Wrexham's Premier League dream is on hold but its global fanbase can keep dreaming
WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — There will be no trips to Old Trafford or Anfield. No visits from Erling Haaland or Bukayo Saka. For Wrexham and its growing fanbase across the world, the dream of playing in the Premier League next season — of back-to-back-to-back-to back promotions — is over .
And the sense of disappointment was acute inside the Racecourse Ground on Saturday following the 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough that dropped Wrexham out of the playoff places on the final day of the Championship season. The players slumped to the ground, clearly disconsolate. One covered his face with his hands.
Yet, there was pride, too, among supporters who serenaded the team with a standing ovation. Many of them will have been there 20 years ago, when Wrexham was on the brink of financial ruin — a hostage to the actions of an unscrupulous owner — before clubbing together to save it from going out of business. Now, Wrexham has just recorded the highest ever finish in its 162-year history — seventh place in English soccer’s second tier — and the club's ambitions remain high under celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac .
“The standard has been set now,” Wrexham defender Dom Hyam said. “And we want to go one better next season. ” Indeed, when the rawness of missing out on promotion fades, some fans might even think it is a blessing in disguise to be staying in the Championship.
“I still think we still need a couple of seasons in this league,” David Morris, a longtime Wrexham fan, told The Associated Press at a game at the Racecourse last month. “I think we’ve been going too fast, too quick. ” Here’s a look at what the immediate future holds for the once-down-on-its luck Welsh club that has, from out of nowhere, become one of the world’s most talked-about soccer teams .
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