Wrexham's promotion chances in second half of season after first win of 2024
At what point does Wrexham’s habit of coincidental narrative become accepted as something deeper?
Of course Paul Mullin, fresh off confirming he would not be swapping the charm of north Wales for the lust of Saudi Arabian silver, heralded in his second act with a free-kick against Barrow on New Year's Day that was as divinely ridiculous as the rumours themselves.
And of course Wrexham, now four-walled and excruciating, extended their record of goals scored on home soil to a staggering 50 successive matches. And of course Steven Fletcher, on the 36-year-old’s 400th appearance in English league football and with Wrexham 1-0 down after 33 seconds, finally netted his first hat-trick in the English game.
It should arrive as little to no shock, then, that 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, a case of nominative determinism that feels, at this stage, appropriately fated.
Football is a sucker for circular symbolism. And while there is admittedly little real difference between Sunday December 31st and Monday January 1st beyond an increase in paracetamol purchases, Wrexham’s 4-1 comeback victory over promotion rivals Barrow--the first match of the new year, the default and totally fallible forecast of what is to come--felt riddled with metaphorical value, the sort that is difficult to pry away from when considering the second half of the League Two promotion race.
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With 25 matches gone and 21 matches remaining in the regular season, Wrexham sit third in League Two level on points with Mansfield. Phil Parkinson’s side are two points off Stockport in top spot with a game in hand.
The three goals scored in the space of four minutes in first-half stoppage time not only secured victory over Barrow but a four point buffer to manager Pete Wild’s side in fourth. The urge is to decry that, in their current form, Wrexham are on track for successive promotions. Go on and pop the corks.
That type of brazen conviction is stomach churning to the more entrenched Wrexham fans, who know the club’s capability of spiffing away chances intimately. “There are a lot of twists and turns between now and the end of the season,” former Wrexham striker Neil Roberts told the Mirror after the 2-0 victory over Newport, his tone notably cautious and weathered when considering what the future could bring. But is such a worldview at risk of becoming out-dated?
Steven Fletcher scored his fourth career hat-trick but first in the English football league in Wrexham's 4-1 win over Barrow (Paul Greenwood/REX/Shutterstock)Wrexham’s 2023 was defined by its historic success and the unparalleled drama accompanying it. A long-awaited return to the English Football League after 15 long years did little to banish the addiction to high-stakes. A chaotic baptism to their new life saw Wrexham concede 13 goals in their first four matches, securing five points in the process. The Red Dragons managed to score 13 themselves, but conclusions largely centred on the club’s new dose of reality, how Hollywood pizzazz can become empty sparkle in the robust heat of the mighty Football League.
Fast forward half a season and the conclusions look different, maybe even a disappointment for that swelling coterie of anyone-but-Wrexham fanbase.
The Red Dragons have not lost their habit for self-immolation (against Barrow, they needed just 33 seconds to accomplish this), but Parkinson’s side boast the second most wins in the league behind Stockport. The team have ground out impressive victories through attrition when required due to injuries or suspensions and have honed an unassailable home record in the process. Wrexham have scored in 50 successive home matches, scoring at least twice in every home league game this season.
This season’s home form is an extension of life under Parkinson: in his 75 matches at the helm at the Racecourse, Wrexham have won 59 in all competitions, scoring 208 in the process and conceding 76.
Paul Mullin celebrates scoring a free-kick against Barrow and Wrexham's second goal in the 4-1 victory (Paul Greenwood/REX/Shutterstock)Talk of fortresses can be cheap, but Wrexham’s home form will surely only work in their favour as the promotion race continues.
Of Wrexham’s remaining 21 matches, eight are against the current top 10 sides, five of which–including against top two sides Stockport and Mansfield Town–will be on home turf.
New contracts for both Mullin and Elliot Lee–a signing that is swiftly transpiring to be one of the club’s most prescient–adds further stability to a squad that looks set for another striking addition in the January transfer window. The rejuvenated form of Andy Cannon means the worry of midfield reinforcement has abated, while Max Cleworth’s defensive performances only underscore the value in his contract extension last December. Fletcher's return from injury is both timely and welcomed.
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Continuing the trajectory requires some element of bolstering in January, with defence and striking options the most pressing areas for recruitment.
But the tour de force that was Wrexham’s escape from the National League has impressively continued in a landscape that, at first, threatened to prove too onerous for Wrexham’s drama.
Whether Wrexham ending 2023 with a dramatic loss on the road to Walsall and starting 2024 with a dramatic comeback victory over promotion-rivals Barrow at home harbours any more significance than a bounce back from defeat depends on how much stake one places in whimsies like resolutions and new chapters and starting as you mean to finish.
The first half of the 2023/24 season felt acutely like an exercise in learning on the spot. If promotion is to be attained for a successive season, the second half must be the part where lessons are applied.
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