Wrexham had to make some tough decisions after winning promotion to League One and one departure has left Rob McElhenney truly devastated.
Wrexham rapidly moved from the National League to League One, winning back-to-back promotions under Phil Parkinson.
The swift rise up the leagues under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds has been incredible to watch – and Wrexham aren’t done yet.
Wrexham now sit top of League One and have dreams of making it to the Championship in the near future.
Ryan Reynolds wants another promotion and Wrexham have started the season in outstanding fashion, winning four of five League One games.
Rob McElhenney on difficult Wrexham exit
Wrexham had to make tough calls as Parkinson prepared for life in League One.
Not everybody can stay for the full journey at Wrexham and some big players were allowed to leave the club to make way for new additions.
Defender Ben Tozer left the club and joined Forest Green Rovers whilst fellow veteran Luke Young departed too.
Young had served as Wrexham captain but after a bit-part role last season, he was allowed to leave on a free transfer.
Young has joined League Two side Cheltenham Town but remains a favourite of Wrexham fans after his time at the club.
Speaking on Men in Blazers, McElhenney noted that saying goodbye to players is one of the downsides of his job at Wrexham.
McElhenney noted that Young’s exit was the hardest of the lot, admitting that the midfielder was his favourite player at Wrexham.
McElhenney called Young’s departure ‘devastating’ having built up a personal relationship, but saying goodbye is just part of life.
“One of the very few downsides of becoming so personally close with the players is that you have to say goodbye to everybody at some point,” said McElhenney.
“Ultimately, that’s a metaphor for life in general which is that people come and people go, but when you put so much value on the relationships that you have with people, to say goodbye is very difficult.
“We have had so many valleys along the way, in so far as we started the conversation talking about Ben Tozer and Luke Young, who is my favourite player – and I was very public in stating that! That’s not a slight to the other players, I just loved Luke, he was our longest-tenured players, he was with us from the very beginning, so to say goodbye to him was devastating – devastating,” he added.
How is Young faring at Cheltenham?
31-year-old Young didn’t play in the first game of the season but has become an increasingly important player for Cheltenham.
Young scored against Grimsby Town on August 17, coming off the bench at half time to make an immediate impact.
Young has started all three League Two games since then and picked up an assist in last weekend’s 1-0 win over Harrogate Town.
Wrexham fans never had any doubt that Young would make an impact in League Two and Cheltenham appear to be reaping the benefits of his arrival.
McElhenney and Wrexham fans will be cheering him on from afar, and you just never know when Young could cross paths with Wrexham again down the line.