Ryan Barnett’s first goal of the season saw Wrexham return to winning ways in an entertaining clash with fellow League One promotion hopefuls Mansfield Town.
Barnett struck from the edge of the area in the sixth minute of Saturday’s game to give his side the victory. The visitors did strike the crossbar through Lee Gregory as Arthur Okonkwo kept an eighth clean sheet of the season.
The Athletic picks out the main talking points from an afternoon that saw Wrexham pick up another important three points in their push for promotion.
Are we witnessing history in the making?
Having emerged from League Two last April just a couple of points apart in the top three, there was again very little between two teams who have made light work of the step-up in class.
Wrexham claimed a hard-fought victory but it was Mansfield who boasted a slightly higher expected goals (xG 1.13 to 0.98 for the hosts) on the back of an enterprising display that saw Will Evans and Gregory in lively form up front. Phil Parkinson was left full of praise for Nigel Clough’s men.
“Mansfield are up there, like ourselves, on merit,” said the 56-year-old, whose side finished as runners-up last season behind Stockport County. “We have all come into a very competitive division.
“I always watch everyone else’s recruitment and, again like us, they let go of some key players who had done well for them. They then brought some good quality in. Getting that balance right is absolutely key.”
On the evidence of an entertaining game shown live in both the UK and the U.S., both look well-equipped to maintain a concerted push for a second EFL promotion in as many years.
Such a feat is not overly common with just eight clubs having taken the express route from the basement to the Championship in the last 25 years.
Luton Town were the most recent team to achieve the feat, as a team featuring Wrexham’s Elliot Lee followed a runners-up spot in the League Two 2017-18 season by clinching the third tier title 12 months later.
Luton Town were the last team to win back-to-back promotions from League Two and League One (Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
A quick scan of the other teams to have made the same double jump over the past quarter of a century — Burton Albion (2014-16), Rotherham United (2012-2014), Peterborough United (2007-09), Southend United (2004-06), Hull City (2003-05), Brighton & Hove Albion (2000-02) and Rotherham again (1999-2001) — reveals no two teams have managed the feat together.
Southend and Swansea came close, the Welsh club’s defeat on penalties in the 2006 League One play-off final to Barnsley scuppering what would have been a notable double.
A similar near miss came in May 1984 as Dave Bassett’s Wimbledon clinched back-to-back promotions while Hull City failed by just one goal to do the same, the Yorkshire club being pipped to the last promotion slot in the old Third Division by Sheffield United on goal difference.
Will we see history made this time around? Birmingham City’s presence in League One suggests it will be a tall order. Chris Davies’ men are the overwhelming favourites to lift the title and leave just two remaining promotion slots.
Nevertheless, there’s a group of clubs who could finish anywhere between second and ninth or tenth. Wrexham and Mansfield belong in that company along with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Huddersfield Town, Barnsley and Wycombe, surely the division’s big surprise package.
Asked if Saturday’s two combatants could go the distance, Parkinson replied: “It’s very difficult to predict. Look at Barnsley last night, suddenly appearing in fourth (place by beating Rotherham).
“I see teams right down to 14th who could be up there when you look at their players. We just need to keep our heads down and focus on what we are doing.”
McClean is right at home in Wrexham
With apologies to Benjamin Franklin, nothing seems certain in life except death, taxes and James McClean being jeered by the opposition fans.
Throw in this being Remembrance Weekend — the Wrexham captain famously will not wear a poppy due to feeling it would be a mark of disrespect to his community in Derry over the Troubles and, in particular, Bloody Sunday, when 14 men, all Catholics, were shot dead by British soldiers during a protest march— and the travelling Mansfield fans were always going to target the Irishman.
Sure enough, just four minutes had been played when an abusive song was aired about McClean, who had stood slightly separate from his team-mates during an impeccably observed minute’s silence before kick-off.
McClean stood away from his team-mates during the minute’s silence (Gary Oakley/PA Images via Getty Images)
A song of support from the home fans came straight away, a reflection of how McClean is as revered in north Wales as he seems to be reviled elsewhere over an issue that was brilliantly covered in this article last year by my colleague Oliver Kay.
McClean has clearly found a home at Wrexham, a point underlined by him being handed the captaincy in the summer and then signing a two-year contract extension.
America’s love affair with Wrexham continues
With the latest round of EFL matches selected for live broadcast in the United States now confirmed, Wrexham’s standing as a staple part of CBS’ offerings under their new four-year deal continues.
Starting with Saturday’s triumph over Mansfield, the next 11 League One matches featuring Parkinson’s side will be shown live on the opposite side of the Atlantic. This is up to and including the January 4 clash with Peterborough United.
With the previous two rounds of TV picks also having seen all Wrexham matches selected, this means 25 out of 25 league matches will have been shown on CBS’ channels by the time the FA Cup third round comes round.
None of the other 71 EFL clubs can match that 100 per cent appearance record. Championship heavyweights Leeds United come closest with 25 of their 26 fixtures to be shown live in the States by the New Year, followed by Burnley and West Bromwich Albion (23 from 26 apiece), and Sunderland (22 from 26).
For context, the next highest tally in League One is Birmingham City with seven of their 25 games being broadcast live in the U.S.
Wrexham’s tally is made all the more remarkable by the new TV deal being skewed towards the second tier with CBS pledging to broadcast a minimum of 155 live Championship fixtures this season, plus at least 38 from across the league’s lower two divisions.
CBS doesn’t release viewing figures but Wrexham’s continued selection suggests the interest triggered by the Welcome to Wrexham documentary remains high.
What’s next?
A switch to EFL Trophy action on Tuesday at Port Vale. With both teams already qualified for the knockout stage, the winner will be guaranteed a home tie.
(Top photo: Gary Oakley/PA Images via Getty Images)
