Wrexham A.F.C
Forthcoming fixtures Date Opposition Venue
4th April Mansfield Town Home
7th April Histon Home
11th April Oxford United Away
13th April Altrincham Home
18th April Kettering Town Away
21st April Ebbsfleet United Away
26th April Weymouth Home
Wrexham's recent run of poor form has virtually consigned them to a second season of non league football. A run of one win in eleven matches has left Wrexham Languishing in tenth place, ten points adrift of Kidderminster Harriers who currently occupy the final play off place.
Below is a table highlighting the clubs recent woes.
Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Points |
11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 7 |
With only seven games remaining, Wrexham would have to win all of their games to stand any chance of progressing any further this term. Twenty one points would give the dragons eighty points, but with five teams standing between them and the playoffs, even maximum points would probably not be good enough to see them through.
The team have stumbled due to the following factors:
Inability to defend set pieces
No goal scorer since Marc Williams injury
Management not fielding a settled team
Inconsistency
Current squad of players not good enough
Wrexham's form has been inconsistent throughout the season. The early season displays under Brian Little were in general poor, with one or two notable exceptions being the 5-0 home thrashing of Stevenage Borough and the excellent 4-1 away win at Salisbury City. However an away defeat at Grays Athletic and a 3-0 home collapse to Rushden and Diamonds brought an end to Little's reign at the Racecourse.
Enter Dean Saunders, Wrexham's fortunes immediately changed. Saunders restored striker Marc Williams to the starting line up, and also put his faith in a number of Wrexham's youngsters including Neil Taylor, Wes Baynes, Andy Fleming and Mike Williams.
Five successive wins restored the fans faith in the team.as the following results moved the team up the table.
Opposition Venue Result
Forest Green Away 3-2
York City Home 3-1
Mansfield Town Away 2-1
Lewes Home 2-0
Weymouth Away 3-1
All looked rosy at the Racecourse, and despite losing 1-0 at Kidderminster Harriers, the good results continued.
Saunders introduced a number of loan signings to the team who made a big impact. Nathan Fairhurst joined from Preston North End, While Ryan Flynn joined from Liverpool and Sam Williamson from Manchester City. The fast tempo passing game that Saunders introduced was paying dividends. Marc Williams was repaying the managers faith in him with some action packed displays, and the goals were flowing. After sixteen games in charge, Wrexham were back in the promotion hunt and Saunders record was:
P W D L F A PT
16 11 4 1 35 16 37
The acquisition of Welsh international Andrew Crofts, looked likely to further bolster Wrexham's cause. The team had moved into the playoff places and travelled to league leaders Burton Albion knowing that a win would move the Dragons into second place. Automatic promotion was beginning to look like a realistic target, with the club having games in hand on all of their rivals.
The game at the Pirelli Stadium has proven to be the turning point in Wrexham's season. A narrow 2-1 defeat was a disappointing result. Wrexham had dominated the first half, taking the lead with a superb shot from Jeff Louis, and went into the half time break leading 1-0. Sadly the opportunities they missed in the first period to increase their lead came back to haunt them, as a rejuvenated Burton scored twice in the second half to take all three points.
The defeat left Wrexham in fourth place, with 52 points from 29 games, handily placed with games in hand to kick on and achieve the goal of a return to the football league at the first attempt.
Since that night Wrexham's previous good form has disappeared and with it their promotion dreams.
Below is a table showing Wrexham's results since that night in Burton.
Opposition | Venue | Result |
Burton Albion | Away | 1-2 |
Salisbury City | Home | 1-1 |
Crawley Town | Away | 0-1 |
Eastbourne Borough | Away | 0-1 |
Forest Green Rovers | Home | 1-1 |
Woking | Away | 1-1 |
Northwich Victoria | Away | 2-1 |
Crawley Town | Home | 0-2 |
Kidderminster Harriers | Home | 0-1 |
Histon | Away | 0-1 |
Barrow | Home | 1-1 |
A run of seven points from thirty three has left Wrexham's season in tatters. The club are playing only for pride. In recent weeks Wrexham have let slip leads, and have been unable to finish teams off after taking the lead. In the meantime their promotion rivals have all played consistently and racked up the points leaving the club with a mountain to climb as their games in hand disappeared.
Much work is needed in the close season if the club are to mount a serious promotion challenge next season.
With Luton Town almost certain to be relegated from the football league, and AFC Wimbledon looking likely to gain promotion from the Conference South Division, the BSP has the look of a very tough league next season. Add to that any seven of the following:
Cambridge United
Histon
Torquay United
Kidderminster Harriers
Stevenage Borough
Kettering Town
Oxford United
Crawley town
All of these teams have figured prominently in the playoff picture this season, and with only one of them joining champions elect Burton Albion in the football league next season, Wrexham's second season in non league football could prove to be just as difficult as their debut season.