Like water in the desert
Wrexham's story is the footballing equal of Oasis Mania.
‘Little by little… we gave you everything you ever dreamed of…’
Wrexham touched down in Australia just as The Land Down Under was gripped in the midst of winter. The temperatures of 13 degrees were high enough to convince a bunch of pasty Brits on tour to get the paddling pools out, but during a press junket, captain James McClean insisted his side were “not here for a holiday.” No shrimps on the barbie, no gigantic cans of Fosters, and no riding kangaroos between training sessions. This was all business.
And so it proved: Parky’s experimental XI swept away A-League grand final runners-up Melbourne Victory in the first test. Ryan Hardie got his first goal, Gorgeous George returned from the dead to net a long-ranger, and even Ollie Palmer got some pitch time. Success all round.
True, pre-season games are not a crystal ball. They offer no real insight into what the future holds for the upcoming season, or what players will become. We might have thought twice about offering Kaid Mohamed a trial if we’d known he was going to bin us off for Swindon and then go on to have a career as a cocaine dealer in Cardiff.
But nonetheless, friendlies - as meaningless as they might be - do have an uncanny ability to begin fanning the flames of excitement. That familiar sensation of the feel-good factor is stirring into life now as our first Championship season for more than forty years creeps up over the horizon. Defeat in Sydney and the sight of Ollie Rathbone limping off for an X-Ray did wobble a few fans, but spirits remain high.
The first symptoms of football fever are definitely kicking in. If you want proof: Just look at all the cash that’s flying around. Whilst some Reds forked out hundreds of dollarydos to travel to the other side of the world and watch the first glimpses of Second Tier Wrexham playing among the Chazzwozzers, back home everyone was racking up bigger credit debts in the club shop than Mancs at the Oasis merch store.
Some have sneered at the overhyped return of the squabbling, cartoonish, and at times insolent Gallagher siblings, but if anyone can understand the crazed hysteria surrounding that band’s comeback, it’s us.
Wrexham’s Hollywood Story is the sporting equivalent of Oasis Mania: Building a movement that has breached borders and captured the imagination and delight of far-flung lands. Like Oasis fans, we spent years waiting and wondering whether we’d get to see our group in their prime ever again. In-fighting and failure sparked a civil war of words when we couldn’t get back on the FL stage, and there was deep concern that things were too badly damaged for any chance of a revival. For so long, good news around Wrexham AFC was like water in the desert.
But here we are. Witnessing lines around the block for replica shirts, scarves and caps embroidered with feathers and dragons. A staggering 40,000 came to see the Reds play in the Aus capital, with similar numbers queuing up for a photo with Wayne The Turf. This week, a full-back who spent last season competing at stadia like the San Siro apparently chose us as his next club.
We made it back into the spotlight after all. And it’s even better than we hoped it would be.
Our media-trained frontmen - brothers in all but name by this point - have a very different relationship to the rockstars headlining Heaton Park. Ryan described Rob as “covering and caring for me in ways I can't fully comprehend”, whereas Noel labelled Liam “a man with a fork in a world of soup”. But the parallels are still there. Oasis set the record for the fastest-selling group in UK history; Wrexham set the record for the fastest-rising team. We’re both shifting tickets by the bucket-load and everyone is talking about us.
It’s reached a point now where Oasis and the Red Dragons are too big to be considered as isolated entities. Both have helped to build local cultures and define regions. Manchester would look entirely different today without Oasis. Wrexham would be unrecognisable without its football club.
Anyone sceptical of Wrexham having any associations with one of the biggest British bands of all time would be advised to step inside the LL postcode and describe what they find. North East Wales has never been so alive. And with Championship football next year, Wrexham AFC has its own Knebworth fast approaching. Our biggest gig yet.
If “Mad ‘fer it” was the rallying call circa ‘95. Today’s equivalent around these parts is surely “Up the Town”…