Wrexham’s fanbase spreads far and wide, with defender Tom O’Connor now revealing what was ‘mad’ about the support of his side compared to Chelsea last year.
Wrexham kicked off their Wrex Coast tour with an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League side Bournemouth in Santa Barbera, following their 5-1 thrashing of non-league team Hanley Town.
It was a contrast in locations for their two opening pre-season matches and ahead of their next one – a test against the riches of Chelsea – Phil Parkinson will be expecting similar performance levels from his players.
Pre-season is all about getting fitness into the legs while embedding the new signings into the squad, but Parkinson can be pleased with his side’s display against the Cherries, who fielded a strong starting XI consisting of Philip Billing, Antoine Semenyo, Chris Mepham and Adam Smith.
It isn’t just the football they can be proud of, as Wrexham were backed by thousands of fans in the stadium and more of the same will be expected against Chelsea.
Tom O’Connor says there was more Wrexham fans than Chelsea last year
Wrexham take on Chelsea in the early hours of Thursday morning (3 am UK time), in what is a repeat of their pre-season fixture last year.
It was the first time that the players truly understood the scale of their support in the United States, as a reported 110,000 supporters watched their four matches.
Reflecting on their fixture against Chelsea in 2023, which ended in a 5-0 thrashing, defender Tom O’Connor has revealed that more Wrexham fans were watching the match than Chelsea supporters.
Describing the support as ‘unreal’, while claiming ‘even Championship clubs don’t do this’, O’Connor told The Leader: “It was good last year playing Manchester United and Chelsea, it was something different playing the American teams and it will be nice to experience playing Vancouver this year in Canada.
“It was a great experience with the fans we have got in America and we filled out two big stadiums so that was nice playing in front of packed stadiums.
“It was great seeing all the fans coming to see the games and there were probably more Wrexham fans there than the other teams like Chelsea which is mad.
“Hopefully it is the same at the games this time and we have the same support out there again.
“It is good to play friendlies that local fans can see back home but it was definitely a unique experience going over there and playing friendlies.
“It’s unreal. Even Championship clubs don’t do this.”
Tom O’Connor’s competition at Wrexham
O’Connor was a key cog in Parkinson’s back three that achieved promotion to League One, as the Irishman formed an impressive partnership with Max Cleworth and Eoghan O’Connell.
The 25-year-old was a regular starter on the left of that trio, comfortably driving the ball out of defence and caressing passes into midfield.
Ahead of their season in League One, though, Parkinson has already strengthened his side defensively by adding Lewis Brunt and Sebastian Revan to his squad.
While Revan can play on the left side of defence or centrally, Brunt is a solid central defender and the former Leicester City man will be battling for a place in the starting XI come August.
It remains to be seen whether Parkinson starts with a different back three to one that closed out the season but the options are there for the Wrexham boss to alter his personnel if needed.