Reflections on a season
Wrexham have failed to gain promotion back to the football league at the first attempt, and must now prepare for another difficult campaign next season.
At one stage of the season it looked s though Wrexham were nailed on certs for the playoffs, and even had aspirations of taking the title itself. However the wheels were to come off the wagon spectacularly, a terrible run of seven defeats in twelve matches, beginning at Burton Albion ended any hopes the Dragons had of making the end of season playoffs, and much work is needed if the reds are to mount a serious challenge next season.
The season began on August 9th , Manager Brian Little fielded a new look Wrexham team at the Racecourse, for the clubs first non league fixture since 1921. Wrexham’s opponents that day were one of the pre season promotion favourites Stevenage Borough. A 5-0 scoreline flattered Wrexham, but chances were taken and Wrexham were off to a flyer.
The following Thursday Wrexham faced York City at the Kit Kat Crescent in front of the Setanta television cameras. York City missed a host of chances, but could only convert one, but it was enough to give them a 1-0 win. A creditable draw at Rushden and Diamonds was followed by a 2-0 home win against Oxford United, so after four games Wrexham’s record was :
|
Played |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
For |
Against |
Points |
Position |
|
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
8 |
2 |
7 |
2nd |
A good start, Wrexham’s next fixture was at nearby Altrincham, Little’s team were fortunate to come away with a draw from a game that on paper should have been a certain three points. Another away match followed, this time at early pacesetters Salisbury City. The Dragons struggled in the first half, and it was no surprise when City took the lead. A Shaun Whalley strike levelled things up before half time, and an excellent second half saw Wrexham score three more for a comprehensive 4-1 win. The win left the club in Fifth place with eleven points, and with Burton Albion next up, things were looking good at the racecourse.
A poor performance resulted in Burton taking all three points and inflicting a first home defeat of the season on the Dragons. Worse was to follow Cambridge United exposed Wrexham’s defensive frailties and comfortably beat the Dragons 2-0 in their next game.
The defeats left Wrexham in thirteenth place, and Brian Little was under pressure to put things right. A 3-2 win against Ebbsfleet United followed, with Wrexham again coming from behind.
An away trip to strugglers Grays Athletic ended in an embarrassing 2-1 defeat, then a disastrous 3-0 home defeat against Rushden and Diamonds proved the cracks were beginning to show. Wrexham were now nine points behind leaders Crawley Town and had lost four out of five. Little inevitably was axed, his direct approach a failure. Little’s record read:
P W D L F A PTS
11 4 2 5 17 14 14
Martin Foyle and Brian Carey took charge for the visit of Torquay United, Again the Dragons fell behind, but this time they battled back to earn a share of the points as the game ended 1-1.
Enter Dean Saunders, Wales assistant manager and friend of Wrexham chairman Geoff Moss. His brief simple, “get us back in the league”.
Saunders immediately put his faith in Wrexham’s youngsters, Evans, Kearney, Whalley, Aiston, Kempson and Brown were all axed, while Baynes, Taylor, Fleming along with Marc and Mike Williams were restored to the line up.
Saunders first game in charge was away at Forest Green Rovers, again we fell behind, this time after only four minutes. Marc Williams put the Dragons level only for Rovers to retake the lead, again Williams levelled things up, then he was denied a hat trick when Louis cheekily tapped his goal bound effort in from two feet to give Saunders a winning start.
