Wrexham have their tremendous playing squad to thank for promotion from League One, with every single one of them doing their part.
Phil Parkinson and his players have written themselves into the history books after Wrexham secured a third-straight promotion, having gone from the National League all the way to the Championship in three seasons.
Owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney must be rubbing their hands hearing that Wrexham’s valuation has increased to £150million following their £2million takeover back in late 2020.
It’s an incredible 7,400% increase for the Hollywood pair. But their journey with Wrexham seems as though it’s only just getting started with this summer promising to be an exciting one in the transfer market.
But whilst new players will arrive at the Racecourse, existing ones will play just as crucial a role. Ollie Rathbone is such a player.
Ollie Rathbone says he’s playing his ‘best football’ at Wrexham
Wrexham signed Rathbone from Rotherham United last summer. The Dragons paid just £500,000 for the 28-year-old who has since been named Wrexham’s Player of the Season for 2024/25, after scoring eight goals and assisting three more in 41 League One appearances.
And speaking in the wake of his Player of the Season award, Rathbone revealed his sheer happiness at playing for Wrexham, explaining how his happiness at the club has allowed him to flourish on the pitch as well.
Rathbone said: “If I’m being honest, I’ve just been so so happy here. I love coming into work. I love training with the lads and working with the staff, and I think that’s just allowed me to play my best football, because I’ve just felt so free.”
How Ollie Rathbone secured his move to Wrexham from Rotherham United
Oddly enough it was Rathbone and his representatives who approached Wrexham last summer. Rathbone revealed how he sealed his move to Wrexham earlier in the year explaining how he suggested Wrexham to his agent, and the rest is history.
Rathbone said: “With Rotherham getting relegated from the Championship, the aim was for me to kind of stay in the Championship with another club, but then we also spoke about ‘well, what if a big League One club would come in for you?’, and then we could maybe get promoted back to the Championship.
“He mentioned a few, and I said ‘well, what about Wrexham, do you think they’ll be up there this season?’, and I remember he said ‘yeah, okay, I’ll give Phil a ring’, and it all kind of stemmed from there really.”
After promotion to the Championship Parkinson and Wrexham will surely have some more players this summer. But Parkinson doesn’t want to sign any superstars at Wrexham. He wants to maintain a positive changing room and so he’ll need to be very picky with his signings.