One former Wrexham player went on to win the most incredible Premier League campaign.
In recent years, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have brought life to Wrexham, who have achieved three successive promotions.
Wrexham now find themselves in the Championship, just one promotion away from the Premier League. In that time, several legends have already carved their name into Wrexham folklore.
It truly is a golden era for the club, but that doesn’t take away from the many players who represented the Dragons at the Racecourse Ground before the Hollywood takeover.
In fact, Wrexham have previously had several top-level players who have gone on to achieve big things, including one who notched game time for his national side, Belgium, and even won the Premier League in the most incredible season.
Belgian international and Premier League winner Ritchie De Laet once represented Wrexham
Looking at top-level players that few will remember played for Wrexham, not many will have vivid memories of seeing Belgian full-back Ritchie De Laet representing the North Wales giants.
De Laet actually only played three games for Wrexham in his short-term loan spell from Stoke City in the Conference League. Remarkably, in that same 2008/09 campaign where he played for Wrexham, he also made his Premier League debut for Man United, playing 79 minutes against Hull City.
De Laet went on to have a glittering career, notably winning the Premier League in the 2015/16 season with Leicester City, which has been widely regarded as one of the great underdog stories.
That season, he only notched 12 appearances before he was moved on to Middlesbrough on loan in January.
The latter years of De Laet’s career have been at Royal Antwerp, where he has played several games in the Champions League and Europa League.
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Wrexham could become a brilliant environment for young stars
In the coming years, we will hopefully continue to discuss Wrexham as a positive space for players to be sent in the early stages of their career.
With the vast experience that Phil Parkinson ensures is in and around the squad, it provides the perfect environment for youngsters to learn and adapt their trade to become a top professional.
Teams in the Premier League will no doubt be aware of the upwards trajectory of Wrexham and it would be no surprise to see them potentially cash in by sending their young stars there on loan.
Whilst Wrexham will no doubt bring in proven Championship quality, loan deals shouldn’t be out of the question, especially when they could be top of the list of clubs to choose from.