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Are Wrexham now a bigger club than Celtic and Rangers?

09 Mar 2023 3 minute read
Wrexham, Celtic and Rangers badges

With a global fanbase growing by the day it’s easy to track the growth of Wrexham’s support.

There appears to be supporters groups popping up all across the globe, from South America to Scandinavia.

On the back of the purchase of the club by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and the smash hit docuseries Welcome To Wrexham, the worldwide emotional investment in Wrexham’s attempts to finally escape the National League have now reached fever pitch.

Of course, you only need to look at the media coverage of the club to understand this. Stories about Wrexham sell.

One media organisation that has recognised this is The Athletic, the hugely successful international subscription-based sports website.

The Athletic logo

They’ve been mailing subscribers and announcing on their socials that they’ve now launched dedicated coverage of the Dragons.

The Athletic already covers the fortunes of Cardiff City and Swansea City, but this would be the first time they’ve offered such extensive reporting of a side outside the EFL.

Announcing their push into a new Welsh territory, they wrote: ‘The Athletic has launched a new patch and are now providing unrivalled coverage of Wrexham AFC as they push for promotion. Follow their journey, get to know some of the personalities that define the club and more with our stories.’

The Atheltic has also appointed football journalist Richard Sutcliffe to cover the team’s fortunes on and off the pitch.

Previously The Athletic’s Sheffield United correspondent he’s now on loan at The Racecourse Ground.

You can read about his thoughts on moving to report on Wrexham HERE.

However, at the same time as The Athletic is expanding its coverage of the National League side, it’s scaling down its coverage of Old Firm giants, Celtic and Rangers.

The Athletic’s announcement of the scaling down of its coverage of Rangers and Celtic, while announcing the launch of a Wrexham hub (Credit: The Athletic)

In a statement to readers about Rangers and its correspondent Jordan Campbell, The Athletic’s editor-in-chief Alex Kay-Jelski, wrote:

Dear readers,
I wanted to address a change we are making to the way we cover Rangers.
Our three-and-a-half years writing about the club so far have been dramatic and filled with stories, from the incredible achievement of Steven Gerrard’s team winning the title, to the run to the Europa League final and more. And we’re incredibly proud of the work Jordan Campbell has done.
However, Jordan is being offered a new opportunity by us and will therefore be writing a bit less on the club for the rest of the season, before doing his new role full- time next season. We have decided that we will not be replacing him. We no longer have a dedicated correspondent covering Celtic and feel it is unfair to cover only one of the Old Firm clubs.
We understand if you wish to cancel subscriptions but hope you do stick around to read about the big stories in Scotland, the wider game and other sports.
Either way, thank you for your support and time.
Alex

Now, far be it for us to question the respective popularities of all three clubs when placed alongside each other, but there is no denying that right now Wrexham AFC is a publicity juggernaut that shows no sign of slowing down.

Which, let’s be honest, must be music to the ears of Messrs McElhenney and Reynolds.


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Dai Rob
Dai Rob
1 year ago

They are winning the pulicity-stakes…but when it comes to on the field…..they would be a top 3 Cymru prem outfit, but they wouldn’t win it…..not yet anyway.
If their sugar daddies continue funding them, then anything is possible!

John Brooks
John Brooks
1 year ago
Reply to  Dai Rob

And that is their route to Europe and fame. Come into the FAW system and they would be in European competition every year leaving Swansea and Cardiff yo-yoing around the English leagues with no success.

That way they may be able to challenge the Glasgow ‘giants’.

Riki
Riki
1 year ago

Uh no! No Welsh (Used correctly as they foreign to England) club will ever be as big as those, not while they remain in England’s system.

CommonSense
CommonSense
1 year ago

No.

Leigh Richards
Leigh Richards
1 year ago

Is this an early April fools? Celtic have been european champions (and appeared in other european finals). Theyve participated in european competition for 60 successive seasons and they are one of only 5 clubs in the world to have won over 100 trophies. Theyve got hundreds of supporters clubs and millions of fans around the world and their current average home attendence is almost 60,000. Wrexham are presently in the 5th tier of english football – they havent appeared in european competition for 30 years, havent won silverware for 10 years and their average home attendance is about 9000. Im… Read more »

Glen
Glen
1 year ago

Yes undoubtedly, I’d say Wrecsam are now as big as Real Madrid and with a bit of luck, next season they could be playing at the same level as Newport County.

Mab Meirion
Mab Meirion
1 year ago

This must be what they call fantasy football, Roy of the Rovers stuff but hey feel the bank balance. We have a stadium to rock while the Bay have a couple of fields where some cow will come along and chew through the mains cable…

Wrexhamian
Wrexhamian
1 year ago

No, of course not. They (and Notts County) are now too good for the National League, but don’t expect them to be challenging for European honours in the foreseeable future; unlike Y Sentau Newydd. In terms of worldwide interest and support, they are, however, a phenomenon.

M C
M C
1 year ago

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 is the Brooklyn Bridge in Paris

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