Why Ryan Reynolds & Rob Mac have become ‘underdogs’ in Wrexham’s bid to reach the Premier League

A meteoric rise has been enjoyed at the Racecourse Ground, with Wrexham clambering out of the National League and into the Championship. They have cleared every hurdle placed in their path, with big-spending from Hollywood co-owners allowing history-making momentum to be established.

The general consensus was that second tier football would provide the biggest test yet of Wrexham’s credentials, and that has proved to be the case despite more elaborate recruitment across a couple of busy transfer windows.

The Red Dragons were written off early in the 2025-26 campaign, as they stumbled out of the blocks, only for a trademark surge to fire them into play-off contention. Another wobble has been endured of late, at the worst possible time, with a four-point gap to the top six needing to be bridged through a final run of four fixtures.

That may prove to be too big of an ask, with a more scenic route to the top-flight Promised Land being taken, but there are still plenty of positives for Reynolds, Mac and long-serving manager Phil Parkinson to take from another season that has delivered plenty of drama for the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series.

Asked if A-list chairmen in North Wales will be pleased with the progress that has been made this term, former EFL-star-turned-pundit Goodman - speaking exclusively to GOAL courtesy of parhaat pikakasinot - said: “Yes, I think they wanted to be competitive. And obviously January came around and they were well in it. And to be honest with you, four games, they are still well in it, but they've got some tough games left.

“So they would be outsiders. They would be the underdogs, I would say, between themselves and Hull. Because I think the top five is set now. But Hull have got a four-point gap on Wrexham and I just wonder how crucial that could be.

“But if you took a snapshot of this league table and you showed it to any Wrexham fan four or five years ago, or dare I say, even 10 months ago, I think they would be more than happy.

“Now, when you get so close, you want to try and get over the line. But honestly, I just expected them to have a season of consolidation, i.e. be that band of clubs between 10th to 16th, maybe not in a relegation scrap but just consolidate a Championship place. And they've done more than that.

“I'm really pleased for Phil Parkinson because actually a lot of people have had questions. He didn't have a great record at Championship level prior to this season. But I do think that Wrexham have been one of the success stories. And regardless of whether they get into the play-offs or whether they don't, I still think they've had a brilliant season.”

Wrexham - who have suffered back-to-back defeats and taken just one point from the last nine on offer - will be back in action on Saturday when playing host to Stoke. They will then head to Oxford before rounding off the season with testing clashes against Premier League-bound Coventry and top-two challengers Middlesbrough.

A year of stability and reflection may be no bad thing for the Red Dragons, given all that they have achieved in a short space of time, with the expectation being that Reynolds and Mac will make more funds available over the summer that allow collective dreams to be chased again in 2026-27.