Wrexham’s start to life in League One shows they are on track to challenge for promotion – and leave an exclusive club to create their own.
Only a handful of teams have the distinction of winning back-to-back promotions, as Wrexham managed to move up from the National League to the third tier last season.
But no other club has won three consecutive promotions in English professional football.
That’s the hope Phil Parkinson will face if he can maintain the form shown in his first ten games when he returns to this level for the first time in 19 years.
Moving from Ligue 2 to the Championship is not uncommon, with five teams having achieved the feat since the millennium.
They include two teams that have finally reached the elite. They include Brighton in 2000-02 under the management of Micky Adams and Peter Taylor, and Luton Town – who had previously won promotion from the National League at the expense of Wrexham – under the management of Nathan Jones and Mick Harford.
Former Wrexham captain Darren Ferguson was successful with Peterborough between 2007 and 2009, as was Burton under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Nigel Clough in 2014-16, the Brewers, another team who had previously moved up from the fifth tier.
And current League One rivals Rotherham have done so twice, first in 1999-2001 under Ronnie Moore, then again between 2012 and 2014 under Steve Evans, who has now returned to the club for a second spell with the Millers.
Wrexham’s current tally of 20 points after ten games compares well with the most recent teams to move up from the fourth to the second tier, although they lag behind Luton who have accumulated an incredible 28 points on the First 30 offered before winning the title with 98. points, 12 ahead of their closest rivals.
Burton were just two points better than Wrexham en route to a second-place finish in 2016, while Rotherham (19) and Peterborough (17) were both behind Parkinson’s points return to date, with Posh automatically moving up behind future Premier League champions Leicester. and Rotherham progressing via the play-offs.
Of course, such numbers won’t mean much to Parkinson and his calm management style which has served the Dragons more than well during his time at the Racecourse.
But it shows – if it hadn’t already – that Wrexham should already be taken seriously as challengers, as they back James McClean’s claim that they are “more than one match” for their League rivals.
And if they did, they would not only emulate Swansea City’s successive rise from fourth to second under John Toshack, but would also be back-to-back promotion specialists.
