FA CUP
What league are Wrexham in?
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club in 2020 - but what league do the team play in?
Wrexham take on Sheffield United today (7 February) in the FA Cup, football’s oldest competition. The Welsh club has found new fame after being bought by Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who have done their best to promote their work in English football in the mainstream media.
Sheffield United needed a 95th minute goal to salvage a replay against Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground on 29 January, and in front of their home fans they will be confident of getting a result. The South Yorkshire club sit second in the Championship under former Leeds manager, Paul Heckingbottom, 7 points off top spot.
Wrexham are also second in their league, on 68 points, just 3 behind leaders Notts County. They have won 21 of 28 games this season, scoring 72 goals and conceding 24.
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 3 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.
Could Wrexham play in the Premier League? And 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 6 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 4 years.