Wrexham and the football world are devastated by the news that club legend Joey Jones has passed away.
Wrexham plan on building a statue for Jones after the former player and interim manager died at the age of 70 following a battle with illness.
Having made over 100 appearances for the Red Dragons before moving to Liverpool in 1975, he re-signed for Wrexham in 1978.
He went on to re-join the club for a third time in 1987 after spells with Chelsea and Huddersfield before working as a coach for the club and in an ambassadorial role.
Jones held a Wrexham record for 44 years before it was broken in 2022 by one of Phil Parkinson’s current stars Ollie Palmer.
Joey Jones was Wrexham’s record signing for 44 years before Ollie Palmer
Wrexham paid Liverpool a sum of £220,000 in 1978 to bring the defender back to the Racecourse Ground for a second spell.
That was a club-record fee for the Red Dragons and it stood for another 44 years before the club splashed £300,000 on Palmer from AFC Wimbledon.
Since then, Parkinson has smashed the club-record fee several times under Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, with the latest being the capture of Liberato Cacace.
Sam Smith cost just over £2m back in January but Cacace’s deal will eclipse that amount with his fee potentially rising to over £3.5m with add-ons.
It shows what a talent Jones was in his playing days that the Red Dragons were willing to shell out a record fee and one that would stand for almost half a century.
Wrexham could break their transfer record twice this summer
After splashing the cash on Cacace, Wrexham could be about to break their transfer record once again in their pursuit of acquiring a squad ready for the challenges of the Championship.
Wrexham want to spend £10m on a striker this summer after having already brought Ryan Hardie to the club for £700,000.
Should the Red Dragons use that money for another centre forward it would surely mean the end for Palmer at the club despite featuring in their pre-season tour down under.
Palmer has been told he can leave by Parkinson and has previously stated in the past that he thought he would end his career at former club AFC Wimbledon.
Whether a move materialises to the League One newcomers remains to be seen but he remains way down the pecking order in North Wales.