Joe Allen was brought in on loan from Swansea City, making his debut against York City. Another goal from Williams along with goals from Taylor and Allen gave Wrexham a 3-1 victory. The wins continued, 2-1 away at Mansfield Town, The Williams brothers this time on target. Angelos Tsiaklis and Richie De Laet were brought in to further strengthen the side. A 2-0 home win against Lewes was followed by an impressive display at Weymouth, where the latest loan signing Nathan Woolfe scored on his debut in a 3-1 win. Five straight wins had got the fans believing, and Wrexham had improved to eighth. Saunders record after five games was impressive:
Played Won For Against Points
5 5 13 5 15
The winning start ended at Kidderminster Harriers, a narrow 1-0 defeat in a match that the Dragons did everything but score. Undeterred Wrexham moved on, and they secured three more wins going into the Christmas period:
Stevenage Borough Away 2-1
Kettering Town Home 2-1
Eastbourne Borough Home 5-0
The quick tempo passing game that Saunders had introduced was paying dividends; Wrexham had been further bolstered by the signing of Jon Brown from Cardiff City and Nathan Fairhurst from Preston North End, who alongside Fleming and Woolfe formed a formidable midfield. Ryan Flynn was signed on loan from Liverpool to further strengthen the squad as the Dragons looked to push on.
The Christmas period saw Wrexham take only two points from their two fixtures. A 1-1 draw at Barrow was scant reward for their dominance, but it took a superb Jeff Louis strike deep into stoppage time to salvage a point. Wrexham were to rue missed chances again when they could only draw 1-1 at home against Woking. Fifteen chances were missed, Wrexham totally dominated the game but let Woking back in the game in the second period, their profligacy in front of goal was becoming a worry. A third consecutive draw, this time away at promotion rivals Torquay United, and again Wrexham dominated the early stages deservedly leading at half time through a Ryan Flynn volley. But yet again Wrexham’s inability to finish teams off came back to haunt them when Torquay Equalised from a set piece.
The draw left the top of the table looking like this:
|
Pos |
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
Burton |
27 |
19 |
4 |
4 |
53 |
30 |
61 |
|
2 |
Histon |
24 |
14 |
6 |
4 |
41 |
25 |
48 |
|
3 |
Crawley |
26 |
13 |
7 |
6 |
44 |
26 |
46 |
|
4 |
Torquay |
26 |
13 |
7 |
6 |
40 |
26 |
46 |
|
5 |
Kidderminster |
25 |
14 |
4 |
7 |
38 |
26 |
46 |
|
6 |
Cambridge |
26 |
11 |
10 |
5 |
32 |
23 |
43 |
|
7 |
Wrexham |
24 |
12 |
6 |
6 |
43 |
26 |
42 |
|
8 |
Stevenage |
28 |
11 |
8 |
9 |
42 |
40 |
41 |
Next up were Cambridge United, this time the Dragons making no mistake, the 2-0 scoreline hardly doing justice to their dominance. Northwich Victoria were next to visit the Racecourse, and unbelievably left with a 3-3 draw. Wrexham completely dominated the game, but yet again the worrying trend of conceding from set pieces was Wrexham’s undoing. Three corners, three goals, and only a Patrick Suffo penalty in injury time after Jeff Louis had missed one a minute earlier spared Wrexham’s blushes.
Two more wins followed, a 2-0 win at bottom club Lewes, was followed by a hard fought 3-2 victory at the Racecourse against struggling Grays Athletic lifting the Dragons to fourth in the table.
Wrexham’s next match was at league leaders Burton Albion. A win would lift Wrexham to second in the table, and with games in hand the Dragons held realistic hopes of overhauling the Brewers and taking the title.
Saunders league record to date was:
|
Pld |
Won |
Drawn |
Lost |
For |
Against |
GD |
Pts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
35 |
16 |
19 |
37 |
Hours before the Burton match was to kick off, Wrexham announced the signing of Welsh international midfielder Andrew Crofts for the remainder of the season. Crofts went straight into the team, with Nathan Fairhurst making way. At the half time interval Wrexham were good value for their 1-0 lead. Their crisp passing game was causing Burton plenty of problems and the Brewers were fortunate not to be more than one goal behind. The second half however belonged to Burton, substitutes Butler and Morris both scoring to give Burton a 2-1 win.
The result proved to be a turning point in Wrexham’s season.
