While Jermaine Pennant thinks Luton Town’s ascent offers lots of lessons for Wrexham, he also thinks the Red Dragons will soon hit their peak.
Wrexham AFC will already be making preparations for a return to League One after securing promotion with two games remaining in their Football League stint.
After defeating Forest Green Rovers six times to remarkably gain back-to-back promotions for the first time in the club’s history, the Red Dragons secured promotion back to the third tier in style, moving up to the league they were relegated from 19 years earlier. As they did after winning the National League last year, the players are relishing a vacation back to Las Vegas, but Phil Parkinson will be focused on strengthening his team in front of the upcoming season.
Parkinson took over the Wrexham team in the summer of 2021, and he brought in a number of important players who helped turn the team’s fortunes. These players helped the club advance through two divisions, and on the last weekend of the season, the team defeated champion Stockport County 2-1 to secure a second-place League Two finish.
The Racecourse, where Wrexham sells out every week, has a very excellent record that has also served as the foundation for the club’s back-to-back promotions.
| League Two home form table 2023/24 (as per Soccer Stats) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | ||
| 1 | Wrexham AFC | 23 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 62 | 25 | +37 | 54 |
| 2 | Stockport County | 23 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 48 | 17 | +31 | 50 |
Wrexham has experienced tremendous progress off the pitch in terms of commerce after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney announced their acquisition of the North Wales team in late 2020 for about £2 million. The team also won the National League and was promoted to League One the following season.
They will aim to maintain their upward trajectory into the third division, where they will often play against numerous teams that were once in the Premier League. In the end, their aspirational owners envision them being there at some point.
Jermaine Pennant: Wrexham limit the Championship
Over 230 Premier League games were played by Jermaine Pennant, who also had stints with Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, and Arsenal, among other teams. Wrexham will play Wigan Athletic in League One next season.
The 41-year-old has long since given up on the prospect of continuing his career at Wrexham, and while he thinks the team may climb the English football ladder, he anticipates that the second division will be their maximum level of play.
He said, via FastPayoutOnlineCasino.com, to Football League World: “I just got back from Liverpool’s Asia tour. We played three games in 12 days, and after the third one, I couldn’t walk.”
“Unless I truly condition my body, I don’t think you’ll see me playing in 46 games a season! I’ll just stick to my exhibition games, you know.
“Wrexham may not have much chance of making the Premier League, but consider Luton’s example—a non-league team—so it is conceivable.
“I think the chances are slim but never say never, I think the furthest they will get is the Championship.”
Rio Ferdinand stated that if Jamie Vardy were to leave the Foxes this summer, he would absolutely love to join Wrexham. Vardy is a striker for Leicester City.
Wrexham’s next steps into League One
For everyone associated with Wrexham, optimism is at an all-time high after the team breezed through two divisions in the previous two seasons.
Pennant is correct, though, to lower expectations moving ahead because League One has some formidable teams to face, both historically and in terms of finances and resources.
In the third tier, with teams like Birmingham, Wigan, Huddersfield Town, Charlton Athletic, Reading, and Barnsley are just a few of the hard competitors, the challenge is much greater.
These are teams with a well-established recent record in both the Premier League and the second division.
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