TST, with Tozer in Tow, Begins Today
Wrexham return to The States for the third-annual 7v7 tournament. Plus: new rumors from the past week as the transfer window opens.
Wrexham…well, sorta Wrexham…are about to take to the pitch in North Carolina.
News from the Week:
TST Begins Today
TST 2025, the third-annual 7-a-side tournament, begins this morning in Cary NC at 10:00 am, when the men’s squad takes on Real Athletico. We’ll then play the Premier League’s AFC Bournemouth at 7 pm this evening. The Women’s squad kicks off tomorrow at 3:30 pm against Ultrain FC, followed by the men’s third round tomorrow at 5:30 pm against The CONCACAF Soccer Club. On Friday, the Women play their second round at 8:00 am against The Drunken Monkeys and round three at 5:00 pm against Kansas City II. From there the men, if they advance, will enter the 32-team bracket. The Women’s bracket will consist of eight teams.
The men’s team, led once again by player-manager David Jones, will feature only a few current players from the senior and academy squads: Aaron James, Tom Kelley, Callum Edwards, and Alex Moore. Additionally, the lineup announcement featured an unexpected old friend: newly retired Ben Tozer will be returning to Wrexham Red for the tournament. Former player George Boyd, who has played in all the TST tournaments for Wrexham, will be returning as well. On the women’s squad, no current players will feature but keeper Del Morgan will get another outing for the Dragons in goal, as will Mia Roberts, who went from a player to commentator with Mark Griffiths.
Despite the million-dollar prize on the line for both teams, TST remains a deeply unserious event but I have to admit…it’s a really fun watch.
What sets TST apart is its “Target Score Time” that ends every match. After the full-time whistle, the match will continue until a team hits the ‘target score,’ which is simply the leading team’s score plus one. Target Score Time is untimed, but the squads need to lose a player every three minutes, and let me tell you…those three-on-threes and two-on-twos get crazy. So if you can, I’d tune in. The games are available on YouTube and ESPN+. They’re short, wild, and fun.
Anyway, here are the full squads:
Men
- Abraham Rodriguez
- Yannick Parkes
- David Jones
- Alex Moore
- Callum Edwards
- Aaron James
- Tom Kelly
- Ben Tozer
- George Boyd
- Liam McAlinden
- Jake Hyde
- Navid Nasseri
- James Chester
- Marc Albrighton
- Brandon Barker
- Sak Hassan
Women
- Del Morgan
- Ella Dederick
- Mia Roberts
- Nicole Baxter
- Brianne Reed
- Lindsay Agnew
- Nickolette Driesse
- Katie Chapman
- Rachel Unitt
- Destiney Toussaint
- Gabby Cuevas
- Kelly Ann Livingstone
- Jamie Fields
- Havana Solaun
- Nikki Haimes
Wrexham Women End of Season Awards
The awards for the Wrexham Women’s squad have been announced and the big honor is hardly a shock. Abbie Iddenden took home Player of the Season, following a campaign in which she contributed to thirty-two goals over twenty-five matches, and led the league in assists. Welcome to Wrexham darling Lili Jones also did well, taking home her second consecutive Young Player of the Season award in addition to Goal of the Season.
Here’s the full list of awards:
Player of the Season - Abbie Iddenden
Player’s Player of the Season - Liz Craven
Young Player of the Season - Lili Jones
Goal of the Season - Lili Jones
Welcome to Wrexham Renewed for Season 5
I mean…obviously. Welcome to Wrexham continues to be a hit on FX, so after a historic third promotion, it should come as no surprise that the docuseries will be back again next year. Will it have the same “Hollywood ending” as the last three? Probably not, but I think everyone should have learned by now not to underestimate Disney FC.
Rumor Roundup
The transfer window is open! For now. The window will be open from 6/1 - 6/10 and then close for the FIFA Club World Cup. It will open again from 6/16 - 9/1.
Here are the latest names linked with the Dragons:
Ben Davies
This week’s flashy rumored name was Ben Davies, a Welsh international and centerback for Tottenham Hotspur, who is out of contract with the Premier League club. Word is that Wrexham has entered negotiations for the defender but the rumor seems to have originated from Football Insider (aka The Wrexham Insider), so I wouldn’t put much stock in it.
Like…any, actually. I’d be shocked if Davies dropped down to the Championship and even if he did, I think he’d be more inclined to return to Swansea, the Welsh team he came up with, rather than Wrexham. Don’t get me wrong: he’d be an incredible signing for Wrexham. But I’m not seeing anything serious in this “story.”
Myles Peart-Harris
Speaking of Swansea, Wales Online reports that their loanee from Brentford, Myles Peart-Harris, who has been back with his parent club since suffering a back injury in March, is on Wrexham’s radar. Before that, he hadn’t exactly been enjoying a dream season with Swansea. He’s a right winger by trade, so he’s not a perfect fit in Phil’s preferred system, but he has some experience in midfield and could be a a nice serving partner for Sam Smith. In his thirty games with the Swans last season, he scored three goals while assisting four more.
