Wrexham are gearing up for their second Championship fixture of the season this weekend, taking on West Brom.
After a spirited 90 minutes that saw some key chances missed, Wrexham lost 2-1 to Southampton on the opening weekend of 2025/26.
Defeat is not something Red Dragons fans are used to seeing, but it was still a good display that could easily have seen the Welsh outfit win had the likes of Lewis O’Brien and Ryan Hardie put their chances away when it was still 1-0.
Regardless, attention will now turn towards putting things right this weekend when they clash with West Brom.
The Baggies and Wrexham already have an interesting history, which Humphrey Ker discussed earlier this year.
West Brom wanted Phil Parkinson before Wrexham
Not long after taking over, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac decided to sack Dean Keates and find a new manager.
They settled on Phil Parkinson, who has since guided them to three promotions in four seasons.
But speaking in May 2025, club chief Ker revealed that West Brom wanted Parkinson as well, but as he put it, the Dragons used their ‘financial clout’ to help land the former Bradford City manager.
He said: “At the time I think they were enquiring about him for the West Bromwich Albion job, and so we persuaded him, that was probably an area where, again, the financial clout of being able to offer you like, look, we can offer you, the kind of contract, nothing crazy of course.
“But what we can do is give you a rolling contract, so you’re always one year out from the end of your contract. And that gives him a degree of security that, again in lower league football, in all football, is hard to get.
“And I mean, far and away, he’s been the best decision we made. We’ve signed some great players. We’ve made some good decisions around the fan experience and all that kind of stuff, but Phil, I think, is the one who has created a culture at the club that we’re all really proud of.”
Wrexham vs West Brom head-to-head
Wrexham vs West Brom will take place on Saturday, August 16, at the Racecourse Ground at 12:30pm BST.
The two clubs, as is expected, have not faced off a lot throughout their storied histories.
The first meeting took place in 1930 and saw Wrexham secure a 1-0 win in the FA Cup.
The second and only other clash between the duo came in 1971, with the Midlands outfit winning 2-1 in the Watney Cup.