Wrexham continue to move forward on and off the pitch with promotion to the Championship the main focus for Phil Parkinson.
Wrexham picked up another crucial victory on Saturday afternoon.
Phil Parkinson watched on as Wrexham beat Rotherham United 1-0 at the STōK Cae Ras thanks to Sam Smith’s goal.
That is now seven points from the last three League One games for Wrexham, hitting back after EFL Trophy heartbreak against Peterborough United.
Wrexham have now moved level on points with Wycombe Wanderers after the Chairboys only drew against Peterborough United.
Wrexham travel to take on Wycombe next weekend with the League One promotion race now entering its final stretch.
Michael Williamson on ‘fantastic’ Wrexham plans
Three promotions in a row would be an incredible achievement and another sign of Wrexham’s progress under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
Wrexham could be a Championship club next season but improvements must be made off the pitch too.
Reynolds wants to build Wrexham’s infrastructure with so many off-field factors needing attention.
The training ground, the youth development, the stadium – these are all elements that Wrexham must ramp up in order to continue challenging.
The pitch is another factor with Wrexham now looking to make major improvements.
Wrexham CEO Michael Williamson shared plans to improve Wrexham’s pitch back in February, indicating that a big change would be coming this summer.
Williamson has now offered more comments on that situation whilst speaking to Wrexham Match Day Live on Saturday.
The American suggested that work on a hybrid pitch will begin as soon as Wrexham’s final home game of the season finishes.
That date is unknown right now but Williamson – formerly of Inter Milan – noted that Wrexham will be moving in line with ‘top European clubs’ by taking this step.
Williamson highlighted the pressure of hosting the recent Sweden v Wales women’s game and then the EFL Trophy semi-final with Peterborough United the next day.
Williamson believes that this ‘fantastic’ new step will now allow Wrexham to host more evens and games moving forward, possibly lending itself towards concerts, international fixtures and more women’s action.
“As soon as our last game on the pitch here… we don’t know when that is yet, hopefully we get the automatic promotion and that would be fantastic for a lot of reasons, time being one of them,” said Williamson.
“It obviously depends on if we’re in the playoffs or not, but as soon as our last match is finished on the pitch, we’re going to be starting the pitch works. Over the summer, we’re going to replace the pitch, we’re going to put in a hybrid stitch-pitch with a new drainage system and underground heating, so it’s going to be something that is more durable, it’s something that… listen, your top European clubs have this.
“We’ll to be able to have more matches, it will be more durable. You can see now that the pitch has been great and credit to all the groundskeepers out here who have been working really, really hard these last several to try to keep this in great condition but we had Sweden versus Wales, the women’s national team match here, and then the very next day, we obviously played the semi-final against Peterborough.
“That’s the type of pressure on a pitch that, over time, could make it a little bit difficult. With the stitch-pitch, with the underground heating system and with the proper drainage system, we’re going to be able to play a lot more events and matches here, which is fantastic,” he added.
Williamson on Wrexham project progress
Williamson also spoke about the Darland High School project with Wrexham developing an academy facility there.
Based just about a 10-minute drive from the STōK Cae Ras, this is a ‘multi-million pound investment’ with Williamson delighted to see the progress.
Williamson highlighted the importance of inviting in infrastructure with ‘positive’ feedback on the progress so far.
“It’s great, it’s a multi-million pound investment but it’s something that’s been great because it’s an investment in infrastructure, facilities, we have offices, we have dressing rooms out there, we’ve built pitches out there.
“The high school has been a fantastic partner but, more importantly, we’ve been investing in a lot of the off-the-pitch areas as well.
“We have a head of player services there, we have a head of education, we’ve invested in safeguarding, a nutritionist, just literally everything that you could imagine.
“We recently had an audit completed, we haven’t received the report back on that, but for Category 3, the informal reports that we’ve received and the feedback has been very positive,” he added.
It’s one thing to sign players and move through the leagues, but it’s another to set the club up for success in they long term.
These off-field steps are so important for Wrexham and will give fans hope of long-lasting success when rival fans believe that the bubble will burst.