“Everyday, it’s a-gettin closer …”
Buddy Holly’s tune from 1957 was stuck in the heads of football fans, and indeed non-football fans, for months thanks to a documentary centred on a Welsh team stuck in the fifth tier of English football.
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The documentary Welcome to Wrexham centres on the exploits of one of the oldest clubs in the world, Wrexham AFC, and how the club’s new owners — Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney — set about returning it back to the English Football League (EFL) after their £2 million ($A3.5m) takeover in 2021.
It follows Wrexham’s progress while delving into the lives of the players on and off the field, including big-money signings like Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and marquee manager Phil Parkinson.
Despite the crazy amounts of money Reynolds and McElhenney stumped up for the playing squad, it ultimately was not enough as Wrexham were knocked out of the promotion playoffs by Grimsby Town, and lost to Bromley in the FA Trophy final.
It meant a 15th year stuck in football purgatory for the club and not the instant sugar hit Reynolds and McElhenney craved, and perhaps expected, considering their significant first-year investments.
However, their second full season at the helm has fans dreaming once again of life in the EFL.
Be warned, spoilers for the second season of Welcome to Wrexham are below!
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STAGGERING UNBEATEN RUN SPARKING HOPE OF PROMOTION
Given the owner’s financial clout and the heavy spending in their first full season it was no surprise Wrexham brought in seven key arrivals in the summer, including former Premier League players Anthony Forde and Elliott Lee.
Results wise, the Welsh club began with a mixed bag as they won their opening match against Eastleigh in front of just under 10,000 fans at the Racecourse on August 6, before a draw and loss to Yeovil Town and Chesterfield followed.
The loss to Chesterfield, who were in League One as recently as six years ago, sparked Wrexham into life as they won seven of their next eight games, scoring an average of 3.4 goals per game.
Despite the stunning run of form, Parkinson’s side remained in second as fellow promotion hopefuls Notts County set the National League alight.
The two titans eventually came to blows on October 4, with Notts County edging out a narrow 1-0 victory.
Since then Wrexham have been a proverbial wrecking ball, decimating opponent after opponent while taking 39 points from a possible 45 including a 15-game unbeaten streak.
Crucially, Notts County have drawn five games in that time, allowing Wrexham to not only catch up, but leapfrog them into top spot in the National League.
As it stands, both sides are equal on 65 points and have scored a whopping 70 goals each — with Wrexham marginally ahead on goal difference.
Unsurprisingly, star striker Mullin has been amongst the goals and has found the back of the net a staggering 20 times so far in the league, with fellow big-name arrival Palmer not far behind on 14 goals.
Midfielder Luke Young has been the chief provider with eight assists and Mullin also turning provider with six assists too.
The Whites own Accrington Stanley | 00:33
STAR’S BOOT CONTROVERSY PRECEDES ‘MAD’ VISIT FROM THE KING
The day of Wrexham’s clash against Halifax Town on October 25, Mullin shared a controversial customised pair of boots on his social media.
Stitched into his boots was the phrase, ‘F*** the Tories’.
However Wrexham banned Mullin from sporting the boots as the club “adopted a neutral position on many matters with a political dimension”, branding the ordeal as an “unwelcome distraction.”
It’s just as well Mullin never had any negative messages about the Royal Family on his boots, as King Charles and Queen Camilla paid a visit to the club in December.
The King and Queen were in town to grant Wrexham city status as one of eight different communities awarded the honour as part of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
Reynolds and McElhenney were on hand to introduce the royal pair to the squad and club staff at the Racecourse in a momentous occasion.
Australian goalkeeper Kai Calderbank-Park was there for what he described as a “mad day” and got to enjoy a brief conversation with King Charles.
Lucky Foxes sneak past lowly Walsall | 00:18
“The whole area where we were got locked down,” Calderbank-Park told the Fox Football Podcast.
“There was heaps of security, police there. It’s not often you get to meet the King and Queen and all the people around them.
“To meet them and see them and have a chat to them for a couple of minutes was unreal. It was a great experience and I loved every second of it.
“Quickly, he [King Charles] said, ‘What’s your name, where are you from?’
