Wrexham's journey is about to reach its biggest milestone.
After Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney led the club from non-league to the second tier of English football, the Premier League now looms on the horizon. However, making the jump from the Championship to the top flight will present a whole new level of challenge.
"I think everybody knows the jump is huge," Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson said. "A lot of tough decisions will be made this summer in terms of who we bring in and how we add to this fantastic squad we’ve got. But let’s see if we can build a squad to compete at that level.”
Next season, Wrexham will face teams like Leicester – Premier League champions in 2016, Champions League quarterfinalists in 2017, and FA Cup winners in 2021. Leicester is just one of several clubs with recent top-flight experience and financial strength, including Southampton and Ipswich, both relegated this season.
Wrexham's off-season transfer business will be key to its chances of competing at such a high level. The club’s rise has been partly achieved by convincing players to drop one or two divisions to help the club progress.
Iconic striker Paul Mullin moved down from the fourth tier to non-league, and fellow forward Ollie Palmer dropped down two divisions.
If Wrexham continues with this model, it will need to attract players from the Premier League, where top earners can command salaries exceeding $400,000 per week.
“It’s interesting because the jump in salaries is incredible, mind-blowing,” Parkinson said. “That is a challenge, but what we’ve always tried to do is make sure the culture in the club is right, and I think that’s key. No superstars, no egos in the dressing room. We’ve got to try and get that balance right again, where we always need extra quality.”
Parkinson may say "no superstars," but some big names will be available as free agents at the end of the season, including Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne and Leicester’s Jamie Vardy.
So, just how realistic is it for Wrexham to sign players of that stature?
Parkinson wasn’t ready to rule anything out as he basked in the afterglow of promotion on Saturday.
“We’ve always got our eye on players who are free transfers and are going to be available, and we’ll continue to do that,” he said when asked directly about De Bruyne and Vardy.
No team has ever risen from non-league to the top flight in successive seasons.
Swansea climbed from the fourth tier to the top flight in five seasons from 1977-1982. More recently, Luton rose from non-league to the top division over a 10-year span.
If Wrexham were to achieve this in consecutive years, it would be uncharted territory, but Reynolds and McElhenney are still dreaming big, four years after they bought the once down-on-its-luck club for $2.5 million in 2021.
"I remember the first press conference when we were asked what our goals were... and I think Rob jumped in with, ‘The Premier League,’” Deadpool star Reynolds posted on Instagram Sunday. “People laughed. They had every right to. It seemed insane... but we weren’t kidding.”
