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SOCCER

What league are Wrexham in? Could they play in the Premier League?

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club at the end of 2020 and since then the dreams of future success have been set in motion.

Update:
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club at the end of 2020 and since then the dreams of future success have been set in motion.
PAUL ELLISAFP

Wrexham is the third oldest football club in the world and in recent years has had something of a Hollywood revival, after being bought up by acting superstars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The two have done their best to promote their work in English football in the mainstream media and Easter Monday could prove huge in their ambitions.

Now with a strong global following, and the allure to capture the likes of former Manchester United and England goalkeeper Ben Foster, interest far from Wales and neighbouring England continues to grow. And that means questions over the league structure where the club currently plays and what the future could hold.

What league do Wrexham play in?

Wrexham play in the National League, which is England’s fifth tier of football. The Premier League sits at the top of the pyramid, with the Championship below. Then, there is League One and League Two as the third and fourth tiers. Wrexham are one division below. After this tier of football, the divisions then become divided up into regional leagues.

The league is semi-professional, with just three fully professional clubs this season: Wrexham, Oldham Athletic and Notts County. Oldham are the only former Premier League team in the league, having been one of the founder members in 1992.

What position are Wrexham in?

Coming into the massive top-of-the-table clash against Notts County, Wrexham currently sit second in the National League on goal difference, level with their opponents on an incredible 100 points. They do, though, have a game in hand on County.

The Welsh side have won 31 of the 41 league games they have played this season, only losing three, and have notched up 106 goals (also identical to Notts County) while conceding 39 (three more than their rivals). A win for either team could prove crucial in the push for the single automatic promotion place.

Could Wrexham play in the Premier League? How does promotion work?

Potentially, yes. The winner of every professional division in England (including, in this case, the National League) is automatically promoted to the tier above. Then, depending on the league, the teams just below the winner compete in a playoff system at the end of the regular season: the winner of that mini-tournament is also promoted.

However, things are not uniform as a team moves up the leagues: in the case of the National League, for example, the top team is automatically promoted to League Two and the next six teams (from 2nd to 7th) play in the playoffs. In the Championship, the top two are automatically promoted with 3rd to 6th fighting it out in the playoffs.

It would be a simply Herculean task in terms of everything from ground development to player investment, but theoretically, Wrexham could make it to the Premier League in as little as four years.