Wrexham are building genuine pre-season momentum, and the results are starting to turn heads. Phil Parkinson's side beat Leeds United 3-2 on July 25, following their 1-0 victory over Manchester United in Helsinki a week earlier. Back-to-back wins against Premier League opposition signal a club that is arriving at Championship level with real confidence and intent.

The results carry weight beyond the scorelines. Beating top-flight sides in pre-season tells you something about a squad's organisation and belief, and Wrexham are clearly not treating these fixtures as low-stakes run-outs. That confidence will matter when the Championship campaign begins, where the Red Dragons sit in a division that will test them every week.

Off the pitch, the club are pushing hard to match that on-field ambition with structural investment. Wrexham are closing in on the appointment of Newcastle United's Steve Nickson as sporting director, a newly-created role designed to sharpen recruitment and accelerate the push toward the Premier League. It is a serious hire that reflects how far this club has come.

Next up is a fixture that captures the full scale of Wrexham's rise. The Red Dragons face Liverpool at Yankee Stadium on July 29, a match co-owner Ryan Reynolds has described as a 'punch me moment'. For a club that was in non-league football not long ago, playing a European giant at one of the world's most iconic sporting venues says everything about where this project is heading.