In a week that saw Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s attempts to propel Wrexham to unprecedented highs given a huge boost by the wealthy New York-based Allyn family, there came a timely reminder as to how far the club still have to go to realise their “lofty ambitions”.
That the nudge came against familiar foes somehow felt apt as Harrogate Town, who have played Wrexham in six of the past eight seasons, have had a ringside seat over the years to what has been a remarkable rise since Hollywood money first arrived in north Wales.
“It seems every time we have prepped ahead of meeting Wrexham, they have changed a lot (of personnel) and we haven’t changed that much,” joked Harrogate manager Simon Weaver after securing one of the biggest upsets in the first round of this season’s FA Cup, football’s oldest cup competition.
This was the third time in six years that these clubs had faced each other in a cup tie at Harrogate’s Wetherby Road ground, and the League Two (the fourth tier of the English football system) side made home advantage count to beat the League One promotion hopefuls 1-0.
Jack Muldoon, who also played in those 2018 and 2021 ties, settled matters with a first-half header that meant UK broadcaster ITV, which chose the tie for live broadcast, and the locals in an elated 3,893 crowd got the upset they craved.
For Phil Parkinson, it was another defeat in the FA Cup, this being the second time in four years his hopes of an extended run in the competition as Wrexham manager had been ended by Harrogate, based just a few miles from his family home in North Yorkshire and currently 38 places below the Welsh side on the Football League ladder.
As with that first-round defeat three years ago, Wrexham can have no complaints after wasting several gilt-edged opportunities either side of Muldoon’s goal, which proved the home side’s only effort on target.
“We’ve not had too many days like this since I’ve been at the club,” Parkinson said. “We were expected to win and didn’t produce. So, this is a day when we have to take the defeat firmly on the chin and dust ourselves down, to come back ready against Mansfield (in the league next weekend).”
Wrexham will hope this is a mere bump in the road with their wider ambitions boosted by an investment deal with the Allyns, which will bring in welcome funds at a time when the club are embarking on several major infrastructure projects, such as a state-of-the-art Kop stand, a new training ground and academy facilities.
Weaver, the English Football League’s longest-serving manager in his 16th season at the helm of Harrogate, expects the upward trajectory to continue for a club he has seen change considerably since first crossing paths with them in 2017.
“Both clubs have been on something of a ride these past few years,” he said, referring to each making the relatively recent rise from the National League, English football’s fifth tier, “but particularly Wrexham, with the Hollywood ownership and all the glamour that brings.
“I find the Wrexham journey exciting. It’s certainly raised the profile of non-League, League Two and now, this season, League One. We’re all performers, at the end of the day, and want to be on the stage.”
Harrogate certainly shone in the spotlight on Sunday, producing a masterful defensive display to snuff out the visitors’ considerable attacking threat.
Asked by The Athletic how he had planned for the match, Weaver revealed that previous encounters with Parkinson had played a big part.
“Wrexham’s squad may have changed a lot over recent years,” he said, “but Phil does go for the same formula, just as I have done here over the years. Predominantly, it has worked for both teams. We knew we had to try and keep things as simple as we possibly could when talking to the players beforehand. We had to get after them. There was no point doing it any other way.
“Wrexham carry the ball and are going to hit long diagonals to (Ollie) Palmer and try to win the second ball with (Andy) Cannon and (Paul) Mullin in and around. You are inviting pressure if you retreat and allow them to play. We didn’t want them to be comfortable in any position across the pitch. Therefore, we had to be tenacious, aggressive and try to get on the front foot. We had to do something on the ball, we couldn’t allow ourselves to get sucked into the fear factor of Wrexham.
“They have outstanding players and that makes the victory taste even sweeter.”
Weaver’s first brush with Wrexham in the FA Cup came in October 2018, when supporters ran the show at The Racecourse after previously saving the club. A goalless draw in Harrogate in the fourth qualifying round was followed by a 2-0 loss in the replay. Revenge came just over three years later, via a 2-1 win that sparked serious rumblings about Parkinson, whose first few months at the helm had been a struggle, a difficult period later reflected in an episode of the Welcome To Wrexham documentary titled, ‘Sack the gaffer’.
Wrexham’s owners sensibly decided to stick with Parkinson, and have since been rewarded with back-to-back promotions, plus an encouraging start to life in League One, where they are currently in third place.
Parkinson’s challenge is to now ensure this shock defeat does not derail the team’s good form in the league.
“There are only positives I can say about the Wrexham journey under Hollywood ownership,” added Weaver. “Not just on the pitch and at their ground — where last season for our goalless draw (in League Two), it had been really smartened up with the new stand behind the goal and so on — but also the community…
“Now, they are heavyweights of League One. Just shows the rise they have been on, But, the bigger they are, the bigger the challenge and the bigger the moment for who beats them.”
(Top photo: George Wood/Getty Images)
