HERE TO STAY

Eyebrows were raised with joyful surprise when Jordan Davies returned to Wrexham last year. And whilst the Reds have hardly set the National League ablaze in their 13th season in the abyss, local lad Davies insists he wants to be long-term part of the Hollywood Reds revolution.

George Mills caught up with Davies during Wrexham’s enforced game absence.

Football fans around the world love the romanticism of homegrown talent rising through the ranks, from the academy through to the first team.

Wrexham has produced many a homegrown star throughout the years, and one such notable prospect is Coedpoeth’s very own Jordan Davies. The Wrexham academy youth product was hailed as one of the clubs most talented youngsters, his promise earned him a move to Premier League outfit Brighton & Hove Albion. …

‘Hollywood Fancy Dans’

Just one of the many descriptions used by the Bitter Twitterati since the Wrexham AFC takeover news sent shockwaves through the sporting world.

If it made little sense to us Town fans to begin with, then I guess you have to have a modicum of sympathy for those watching on in astonishment and bewilderment outside the confines of LL11.

How do two successful and famous actors try and start earning the trust of a relatively small community thousands of transatlantic miles away before they’ve even managed to have an audience with them?

Well, by the sway and swoon of social media of course.

Ever since it was announced Ryan and Rob (no surnames necessary) had formally confirmed their interest in purchasing Wrexham AFC the townsfolk have been reduced to gibbering, disbelieving, fawning wrecks. Me included.

All the main questions remain unanswered — why Wrexham? What is the plan? What is your vision? Will you give the WST an exclusive buy -back opinion in the event you wish to end your ownership? …

Wrexham 2 B’Wood 1

What Happened?

Everyone watched in on the live stream gogglebox because we had to. And that included co-owner in waiting Mr Reynolds who would have been impressed with the Deadpool-esque reflexes of Rob Lainton during the opening exchanges as the Rob-bobcat made a string of ridiculous saves to keep out pre-season optimism intact.

2020 eh. Depressing, strange, horrible, surreal. And I’m not talking about Covid-19.

Wrexham embark on a 13th season in non-league tomorrow when they host Boreham Wood at a fan-less Racecourse. Depressing.

The match-day squad will be barely recognisable from the one which was held to a goalless draw by Easteigh in our last competitive game on home soil back in March.

Instead of rolling up to the ground at 14:50hrs we will be gathered in our socially-distanced masses in pubs, and/or settling on the sofa with our spouse as the game gets the live-streaming treatment straight to our TVs, laptops, tablets and smartphones. …

I was lucky enough to be gifted a matchworn shirt by Paul Whitfield last year.

You know, Whits, the former Wrexham AFC goalkeeper.

You know, surely! No? Okay, maybe not.

A fair share of decent custodians have adorned the no.1 shirt for the Reds — from Dai Davies to Andy Marriott, Ben Foster to current incumbent Rob Lainton.

The last line of defence is one of the most exposed and scrutinised positions on the pitch. For all the noteworthy goalkeepers of yesteryear there have also been plenty of God-awful ones — Mark Walton and Xavi Valero had all the stopping prowess of those crepe paper targets aboard the battle cars in the finalé of Takeshi’s Castle. …

Rarely do I receive text messages nowadays. Most of my instant messaging is done through WhatsApp. So on the rare occasion my text alert did sound I knew it was going to be from one of the following: voicemail notification, spam or Davy Lee.

When Davy sent a group text to everyone it was to informed the die-hards of Wrexham AFC about the next planned trips aboard TWATS travel — The Wrexham Away Travel Supporters.

It would mention the usual pick-up points and times plus the added bonus of a scheduled stop-off to sample the watering holes of a town within a 30 minute drive or so of the destination Wrexham were playing at. …

If you’d have told me at the turn of the year Wrexham would avoid impending doom to the sixth tier of the English League pyramid due to a global pandemic, and the club captain would spend his summer delivering pizzas then I probably would have told you to lay off the hallucinogens.

Let’s face it, scientists and likely conspiracy theorists aside, nobody saw what was coming when Covid-19 (no, not one of Gary Mills’s lesser-known signings) decided to try and end the world. For many melodramatic anuses their own worlds imploded when the football was brought to an abrupt end.

Strangely, I’ve quite enjoyed the breather from the relentless regular season, especially one which started shit and became progressively shittier. …