Wrexham’s incredible home form and plans ahead of summer transfer window

National World - LocalTV

Wrexham’s push for promotion to the Championship is not just about success on the pitch but also managing their finances as they make the leap. With promotion in sight, they will need to adapt their financial strategy to meet the demands of the higher division. We spoke to a Wrexham expert about their approach. While the club’s rise has been impressive, the step up will require careful budgeting and smart investments.

Transcript

00:00Now, Wrexham's push for promotion to the Championship is not just about success on the pitch, but

00:09also managing their finances as they make the leap. With promotion in sight, they will

00:14need to adapt their financial strategy to meet the demands of the higher division. I

00:19spoke to a Wrexham expert about their approach. While the club's rise has been impressive,

00:24the step up will require careful budgeting and smart investments. The club will have

00:30to adjust to increase wage demands, improve facilities and a larger squad, all while ensuring

00:35financial sustainability. Wrexham's future in the Championship will depend on how they

00:41will handle these financial changes.

00:44Yeah, I mean, you have to look pre-date in the takeover, really, where you turn up to

00:50the race course on a match day and you wouldn't know what to expect. And that was kind of,

00:55that was it for the National League years, really. There was a couple of seasons where

00:59Wrexham were very good at home. You think the last one was probably the 12-13 season.

01:03I think 17-18, they were okay at home as well, but not as formidable, you know, under Sam

01:08Ricketts and Graham Barrow. But yeah, you've got to go back over a decade for the last

01:13time Wrexham were winning this much at home. And you take it for granted almost now because

01:18you turn up to a Wrexham home game and you expect to see a home win. And so often you get one.

01:25Yeah, and just looking ahead to the summer, I mean, there's a lot of questions in the

01:29air in terms of their transfer strategy. It's been pointed out a number of times in terms

01:33of the way they've invested in all the talents, not really looking at the future, but there

01:37are still some young talents throughout Wrexham's side. I mean, let's just say they are to go

01:42up to the Championship. How do they attack the summer window? How do they make the most

01:46of it and get them ready for, you know, one of the toughest leagues in the world really

01:52to compete in, in terms of, you know, you look at the sort of relegation fight, it's

01:56five points between the bottom three and sort of 14th. And then you look at the playoff

02:01race as well, it's sort of the same situation up there and the Championship is so unpredictable.

02:07Will Wrexham be ready for that if they don't have a good summer?

02:12It's a very difficult one. Obviously, Wrexham fans, and I know Wrexham the club themselves

02:16would say, wait, let us get there first before we start speculating too much. But from an

02:20outside point of view, you definitely say that. I still think now the jump between League

02:24One and the Championship is probably the biggest gulf between any league, probably in Europe,

02:30just from our loose following of them all anyway. I think that the gulf between the

02:34Championship and the Premier League is definitely getting bigger. You can see that with the

02:37teams are going down, but still League One to the Championship is night and day really.

02:41And it will be rather uncharted territory for Wrexham in their modern history. Last

02:46time they were there was, what, 1982. So you've got to go a long way back for Wrexham being

02:51a second division side, as it were. And the finances now are ridiculous. Just to sort

02:57of tread water in the Championship, you can lose £20, £30 million a year. You have to

03:03pay astronomical wages just to keep the squad going. So there would have to be a massive

03:08squad overhaul for Wrexham this summer if they were to go up, no matter how good they've

03:14been and how effective they've been in League One. You then look at even some of their best

03:19players, Stephen Fletcher, James McLean. Can they really cut it at Championship level now

03:23at their ripe old ages? There are a few young players there who have huge potential, but

03:28again, it'd be playing at the highest level they've ever played at. There's a few in the

03:34squad who have Championship experience, but even then they didn't really like the Championship

03:37up. So you look at Owen O'Connell, who's at Hull. George Dobson, who's played for Charlton

03:41there. Elliot Lee's also had a spell there of Luton Town. And you say, are they really

03:46going to light it up? Jack Marriott, who played there with Derby. You've got them to a player

03:52final. But that's, what, six, seven years ago now. So there will be lots of question

03:57marks for that Wrexham team. And this would be the summer in which they really have to

04:01push that investment further. You'd have to be breaking your record transfer fee. You'd

04:07have to be ruthless with getting rid of players. The issue there as well is lots of players

04:12are tied down to quite lucrative contracts and that will get that sort of money elsewhere.

04:16So you might have to take a hit on even the players you lose. And then you're also gambling.

04:21We've always said since the National League days that Wrexham had a League 1 squad. There

04:25was League 1 calibre players in that team, which they do have now. There's never been

04:30a suggestion that Wrexham have ever had a Championship level squad. And we've seen this

04:34season, the way it's unfolded, that they've been able to compete at League 1 level, but

04:38the Championship would be an astronomical leap from where they are now.

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