As Wrexham gear up for their official return to the second tier, we take a look back at how the Red Dragons fared on the opening day of their last campaign at this level.
It’s been a long time coming, with a 43-year wait for Wrexham to return to the second tier, but they’re finally back and ready to take the Championship by storm.
Phil Parkinson has recruited shrewdly this summer and it now looks like the Red Dragons have a squad capable of, at the very least, establishing themselves in their new surroundings pretty comfortably.
First up is a trip to St. Mary’s to take on recently relegated Southampton, which will not be an easy game by any means. But, will it go better than the last time Wrexham played an opening day fixture in the second tier?
What happened on the opening day in Wrexham’s 1981/82 season?
The 1981/82 campaign was not a good one for Wrexham, with the Red Dragons ultimately getting relegated and rolling down the Football League from there onwards.
Wrexham did end the season in style with a 3-2 win over Rotherham, but the start to that catastrophic campaign was poor.
The Red Dragons hosted QPR at the Racecourse Ground, and while they took the lead early on through Ian Edwards, they ended up going in 2-1 down at half-time.
Shortly after the break, an own goal from Wrexham legend Joey Jones sealed all three points for QPR to round out a nightmare start to the season.
While Wrexham made progress in the League Cup, defeating Swindon Town and Luton Town in the first and second round, respectively, the club would only pick up one point from their first five games of the league season.
Suffice it to say, Parkinson and co. will be desperate to avoid a repeat of that kind of form when they enter the gauntlet of Championship football this weekend and beyond.
Southampton clash is a free hit for Phil Parkinson and Wrexham
While Wrexham have been busy this summer, Southampton fans are unhappy with their lack of transfer activity. Of course, that will probably count for very little on the day, with the Saints having more than enough quality, on paper at least.
According to Sam Parkin, Southampton will win comfortably on Saturday. But, Wrexham fans should be optimistic about their chances still.
The main reason being, all the pressure here is on Southampton. They’re the bigger club with the better squad who are expected to challenge for promotion, and lots of scrutiny will be focused on Will Still in his first competitive game in charge.
In many ways, this is a free hit for Wrexham. They’re not expected to get a result away from home against one of the best teams in the league, so Parkinson can send his men out ready and raring to prove people wrong, as always.