Wrexham kicked off their Championship campaign with a last-gasp defeat against Southampton, but Conor Coady came away from the game very impressed with one thing.
Anticipation was high for Wrexham’s big return to the second tier, and it very nearly resulted in a dream start to the season for Phil Parkinson’s side.
A first-half penalty converted by Josh Windass gave Wrexham the lead, and they held firm until the 90th minute. A stunning Ryan Manning free-kick levelled the scores, before Jack Stephens won the game for the Saints in the dying moments.
No points for the Red Dragons, then, but plenty of encouraging signs, including one thing Conor Coady couldn’t help but praise.
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Conor Coady was impressed by Wrexham supporters
Speaking after the game, the new Wrexham signing was naturally disappointed with the result, but reserved special praise for the travelling supporters who made the long trip down to the South Coast for the fixture.
Coady said: “I thought the crowd was outstanding. The noise [from the away end] when we came out for the warm-up was incredible. We’re going to need them more than anything this season. I wanted to mention that because it’s a noise I’ve not heard in a long time. They were fantastic.”
On the nature of the defeat, Coady added: “It’s not nice. The lads don’t need consoling. It’s a game of moments, and I think it was a perfect performance against a really good team in a really good stadium. Lots of positives, lots to learn from. And we will learn from it.”
Wrexham away support at St. Mary’s speaks volumes for this season
The fact that Wrexham sold all of their 3,000 tickets for this away game says a lot about the following they have. Let’s not forget, this was a lunchtime kick-off, which meant fans were having to get on coaches at around 4:30AM to make it to St. Mary’s for the game.
You can’t criticise Wrexham’s attendance figures in general, with fans often filling the Racecourse Ground. If the Red Dragons can keep taking big crowds to away games, too, then the players will really have that 12th man behind them this season.
The big investment in the Racecourse will make a huge difference moving forward, too, with thousands more fans able to attend games and make more noise. That will also lead to more money for the club, which will benefit them in more ways than one.
Given the performance against Southampton, Wrexham will clearly be more competitive than most expected this season. And one thing that will never fade is that level of support, which as Coady says, could be the difference between surviving and thriving in the second tier.