Wrexham kicked off their 2025/26 campaign on Saturday in a game that was blighted by a few controversial refereeing decisions.
Phil Parkinson was livid with one particular decision made by referee James Bell. Parkinson exclaimed in his post-match interview that he didn’t understand the official’s decision not to send Ronnie Edwards off for his foul on Kieffer Moore in the Southampton penalty area – a foul which led to Wrexham taking the lead through new signing Josh Windass.
Speaking exclusively to The Wrexham Insider, former referee Mark Clattenburg disagreed with Parkinson’s assertion that Edwards should’ve been sent off, pointing to the covering defender as the reason a red card shouldn’t have been dished out.
Despite taking the lead from the spot, Wrexham were unable to hold on to their slender advantage at St Mary’s, eventually conceding two extremely late goals to lose 2-1 to Southampton.
Wrexham will be hoping to bounce back from that defeat when they kick off their EFL Cup campaign at the Racecourse Ground on Tuesday evening. It’s a game that will once again be officiated by a rather controversial referee in Joshua Smith, however.
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Wrexham vs Hull referee Joshua Smith was spat at by Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis
Joshua Smith was the subject of one of the more unsavoury incidents of the 2024/25 season following Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 defeat to Fulham in the Premier League in September 2024.
Smith’s decision not to award Forest two penalty kicks late in the game following claims from both Anthony Elanga and Taiwo Awoniyi was met with angst by club owner Evangelos Marinakis. After the game, Marinakis was found to have spat at the official’s feet, having waited for Smith outside of the tunnel following the final whistle.
In a report on the incident, Smith wrote: “He [Marinakis] did not say anything but as we approached him and was close, he spat on the ground in front of us.”
Marinakis was handed a five-game ban for the incident which he later blamed on a need to dispose of phlegm due to his cigar habit.
Will VAR be used in the EFL Cup?
While VAR was used in last season’s EFL Cup final, it will not be used for Wrexham’s first round clash with Hull City on Tuesday evening at the Racecourse Ground.
As things stand, VAR will only be in use in the EFL Cup if the host stadium has VAR capabilities. As it the Racecourse Ground is yet to host Premier League football – although it is very much Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac‘s plan that it does in due course – it does not have the capacity to utilise VAR as things stand.
VAR will also not be used for any of Wrexham’s Championship games throughout the 2025/26 season.