Personally, I don’t like it. The injury doesn’t scare me too much, he’s only twenty-two after all, but while Longman has converted brilliantly from winger to wingback I don’t think we need another player that has to adapt to a new position.
Danny Ings
The Mirror reports that Wrexham has an interest in veteran West Ham striker Danny Ings. The 32-year-old is set to leave The Hammers at the end of this month but is unlikely to find regular playing time in the Premier League beyond coming off the bench. In his seventeen appearances last season (his lowest since the 2017/2018 campaign) he contributed just one goal and two assists. Those aren’t numbers to salivate over, but he could have a big impact by dropping down to the Championship. Ings could see a big bump in playing time and goal contributions, while Wrexham gets a veteran, Premier League-proven striker.
I actually don’t hate Ings coming to Wrexham. Yes, he’s well past his prime, but in some ways, he could be a great replacement for Fletcher’s role: super sub off the bench with a chance to earn the starting spot instead of Rodriguez. In fact, I’d like the move a whole lot more if we sold Rodriguez first, but I don’t have much confidence in that taking place over the summer, if at all. I see a lot of sense in this move for all parties, so I wouldn’t be shocked if this develops into a bigger story.
Get to Know The Championship
With a new league comes new competition. Throughout the summer editions of the Wreader I’m going to provide a little profile of each club, two per week, for those subscribers new to the English Football Pyramid.
And this week I take a look at two clubs with two of my all-time favorite badges:
Sheffield Wednesday FC
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
Founded: 1867
Nickname(s): The Owls, The Wednesday (original name: The Wednesday FC)
Ownership: Dejphon Chansiri
Last Season: 12th in the Championship
One of the oldest clubs in the world, Sheffield Wednesday (who controversially claim to be England’s second-oldest club) have spent eleven of the past fifteen seasons in the Championship. Following a brief two-year drop to League One from 2021-2023, Wednesday improved upon a twentieth-place finish in 2024 with a very respectable twelfth-place finish last season. Named simply for the fact that the founders played on Wednesdays, Sheffield Wednesday is one of the most storied clubs in the pyramid with four tier-one trophies (the latest: 1930), five tier-two trophies (the latest: 1959), three FA Cup titles (the latest: 1935), one EFL Cup (1991), and the Community Shield (1935). They also have, in this fan’s opinion, one of the absolute best badges in the history of the game.
But as the dates on those accolades might have indicated, they’re not quite the same club they once were. Following a decade and a half stay in the top tier, The Owls dropped down following the 99/00 season and have yet to return. But their noticeable improvement from two seasons ago should give their supporters hope for another successful campaign next season. They had some notable loanees that are set to depart (including Shea Charles and Ibrahim Cissoko) but otherwise should retain many of their key pieces such as top-scorer Josh Windass and left-back Max Lowe. That doesn’t mean they won’t be big spenders this summer, however. If they can manage another jump on the table like they did last year, they’ll easily be in playoff contention, if not higher. I expect them to have a decent season, so don’t be shocked if The Owls land in the top six.
Derby County FC
Location: Derby, Debryshire, England
Founded: 1884
Nickname(s): The Rams
Ownership: David Clowes
Last Season: 19th in the Championship
Derby County also have a badge I love, mostly because it looks like the doodle of a talented toddler. But don’t let that low-res logo fool you, The Rams are another one of the pyramid’s great clubs, having won the top tier twice, the second tier four times, the FA Cup, the Community Shield, and a handful of other trophies as well. If you look at your recent history, you’ll see they were one of the promoted clubs from League One last year, making their nineteenth place seem somewhat expected. They had spent the previous two years in League One…one of the rarest sites in English football. You see, Derby have — remarkably — only spent six of their one hundred and forty-one years outside of the top two divisions in what might be the highlight of their incredibly successful history.
But with twelve members of the squad set to depart (including loanees Nat Phillips, Harrison Armstrong, and top-scorer Jerry Yates) they’ll need to be busy this summer if they want to creep up the Championship table. Although midfielder Ebou Adams did contribute six goals on his way to becoming their top-rated player last year, right now Derby lack a true goal-scoring threat, and a lot of their depth for both the front and back lines is on the way out the door.
Of course, anything can happen during the transfer window, but right now I’d say if they rank above fifteenth next year they should consider it a big success.
The transfer tracker is back! Throughout the summer, I’ll keep a rolling summary of Wrexham’s comings and goings at the end of each newsletter.
Arrivals
None
Departures
Mark Howard »»» Currently a free agent
Steven Fletcher »»» Currently a free agent
Josh Adam »»» Currently a free agent
Jordan Davies »»» Currently a free agent
Harry Dean »»» Currently a free agent
Brad Foster »»» Currently a free agent
Liam Hall »»» Currently a free agent
Sam Dalby »»» Currently a free agent
Known Offers
James Rainbird (pending recovery)
Tom Cairney (reportedly)
Rumored Interest
Jamie Vardy
Tom Lawrence
Charlie Savage
Sunusi Ibrahim
Aaron Cresswell
Lewis O’Brien
Ben Davies
Myles Peart-Harris
Danny Ings
That’s it for this week…now go watch Tozer play for Wrexham one last time!
