Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney could take a leaf out of Charlton Athletic’s book this pre-season.
As the 2025/26 Championship season looms, Wrexham will be hoping to continue their momentum from previous campaigns under Phil Parkinson.
Wrexham have notched three successive promotions, a phenomenal achievement by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s club, but the tallest hurdle still awaits Parkinson’s side.
This season, Wrexham will have to put up with the biggest jump in quality between the divisions that they are yet to face, which adds extra emphasis to one thing that they should have prioritised more this summer so far.
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Wrexham should copy Charlton Athletic approach this summer
In the 2024/25 League One campaign, promoted alongside Wrexham was Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic, the latter of which came up through the play-offs.
There was plenty of tension between Wrexham and Charlton boss Nathan Jones last season, with the Welshman saying in a pre-match press conference: “It’s a bumper game, we have to go to the circus and see what we can get.”
This sparked a rivalry between the two clubs going into the match, and Phil Parkinson even used the ‘circus’ line to motivate the players, whilst he also said that Jones showed a ‘lack of respect’.
Whilst Wrexham had no reason to take notice of Jones’ reactionary comment, one thing they could learn from is what he said about pre-season planning and the necessity of bringing players through the doors early on.
As taken from the Charlton Athletic website, Jones said: “The earlier you get them in, the more work you can do. Because we train and play a certain way, it’s really important that those messages are applied very early and to as many of the squad that we’re going to take forward as possible.”
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How Wrexham’s summer compares to Birmingham City and Charlton Athletic so far
Looking at the number of signings made so far, Wrexham have brought in a total of two players to bolster Parkinson’s squad.
Ryan Hardie has joined Wrexham from Plymouth Argyle, whilst Danny Ward arrived after his spell at Leicester City came to an end.
In comparison to Wrexham’s two arrivals, the total of signings at the Valley for Jones’ Charlton Athletic stands at four, with the Addicks going on a heavy recruitment drive, bringing in players from League One, all of who will significantly improve their side.
However, both clubs are blown out of the water by Birmingham City’s signings this summer, with the Blues spending significant amounts of money, bringing in a total of seven players so far.
It shouldn’t be a case of alarm bells ringing for Wrexham, but they need to make sure that they are not left behind their rivals in terms of getting business done. As Jones says, it is very important to recruit early to ensure that their pre-season is maximised with the squad, something that should give Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney a reason to kick on with recruitment.