“I said my name and where I’m from. Some of them were like, ‘Why have you come from Australia to over here, why are you here?’ I said ‘For football.’ They said, ‘Oh, I bet it’s a lot colder here compared to back home and stuff like that!”
THE MAGICAL CUP MOMENTS NOT EVEN HOLLYWOOD COULD SCRIPT
Less a month after the royal visit, shocked the footballing world on the pitch.
In the third round of the FA Cup for the first time since the 2014/15 season, Wrexham travelled away to Championship side Coventry City, a team who last lifted the famous trophy back in 1987.
The Sky Blues boasted a 60-place gap over Parkinson’s side, but on that night, it was the non-league outfit who looked the higher-placed team.
Wrexham raced to a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes and a 3-1 lead at half time thanks to goals from Sam Dalby, Elliott Lee and Thomas O’Connor.
Backed by around 5,000 travelling fans who made the long journey from north Wales to the English Midlands, the decibel levels exploded when Mullin made it 4-1 in the 58th minute as Coventry went down to 10 men just before.
Although the hosts scored twice in seven minutes to make the scoreline 4-3 with 15 minutes to play, Wrexham held on for the win as they booked a spot in the fourth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 23 years.
Calderbank-Park unfortunately didn’t get any minutes during the game, but the 22-year-old was on hand for the occasion inside the stadium.
“It was probably one of the best games and best atmospheres I’ve ever been to in my life,” Calderbank-Park said.
“It was absolutely unreal. We took about 5000 fans and the atmosphere was absolutely unreal. There was flares going off, they were singing, no-one was quiet.
“When Coventry scored, they [Coventry fans] were singing. I think it was about an 18-20,000 [person] crowd. Honestly, the whole stadium was erupting every time someone scored.
“It was honestly the best atmosphere by far I’ve ever been to. Even the actual game was one of the best I’ve been to.
“4-3 against a Championship club was unbelievable, away as well.”
An even tougher test would await in the FA Cup as Wrexham were drawn for a clash against Championship promotion hopefuls Sheffield United at the Racecourse.
With the home ground packed to the rafters and filled with just under 10,000 fanatical supporters — including Reynolds — roaring them on, everything was set up for yet another dazzling night of FA Cup magic.
However, the Blades clearly didn’t read the script as it took 61 seconds for Oli McBurnie to open the scoring and it remained 1-0 to the visitors at half-time.
Parkinson, the mastermind of several other Cup upsets in previous years, then watched his side turn the contest on its head as they secured a 2-1 lead, only for the Blades to level it up once again.
But the game turned on its head in the 71st minute when Sheffield United’s Daniel Jebbison was sent off, giving Wrexham the upper hand.
And who else to pop up in the 86th minute with a goal other than Mullin, coolly slotting home what looked sure to be the winner.
Unfortunately it was not to be, as a stoppage-time equaliser from Blades defender John Egan broke Wrexham hearts to force a replay, scheduled for Feburary 8 at Bramall Lane.
Despite the crushing blow from Egan, The Times’ Martin Samuel believes the “fabulous” Cup match against Sheffield United showcased “a city suddenly alight with pride, hope and excitement,” describing it as “football as it is meant to be.”
SO … WHERE TO FROM HERE?
With a Cup run that has galvanised the city and captured the imagination of the football community, Reynolds and McElhenney’s second full season of owning the club has been full of positivity.
If Wrexham manages to prevail in the fourth round replay against Sheffield United, they get to take on Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur at the Racecourse in dream occasion.
But for the actors, players and fans the ultimate prize of promotion from the National League takes precendence.
And, as The Athletic’s Nancy Frostick notes, there are no guarantees as to who might finish at the top of the fifth tier.
“The title race is as tight as ever with just over half the season played and promises plenty of drama still to come, which is good news for the makers of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary as well as fans,” Frostick wrote.
There’s plenty more twists and turns to take place throughout the season in the 19 remaining league games.
But if what has transpired on and off the field so far is a sign of what’s to come, the famous old club could be dreaming of a return to the EFL system for the first time in 15 years. And it’s sure to make for more compelling viewing.
