Wrexham’s Season Projection: Promotion Push or Consolidation Year?

Under the thriving ownership of Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham have been flying up the leagues, gaining three promotions in their last three seasons.

This term, they find themselves in the EFL Championship, just one step away from English football’s promised land and competing amongst an intense set of contestants.

Whilst Wrexham’s journey up the ladder has been fairly smooth sailing, the second tier may well be the roadblock they were hoping to never hit.

The Championship is extremely competitive nowadays. With relegated Premier League teams, the spending habits juxtapose League One completely - creating an even wider gap between the two leagues.

However, the Welsh outfit certainly have enough at their disposal to cement themselves in the league and only the future can us tell how well they will perform.

Back-to-Back-to-Back Promotions

Like owners, like team. Wrexham’s last three seasons in English football follows that of a movie script, as their story displays something we have never quite seen before.

National League Champions in 2023, League Two runners-up in 2024, League One runners-up in 2025. Despite having a squad far too strong for the National League two years ago, Wrexham have continued to upgrade through player additions and new facilities. This has only led to positive results on the pitch, improving year-by-year.

THEY'VE DONE IT AGAIN 😱

WREXHAM GAIN PROMOTION FOR THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE SEASON AND WILL PLAY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT YEAR 🔥

ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE 👏 pic.twitter.com/PCnU1yAJTZ

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 26, 2025

Last season was by far the most impressive of the bunch. Phil Parkinson’s squad was already of League Two quality – maybe higher – when they achieved promotion from the National League. This automatically making them favourites to be promoted and so they did.

League One posed much more of a test; there were clubs such as Birmingham breaking transfer records left, right and centre, amidst all the other promotion candidates. But Wrexham dealt with this well, they bolstered their squad with a handful of key signings – a lot being free transfers.

Straight away this paid off. Wrexham were competing among the front-runners from the off and swiftly assorted themselves in the mix for promotion. With the combination of their new additions and already weighted squad, the Welshmen ended up in second place with 92 points to their name – at the first time of asking.

Now, they look to repeat it all over again.

What Signings have Wrexham Made Ahead of the Championship?

All in all, Wrexham haven’t splashed out as much on transfers as people would have expected this summer. They have only brought in six players so far, costing a total of £4.01 million – less than last season’s total of £4.28 million.

(Wrexham AFC 2025/26 Transfers So Far: Transfermarkt)

However, this business strategy could be a smart move for the Red Dragons. They have no reason to fork out an abundance of money with ambitions of promotion, when in reality there are plenty of other teams in the league who are capable of spending much more than Wrexham – and have.

Instead, the Welsh side have managed to retain all of their key players from last season, whilst only letting free transfers go. As well as that, the new signatures they have penned in are those of some brilliant talent, especially at this level.

Wrexham have brought in four players with wealthy experience in the Championship. Josh Windass on a free transfer from Sheffield Wednesday, who scored 13 goals and grabbed five assists in the second tier last term. Ryan Hardie for over £700k from Plymouth, who scored 10 goals in the Championship last season.

Finally, they acquired both Lewis O’Brien from the Nottingham Forest for an undisclosed fee and Goalkeeper Danny Ward from Leicester on a free transfer.

The other two additions Wrexham have made have been the highest two fees out of the pack. Midfielder George Thomason from Bolton Wanderers for £1.2 million and full-back Liberato Cacace from Serie B side FC Empoli, for a fee of over £2 million.

How Will They Perform in the Championship?

Whilst Wrexham’s business so far this summer maybe doesn’t reflect that of a promotion contender, the team that they have built on their journey - and continue to build with their new additions - is certainly strong enough to compete in the second tier.

🗓️ Monday: Signed George Thomason. ✅

🗓️ Wednesday: Signed Josh Windass. ✅

🗓️ Thursday: Signed Lewis O'Brien. ✅

Wrexham have had worse weeks in the transfer window! 😉#WxmAFC pic.twitter.com/NL7kPyJu3b

— The Championship Chat Podcast (@Champchatpod24) July 24, 2025

Based off first impressions, a mid-table finish could be on the cards for Wrexham, with potential of even pushing towards the playoff positions.

The Championship still remains incredibly difficult to predict, as anything can happen. Just one year ago we saw Ipswich Town promoted to the Premier League in their first campaign after being in League One and there is nothing to stop Wrexham follow suit.

Reynolds and McElhinney have always made it clear that their project with the Welsh club is a long-term one and you don’t need to be promoted every season to recognise success.

As long as Wrexham maintain their place in the Championship at first attempt, there is plenty of room to build on that and push for top two in the future. And if they surprise us with yet another promotion, all the better.