Wrexham’s next match was at home against Salisbury City, again the Dragons started well. Ryan Flynn opened the scoring after six minutes, and they created a host of chances but could not add to their lead. Wrexham lost Marc Williams on the hour with a suspected broken foot, then to complete their misery, conceded an equaliser when some woeful defending allowed Ademano to head in unchallenged.
Two away defeats followed, a 1-0 defeat at Crawley Town in dreadful conditions was followed by another 1-0 reverse at Eastbourne Borough. Wrexham dominated possession without looking like scoring, and were caught napping late on, this time Ward was at fault to gift Borough all three points.
Wrexham’s inability to score was evident again in the next game, Forest Green Rovers were the visitors to the Racecourse and once again Wrexham were toothless in front of goal. An Andy Mangan goal looked to have won it for Rovers, only for Jeff Louis to equalise late on to give the Dragons a share of the points.
More frustration was to follow, an early goal from Wes Baynes put Wrexham in control at Woking, but again they couldn’t produce another goal to kill the opposition off and Woking scored on the hour to take a share of the points.
With twelve matches remaining Wrexham found themselves in ninth place with fifty five points, eight points behind Stevenage Borough who occupied the final playoff spot.
Ex Blackburn Rovers striker Matt Jansen had been recruited to strengthen Wrexham’s flagging strike force. The next game was away against relegation threatened Northwich Victoria. Once again Wrexham fell behind. But Matt Jansen levelled the score, then a superb Nathan Fairhurst strike ensured Wrexham’s first win in seven matches.
Wrexham’s next three matches were all against promotion rivals, First up were Crawley Town at the Racecourse. More comical defending gifted Crawley two first half goals, and Wrexham never looked like turning things around. The 2-0 defeat was disappointing, but worse was to come.
Kidderminster Harriers were next to visit the Racecourse. Since Marc Williams’ injury Wrexham had struggled to find a cutting edge, this game was no different, with the game looking like it was going to be the club’s first 0-0 draw of the season, Kidderminster stole all three points with the last kick of the game to win 1-0.
Wrexham then travelled to Histon, Saunders used Westwood, Kempson, Williams and Collin in defence in an attempt to combat Histon’s direct long ball game. Wrexham were undone by another set piece though, New keeper Nielsen beaten by a far post header with the defence ball watching.
The 1-0 defeat left Wrexham with a mountain to climb, Their record from the Burton game onwards was:
Pld W D L F A Pts
10 1 3 6 6 12 6
A run of six points from a possible thirty derailed Wrexham’s promotion bid. With only eight matches remaining, the club were lying tenth in the table, eight points behind Kidderminster Harriers who occupied the final playoff spot.
The next match was against relegation threatened Barrow. Wrexham’s inability to defend a lead was evident again, in a dour game teenage striker Obi Anoruo came off the bench to put the Reds ahead, but deep into injury time another free kick proved to be Wrexham’s undoing and Barrow snatched an unlikely equaliser to claim a precious point in their battle to avoid the drop.
The Barrow result left Wrexham’s season in tatters, the table after the game looked like this:
|
Team |
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Burton |
40 |
26 |
7 |
7 |
76 |
41 |
85 |
|
Cambridge |
40 |
21 |
13 |
6 |
58 |
33 |
76 |
|
Histon |
38 |
21 |
10 |
7 |
66 |
37 |
73 |
|
Torquay |
39 |
20 |
11 |
8 |
64 |
41 |
71 |
|
Kidderminster |
38 |
21 |
6 |
11 |
56 |
35 |
69 |
|
Stevenage |
39 |
19 |
11 |
9 |
62 |
46 |
68 |
|
Kettering |
39 |
18 |
11 |
10 |
44 |
30 |
65 |
|
Oxford |
40 |
20 |
9 |
11 |
65 |
48 |
64 |
|
Crawley |
39 |
17 |
11 |
11 |
64 |
45 |
61 |
|
Wrexham |
39 |
16 |
11 |
12 |
60 |
44 |
59 |
Wrexham were now ten points behind Kidderminster Harriers. The Dragons had also used up all of their games in hand and now faced a massive task if they were to achieve a playoff place.
