Wrexham have made a blistering start to life in League One having only been a National League club just 18 months ago.
Wrexham’s rise has been incredible to watch with Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds certainly the catalysts for the club’s change in momentum.
Phil Parkinson is the man at the wheel though and he has masterminded Wrexham’s rise to League One with back-to-back promotions.
Life in the third tier is going well so far; Wrexham have won three from four in League One and sit second in the table.
Promotion has suited Wrexham well with summer spending – to the tune of around £2million – bolstering Parkinson’s options.
Few are really anticipating another promotion to the Championship, but nobody can truly put limits on this Wrexham rise.
Paul Scholes on Wrexham spending
Wrexham’s rise has attracted admiration, criticism and more than a little bit of envy over the last few years.
Not everybody loves the idea of Hollywood celebrities coming in and spending to take a club up the league in rapid fashion.
Wrexham fans are, largely, loving life though and will be looking for more success in the coming years.
We have seen clubs invest well at National League and League Two level but hit ceilings on their way up.
Crawley Town and Fleetwood Town spring to mind, but so do Salford City.
Salford have enjoyed star power of their own over the years with Gary Neville in the spotlight as their figurehead for a number of years.
Salford won four promotions in five years but have now been stuck in League Two since arriving in the league in 2019.
After flirting with relegation last season, Salford are back to hoping for promotion to League Two – either this season or down the line.
Paul Scholes, another Manchester United legend involved at Salford, has now pointed to the money ‘floating about’ in League Two.
Speaking on The Overlap, Scholes noted that Salford are having to rely on signing free transfers to bolster their squad.
Scholes highlighted the spending of Wrexham alongside Stockport County last season, seemingly feeling that Salford simply couldn’t compete on the financial front.
“We work at a different level than, obviously, the Premier League so we usually don’t buy players,” said Scholes. “We’re relying on free transfers really.
“We’re in League Two and there’s a lot of money floating about. You don’t realise, you think last year there was the Stockports, the Wrexhams, we had a few ownership issues this year so we were never quite sure where the budget was,” he added.
Wrexham a rare case
Salford had great backing in non-league and were able to quickly accelerate through to the EFL.
Building from there isn’t quite as easy though and Wrexham have been able to use a number of factors.
McElhenney and Reynolds are huge names and he rise in American supporters of Wrexham has provided another revenue stream to keep helping the club in the background.
Neville, Scholes and co have football influence but Reynolds is on a different scale, even managing to pull non-football fans into the Wrexham story.
We also can’t ignore Wrexham’s history and tradition as a Football League club and the STōK Cae Ras, a stadium with a capacity which dwarfs the likes of Salford, Crawley and Fleetwood.
More fans certainly helps Wrexham and quality players are attracted to all of it; the history, the fans, the owners, the publicity from ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, the chance to be part of something special.
There is just no sign of this rise stopping any time soon for Wrexham – especially after a strong start to the League One season.