00:00Now, Wrexham's push for promotion to the Championship is not just about success on the pitch, but
00:09also managing their finances as they make the leap. With promotion in sight, they will
00:14need to adapt their financial strategy to meet the demands of the higher division. I
00:19spoke to a Wrexham expert about their approach. While the club's rise has been impressive,
00:24the step up will require careful budgeting and smart investments. The club will have
00:30to adjust to increase wage demands, improve facilities and a larger squad, all while ensuring
00:35financial sustainability. Wrexham's future in the Championship will depend on how they
00:41will handle these financial changes.
00:44Yeah, I mean, you have to look pre-date in the takeover, really, where you turn up to
00:50the race course on a match day and you wouldn't know what to expect. And that was kind of,
00:55that was it for the National League years, really. There was a couple of seasons where
00:59Wrexham were very good at home. You think the last one was probably the 12-13 season.
01:03I think 17-18, they were okay at home as well, but not as formidable, you know, under Sam
01:08Ricketts and Graham Barrow. But yeah, you've got to go back over a decade for the last
01:13time Wrexham were winning this much at home. And you take it for granted almost now because
01:18you turn up to a Wrexham home game and you expect to see a home win. And so often you get one.
01:25Yeah, and just looking ahead to the summer, I mean, there's a lot of questions in the
01:29air in terms of their transfer strategy. It's been pointed out a number of times in terms
01:33of the way they've invested in all the talents, not really looking at the future, but there
01:37are still some young talents throughout Wrexham's side. I mean, let's just say they are to go
01:42up to the Championship. How do they attack the summer window? How do they make the most
01:46of it and get them ready for, you know, one of the toughest leagues in the world really
01:52to compete in, in terms of, you know, you look at the sort of relegation fight, it's
01:56five points between the bottom three and sort of 14th. And then you look at the playoff
02:01race as well, it's sort of the same situation up there and the Championship is so unpredictable.
02:07Will Wrexham be ready for that if they don't have a good summer?
02:12It's a very difficult one. Obviously, Wrexham fans, and I know Wrexham the club themselves
02:16would say, wait, let us get there first before we start speculating too much. But from an
02:20outside point of view, you definitely say that. I still think now the jump between League
02:24One and the Championship is probably the biggest gulf between any league, probably in Europe,
02:30just from our loose following of them all anyway. I think that the gulf between the
02:34Championship and the Premier League is definitely getting bigger. You can see that with the
02:37teams are going down, but still League One to the Championship is night and day really.
02:41And it will be rather uncharted territory for Wrexham in their modern history. Last
02:46time they were there was, what, 1982. So you've got to go a long way back for Wrexham being
02:51a second division side, as it were. And the finances now are ridiculous. Just to sort
02:57of tread water in the Championship, you can lose £20, £30 million a year. You have to
03:03pay astronomical wages just to keep the squad going. So there would have to be a massive
03:08squad overhaul for Wrexham this summer if they were to go up, no matter how good they've
03:14been and how effective they've been in League One. You then look at even some of their best
03:19players, Stephen Fletcher, James McLean. Can they really cut it at Championship level now
03:23at their ripe old ages? There are a few young players there who have huge potential, but
03:28again, it'd be playing at the highest level they've ever played at. There's a few in the
03:34squad who have Championship experience, but even then they didn't really like the Championship
03:37up. So you look at Owen O'Connell, who's at Hull. George Dobson, who's played for Charlton
03:41there. Elliot Lee's also had a spell there of Luton Town. And you say, are they really
03:46going to light it up? Jack Marriott, who played there with Derby. You've got them to a player
03:52final. But that's, what, six, seven years ago now. So there will be lots of question
03:57marks for that Wrexham team. And this would be the summer in which they really have to
04:01push that investment further. You'd have to be breaking your record transfer fee. You'd
04:07have to be ruthless with getting rid of players. The issue there as well is lots of players
04:12are tied down to quite lucrative contracts and that will get that sort of money elsewhere.
04:16So you might have to take a hit on even the players you lose. And then you're also gambling.
04:21We've always said since the National League days that Wrexham had a League 1 squad. There
04:25was League 1 calibre players in that team, which they do have now. There's never been
04:30a suggestion that Wrexham have ever had a Championship level squad. And we've seen this
04:34season, the way it's unfolded, that they've been able to compete at League 1 level, but
04:38the Championship would be an astronomical leap from where they are now.
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