Three of their next four matches were at home, the fixtures were :
Date Opposition Venue
4th April Mansfield Town Home
7th April Histon Home
11th April Oxford United Away
13th April Altrincham Home
A much improved performance saw Wrexham beat Mansfield 2-0, with goals from Anoruo and Crofts. Histon came to the Racecourse next and proved to be stiff opposition for the Dragons. The nil-nil draw just about summed up the game, and even though Wrexham had kept successive clean sheets for the first time this season, they remained tenth and with only fifteen points left to play for, their season was realistically over.
The reds travelled to playoff contenders Oxford United next, and despite dominating the second half, they lost to a late James Constable goal. The game also saw centre back Ashley Westwood replace Wrexham goalkeeper Gunnar Nielsen between the sticks after the keeper injured his hand.
With the Dragons now only playing for pride, the Easter Monday fixture saw Wrexham entertain neighbours Altrincham. The Reds were undone by another set piece, Aurelien Collin heading a free kick past debutant keeper Chris Maxwell. With no cutting edge, Wrexham were unable to get back into the game and crashed to their fifth home defeat of the season.
It was the same story at Kettering in Wrexham’s next game. After falling behind after only two minutes, Wrexham battled back and dominated the game for long spells without putting the Kettering defence under any real pressure. The 1-0 scoreline typified Wrexham’s season.
A rearranged fixture at Ebbsfleet United was Wrexham’s next game. The original match was scheduled to be played on January 3rd . At the time the club had won seven of their previous eight matches, and were scoring goals for fun. However, Wrexham went down to their fourth successive 1-0 defeat, again dominating the game for long periods but unable to fashion a goal.
The game was the final away match of the season for Wrexham, below is a table outlining the club’s full away record.
|
|
Pld |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Pts |
Pts/game |
|
Total |
23 |
7 |
5 |
11 |
25 |
26 |
26 |
1.13 |
|
Little |
6 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
.83 |
|
Saunders |
17 |
6 |
3 |
8 |
18 |
18 |
21 |
1.23 |
And so to the last game of the season, in February nobody would have envisaged the Weymouth game to be the season finale, the expectation at the club was far greater. But after a run of results which equalled the clubs worst ever losing spell, Wrexham were to bring the curtain down on their first season in Non league football with a home game against relegated Weymouth. The 2-0 win barely papered over the cracks, the Dragons should have won more convincingly against very poor opposition, but in truth a better quality side would have exposed Wrexham’s defensive frailties.
Sixty six points left the club in tenth position, only fourteen points were taken from the final eighteen league games. Below is a table outlining the clubs home record for the season.
Dean Saunders league record can be split into two categories:
Before Burton Albion
After Burton Albion
The table below highlights Wrexham’s results under Dean Saunders, before and after the Burton Albion game.
|
|
PLD |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
GD |
PTS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Before |
16 |
11 |
4 |
1 |
35 |
16 |
19 |
37 |
|
After |
18 |
3 |
5 |
10 |
11 |
17 |
-6 |
14 |
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 not good enough
The squad reshaping has already begun, Goalkeepers Gavin Ward and Anthony Williams have been released along with Christian Gyan, Patrick Suffo, Sam Aiston and Chris Marriott.
Defenders Mansour Assoumani and Mike Williams along with Jamie McCluskey and Nathan Fairhurst have been offered contracts, while Saunders waits for a decision from Matt Jansen on his future
If Wrexham are to mount a serious challenge next season, much work is needed. With Luton Town sure to be a threat, and Cambridge United, Stevenage Borough, Kidderminster Harriers and Oxford United all likely to be strong contenders. Wrexham’s second season in non league could be just as difficult as their debut season.