The Hollywood fairy tale which is Wrexham AFC has only started, said the CEO of the club on Friday while the Welsh team continued its improbable quest to break the English Premier League.
Since Hollywood Stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney bought the Welsh club in 2020, Wrexham became the first team to obtain three successive promotions from the National League of England at the second level championship.
Wrexham will face the former Premier League club relegated Southampton during his championship opening match on August 9, the director general of the Prospect Club, Michael Williamson, described as a moment of “pinching”.
Williamson, speaking in Wellington during the club’s pre-season tour in Australia and New Zealand, said success was more than simply inventing figures.
“The expectation is, and Rob Mcelhenney will say that he does not know what this word is, but we must obviously consolidate our position in the championship,” Williamson told AFP.
“If we are able to meet halfway throughout the season, in December, in this position 3-4-5-6-7, people should worry about us.
“Because I believe that if we do the playoffs with the type of mentality we have, everything can happen in 90 minutes.
“I would really give myself a strong photo to give him a race.”
The Welsh Menae Langui for years in the lower levels of English football before being bought by Reynolds and Mcelherney, and shooting glory through the documentary “Bienvenue à Wrexham”.
They return to the championship – a stage below the Premier League – for the first time in more than 40 years.
Combat words were taken up by the former club ambassador who became Wrexham player, Ben Tozer, who was also in New Zealand for the tour.
“It’s a massive challenge, don’t get me wrong,” Said tozer.
“But the momentum of our club, four years of pure success and management in the right direction, winning many more games than losing. We could surprise certain people.”
Good people
The club ambassador, the former goalkeeper of Wrexham and Manchester United, Ben Foster, said that the club had distinguished itself by recruiting the right people.
“If you look at him in the cold light of the day, the austere reality is that the money will start to play a massive role now,” Foster told AFP.
“When you have players and clubs that have just been relegated to the Premier League, they are on a big salary and they are great players and they are worth a lot of money because they are a player caliber.
“But I would like to think that Wrexham can do it in a slightly different way where we identify people, and the team is more important than individuals.”
Foster praised a “no dickheads” policy at the club, which meant that players and staff worked towards a common goal.
Managing Director Williamson said that politics had started in the locker room and was led by manager Phil Parkinson.
In the past year, the number of Wrexham staff had increased by more than 60, to around 105.
“I would say that most of the 60 employees who have been hired, I personally interviewed at some point”, “ Said Williamson.
“For me, it was important to bring, especially on the side of management, people who understood what Wrexham is and what we are doing here. We are not only another football club.
“There are people who had incredible CVs, experience. You look at them and say, wow. You think they would be incredible for Wrexham.
“And then you go through the interview process and realize that they do not really understand what Wrexham is as a city, as a community, as a club.
“This is something that has taken a lot of effort. We are trying to create a culture within the club.”
Wrexham will return to Wales on Sunday, after playing Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand on Saturday evening.
Parkinson confirmed that the club was about to sign the New Zealand international back -back Liberato Caccace – a former Wellington Phoenix junior player – from the Empoli Italian club.
The father of a breaker, Antonio, has an Italian restaurant in Wellington where Parkinson planned to pass for a glass of wine before leaving the city on Sunday.
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