Sean Newton has now said what he finds ‘mad’ about his former club Wrexham, drawing comparisons to League Two side Salford City.
Wrexham’s rise over the past few years has been phenomenal.
Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have driven the Reds to consecutive promotions, reaching League One for the first time since 2005.
The club are going through a special period and supporters have to drink it all in as moments like this don’t come around often.
Sadly, similar can’t be said when defender Sean Newton was at the Racecourse Ground, with the left-back making 61 appearances between 2015 and 2017.
Wrexham were stuck in the National League and during his two campaigns at the club, they finished eighth and 13th.
Yet, one thing he noticed about the Welsh side was the ‘passionate’ fans, claiming they’re the best he’s played under, with the 35-year-old now saying what he finds ‘mad’ about them.
Sean Newton issues ‘mad’ claim about the Wrexham fanbase
Newton has made further comments about the Wrexham fanbase and the sheer numbers they’ve attracted in recent years.
With the arrival of McElhenney and Reynolds, the Welsh side steadily increased the number of fans watching from the United States.
In March, Shaun Harvey even claimed 5,000 households from the US tune in to watch Wrexham on iFollow, with Newton saying it’s ‘mad’ that non-football supporters are checking up on the Reds and going to the games.
Speaking on the I Had Trials Once podcast, the 35-year-old said: “I think they’ve signed the right people behind the scenes, that’s helped them massively.
“But then I think with Salford, for me personally, I might be wrong, I don’t think they can go any further. I think Wrexham’s fanbase alone and what they bring as movie stars, cause don’t get me wrong, they’re probably bringing in fans who don’t even like football.
“But as mad as that sounds, they now follow Wrexham and they’ll be checking up on Wrexham, or they’ll try get to a game. So Wrexham are worldwide; have you seen when they’re in Vegas? The signs are up and everybody’s celebrating with them.”
He’s compared Wrexham to Salford City, a side they played in League Two last term, with Newton believing the club co-owned by Gary Neville can’t go any further.
Sean Newton is right
Although Salford were founded in 1940, they find it difficult to build up their fanbase as there are so many clubs within the area, including Rochdale and Oldham as well as big guns, Manchester United and Manchester City.
In League Two last term, Salford averaged a home attendance of 2,950, ranking them fourth bottom while Wrexham attracted the second most home supporters (11,210 avg.)
Salford have had ambitions of earning promotion to League One, just like Wrexham, though attracting more supporters is a key stumbling.
Unlike Wrexham, whose core fanbase is much bigger and now have thousands watching from the US, The Ammies are notoriously a non-league side.
Fanbase isn’t everything – as seen with Luton and Bournemouth reaching the Premier League in recent times – but Newton is perhaps right in saying that Salford have gone as far as they can go while Phil Parkinson’s side have much more room to grow.