Wrexham once visited Old Trafford to face Man United in 1995, where one Red Devils legend notched his first appearance for the Premier League club.
Long before the days of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham found themselves in the higher echelons of the English football pyramid.
Notably, the mid-90s were a high point for Wrexham, with the club sitting in the second division, but also, the Red Dragons managed to put together a respectable FA Cup run.
Beating Stockport County 1-0 at the Racecourse Ground in the first round, Wrexham then saw off Rotherham United and Ipswich Town, both again on home soil. But then the real challenge came for Brian Flynn’s side, and that was a trip to Old Trafford to face Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United.
What ensued was a seven-goal thriller in front of a bumper crowd, with one Man United legend notably notching his debut.
When Wrexham played against Man United at Old Trafford
January 28, 1995, saw Wrexham march across to Manchester in high spirits, with 6,700 Red Dragons fans making the short journey across the border.
Whilst on paper, Wrexham were completely mismatched against Ferguson’s side, they sprang a surprise that silenced the Old Trafford faithful early on after winger Kieron Durkan popped up with a goal to give Flynn’s side a surprising lead.
Wrexham were in dreamland from the 9th minute onwards, until Dennis Irwin levelled up the scores in the 17th minute. From that point onwards, Man United resumed control, bagging a further four goals to make it 5-1, before Jonathan Cross bagged a consolation for Wrexham in the 89th minute.
Wrexham had put in an incredible shift, especially to bag two goals against a Man United side that consisted of the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Peter Schmeichel, and Phil Neville, who was making his Red Devils debut against the Welsh side.
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What Phil Neville said about his debut vs Wrexham
Starting at full-back against Wrexham, Phil Neville was handed an unlikely first start under Ferguson. Neville once reflected on the win on his debut, where he said in 2000: “My first game was against Wrexham in the FA Cup. We won 5-2. I set up the first goal for Ryan Giggs.
“I hit the post soon after, and I thought I did okay.”
When asked how the press rated his performance out of 10, Neville said: “Sevens, yeah. I’ve not got much better.”
Neville went on to notch a total of 384 appearances for Man United, where he scored eight and assisted 20. The defender would then go on to play for Everton.
In a career made up of over 500 Premier League appearances and over 50 Champions League games, it all started bizarrely as ‘little-old’ Wrexham shocked the Red Devils by taking the lead at Old Trafford.