Now, Paul Mullin had taken a step back last season, not playing as much of a key role in Wrexham’s third successive promotion. With Championship football on the horizon, questions now turn to his role going forward—and whether interest from elsewhere could test the club’s resolve.
00:00Now, Paul Mullen had taken a step back last season, not playing as much of a key role in Wrexham's third successive promotion with championship football on the horizon.
00:14Questions now turn to his role going forward and whether interest from elsewhere could test the club's resolve.
00:21Mullen's value goes beyond goals. He's a leader, a fan favourite and a core part of the team's identity.
00:27While Wrexham will look to strengthen, keeping Mullen at the heart of the journey could be just as important as any summer signing.
00:37We spoke to Wrexham expert Rich Faye to explore the future of Paul Mullen, the club's talisman and symbol of their incredible rise.
00:46So, Rich, looking at Wrexham and specifically Paul Mullen on his Wrexham time, over 25 goals in each of his first three seasons since joining, he was absolutely electric.
00:59So much experience as well before he came to Wrexham.
01:02It seemed like he was just the perfect fit when he did come into this new project.
01:05What do you sort of make as a fan, as seeing him and seeing his progress over the last few seasons, how good he's been and how he's sort of really stood out when, you know,
01:15neutral started to get a hold of this Wrexham story.
01:18It was Paul Mullen really was the centre of, in terms of the playing side of things.
01:22You know, he was sort of what you associated with, with AFC Wrexham.
01:25Yeah, he's still very much the sort of the poster boy of what's happened since the takeover.
01:31I think if you speak to any regular fan, they will say that they know him and, you know, that you become the Paul Mullen team,
01:36almost how Tottenham used to be, the Harry Kane team, that Guadalupe sort of referred to them.
01:41And he's been the catalyst.
01:42He's so often been the talisman, the match winner, the player who's played the best in the big games.
01:46And he's always come good.
01:48And that's kind of the tricky position we're in now, because you can't have sentiment in this game,
01:53and particularly not if you're trying to progress up the divisions.
01:57And for Paul Mullen, he still is capable of the sublime.
02:01He's scored Wrexham's best goal this season by far and away.
02:04He's got five goals, I think, in all competitions.
02:07But he's missed two pre-seasons in a row, and it's really taken its toll.
02:10It was this time last year that he really hit top form again.
02:14He'd missed the previous pre-season due to his burst lung against Manchester United.
02:19He came back into the fray.
02:20There was a penalty against Forest Green, and he started to go on goals for fun.
02:23This season, it's not really happened.
02:24He had his lower back surgery last summer, missed the start of the campaign again.
02:29Jack Marriott started to score on goals.
02:31And it just feels like it's coming to an end, really, which is so sad to say, really,
02:37because Paul Mullen reached the 100-goal mark fairly quickly.
02:40We were sort of looking to see how high he might go.
02:43Could he have the chance of ever becoming Wrexham's best-ever goal scorer?
02:47That was always very unlikely.
02:48Could he potentially have been called up for the Wales squad because of his maternal roots to that?
02:55And that was a genuine debate.
02:57Rob Patriot asked about it a lot.
02:59But it's an absolute mute point now.
03:01No one discusses it whatsoever.
03:03And Wrexham signed two new strikers in January.
03:05Paul Mullen's fallen further down the pecking order.
03:07He's not been involved in any of the last five matches.
03:10You know, Wrexham said that was down to an injury, but there's only so much that you maybe believe.
03:16You know, he's still been at the ground.
03:18He still is eager to play football.
03:20But you just don't really see when he'll be given the opportunity to do so.
03:24The stakes are so high now between now and the end of the season.
03:27I just don't see a situation where Paul Mullen starts playing regular games for Wrexham again.
03:32And then regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season, if he's already not playing games in League One, you know, at best he could have a pre-season and maybe be good enough in League One next season.
03:43But if Wrexham were to get promoted to the championship, you'd have to say that Paul Mullen wouldn't be a part of that project because he's not been the focal point this season in League One.
03:53Maybe it's a draw.
03:55Maybe it's that home draw against Birmingham because everyone was told Birmingham City are the best team in the league by a country mile.
04:01That's obviously turned out to be true.
04:03They're champions already.
04:04They got to a Wembley final, which they lost.
04:07And Birmingham have almost been irrelevant because they've been so far and away the better team.
04:11But Wrexham had them at the race course.
04:13They drew one all.
04:15But for the last half an hour, 40 minutes, they were on top of Birmingham.
04:17They should have won that game.
04:19And it was the fact that, you know, Wrexham had been comfortably beaten when they went to St. Andrews.
04:23But on their home turf, they were more than a match for them.
04:26And that did feel like a monumental point, really.
04:30You know, it felt like a performance that really proved that Wrexham aren't just these plucky underdogs.
04:33They're not that far off.
04:35Still produce those big performances against the better teams in the division.
04:38And for me, that probably was the turning point where you felt, OK, if they can do that against Birmingham at home, they can beat anyone.
