HISTORY: WREXHAM EARN THIRD-STRAIGHT PROMOTION
Wrexham earn promotion to the Championship with a game to spare.
Special edition because - sing it with me now - we are going up!
Since its founding in 1888, no team has ever earned three consecutive promotions in the English Football League. It has happened a few times further down the pyramid, but never at the professional level…until now. Wrexham AFC, a club that spent fifteen years lost in the desert of the fifth tier, that only earned five promotions across 159 years…just became the first.
Phil Parkinson has cemented his place as one of the club’s most legendary managers by leading the squad from the National League to the Championship, one of the most competitive leagues in Europe, if not the world, in just four years. The squad may look different than it did a year ago, and will no doubt look different in August…but the mission and spirit remain the same.
What a day.
The Wrecap:
Wrexham AFC 3 - 0 Charlton Athletic
Wrexham knew if they were to be promoted today they’d need a little help. Wycombe needed to at least draw with Leyton Orient to put the Reds’ fate into their own hands. Of course, if Leyton Orient beat them things would be even simpler. Orient delivered. A 1-0 defeat for the Wanderers sent Wrexham fans cheering…and waiting for the 12:30 pm kickoff.
For his lineup, Phil didn’t rock the boat. He fielded an unchanged roster in front of a loud, sold-out Racecourse. From the first kick, it seemed like something special was in the air. Both co-chairmen were on hand, hoping for a historic day…and Wrexham got started right away. After a non-stop first fifteen minutes, Wrexham earned a corner and Rathbone shot through a very crowded box to give the Reds the lead. Euphoria exploded across the ground…and just two minutes later Smith doubled the lead with a strike fit for the Louvre. It would take another ten minutes before Charlton even earned their first shot, with their second coming shortly after. The second one was dangerous, but Okonkwo handled it without much effort.
Charlton keeper Mannion went down with an injury at 34’, leading to both managers calling their squads over for an unexpected chat. After that, the game entered its first stilted period for the next five minutes before Charlton unleashed some sustained pressure. There were some close calls, but the Wrexham defense rose to the challenge. Charlton were hardly finished, however. They controlled most of the momentum in the half's closing stages, culminating in a series of dangerous corners as four minutes of stoppage time were announced. Even so, it was a Wrexham corner that ended the half, but it ultimately went nowhere before the ref’s halftime whistle sounded.
The second half began with some sound and fury from Charlton, who swarmed the Wrexham box but the Reds’ defense was able to wiggle out of danger yet again. This ushered in a rather calm, uneventful twenty minutes before some testy exchanges between the squads earned yellows for both sides. For a while, it seemed like Wrexham were content to sit on their lead, but at 81’ Smith took advantage of some sloppy defending to cement the win with his second goal of the day, sending the Racecourse faithful down to the side of the pitch in anticipation of the final whistle, still at least nine minutes away.
Any wind remaining in the Charlton sails had vanished. The final ten minutes were merely in the way for the players and the fans, some of whom already jumped the wall before the final whistle. When it finally came, the pitch invasion Wrexham staff tried in vain to prevent happened once again…after all, it’s basically a tradition at this point.
Sam Smith was brought on to be our new star striker and he certainly lived up to that expectation today. He and Rathbone were sensational. Both played tirelessly throughout the ninety minutes, and both are deserving of Man of the Match…but they aren’t alone. The squad understood the assignment and fired on all cylinders today. Okonkwo was a brick wall, the defensive line seemed to be everywhere they needed to be, and Matty James was a creative force in the center of the pitch. For his two goals (and nearly a third had Longman not tried to take it himself), I give the honor to Smith.
The report and highlights will be coming (the latter will likely be all over your TV screens soon enough), and I’ll attach them in the regular Wreader on Wednesday.
Match Facts:
Starting Lineup: Okonkwo, Brunt, Scarr, Cleworth, McClean, Rathbone, James, Dobson, Longman, Rodriguez, Smith
Bench: Burton, O’Connell, Barnett, O’Connor, Lee, Mariott, Fletcher.
Goals:
WRX — Rathbone (15’), Smith (18’, 81’)
CHA — None
Yellow Cards:
WRX — Longman (44’), Smith (65’)
CHA — Campbell (42’)
Current Table
Birmingham City have already won the league title
Wrexham will join them in the Championship
Cambridge United join Shrewsbury Town in relegation, with Bristol Rovers and Crawley Town’s demotions all but official.
Stockport, Wycombe, and Charlton are locks for the playoffs, but Reading can still boot out Leyton Orient on the final day next weekend.
I’m the blurry person in the front row of that pic with my mouth wide open. What a goal. What a game. Wtf!
Dan Scarr was such a wall he was worthy of a MOTM shout.