As a sea of red swarmed the pitch to celebrate Wrexham’s return to the Football League after a 15-year absence, it was a reminder of those who had got them back to this stage: the fans themselves. If it was not for the supporters taking control in 2011, after a winding-up order was served on the club for unpaid taxes, this day might not have come.
The investment by Wrexham’s current North American owners, the actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is undoubtedly the catalyst for exiting the National League, to a glamorous backdrop, but they have kept the locals at the heart of their success. The club has come a long way in a short space of time since they put their money where their mouth is in 2021.
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Few will be sad to see the back of the fifth tier, a division in which they drew 1-1 at Braintree in 2016 in front of 484 people. Wrexham now play in front of a packed Racecourse Ground, albeit with three sides, for most games and with a growing audience across the Atlantic thanks to the influence of the boardroom.
It was Paul Mullin that sealed promotion with his 37th and 38th league goals of the season against Boreham Wood. The National League is the hardest to get out of, with only one automatic place available. The victory was the icing on the cake: the real damage was done a fortnight ago when they edged past second-placed Notts County 3-2 to open up a gap at the top.
There is no denying that heavy investment in the squad was required to get the club up but those brought in have delivered 110 points. Wrexham have worked for their success. “Everyone thinks that with the biggest budget in the league, you are going to win it easily but it doesn’t work like that in football,” Mullin told BT Sport. “Notts County pushed us all the way, any other season we would have won the league with 10 games to go but because of them we had to keep going. It spurred us on. I am so proud of the lads with everything we’ve had to deal with this season. It couldn’t feel any sweeter.”
The Wrexham pubs were packed, the streets lined with red and the noise ferocious. Reynolds and McElhenney, with the addition of Paul Rudd, were in the stands to see the realisation of their ambitions. They were moved to tears at full time, a sign of what it means to them.
The euphoric atmosphere that had the Racecourse Ground bouncing before kick-off was silenced inside a minute when an opportunistic ball over the top was not dealt with by Eoghan O’Connell, allowing Lee Ndlovu to calmly lob a bouncing ball over Ben Foster.
Wrexham’s minds were focused by going behind. They controlled the ball and a fantastic cross from Ryan Barnett found Elliott Lee at the back post to kickstart the party.
Reynolds knows how to make a shrewd investment, whether it is in a gin distillery or a 28-year-old striker. Mullin lacked service for most of the evening, so took matters into his own hands. He gained control of the ball on the left wing, spun his defender, drove into the box before making room for the shot and curled it into the top corner.
Another individual effort brought his second of the night when he collected a loose ball, dribbled towards goal and whacked his shot across the goalkeeper to lift the roof off. No wonder they call him “Super Paul Mullin” in these parts.
Mullin was lofted high by the fans, the striker fully embracing his hero status in Wrexham while the red smoke engulfed the playing surface. “Paul Mullin is one of the greatest football players in the world,” McElhenney said. His colleague Reynolds added: “I am not sure I can process what happened tonight. People asked at the beginning: ‘Why Wrexham?’ This is why.”
Next stop: League Two, the new Hollywood destination of the Football League.
