had disappointment and we’ll try and get over it because that’s what you’re in football to do. You have good days and bad days, unfortunately we didn’t get enough results earlier on to support this team that we’ve got at the moment.
"We are gutted for the club, the players and our supporters and my staff. We've got our team together in the last seven or eight games. We used the last day of the transfer window to bring in some good players. You couldn't get them earlier. It was a shame that we didn't have longer with that group of players."
Speaking of transfers, Wrexham are now planning for life in League Two. McElhenney is ambitiously trying to sign Gareth Bale, who retired from professional football in January. The Wrexham chief tweeted: "Hey Gareth Bale, let's play golf, where I won't spend four hours trying to convince you to un-retire for one last magical season."
