Wrexham have secured promotion to League One, the third tier of English football, after a 6-0 victory over Forest Green Rovers at the Racecourse Ground.
Two goals in the space of six first-half minutes from Elliot Lee and Paul Mullin put Phil Parkinson’s side in control, with an own goal from the visiting side’s defender Ryan Inniss ten minutes later before Mullin added a fourth before the break to take the game away from Forest Green.
Ryan Barnett netted a fifth goal in the 63rd minute before substitute Jack Marriott completed the scoring in the 84th minute.
The result ensures Wrexham, in second, cannot be caught by fourth-placed MK Dons, who are eight points behind Parkinson’s team with just two matches remaining.
MK Dons lost 4-1 at home against third-placed Mansfield Town, who now require two points from their final three league games to clinch the third automatic promotion slot from League Two into League One.
Wrexham are the first side to secure back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One since Tranmere Rovers, who achieved the feat in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons before subsequently being relegated back to League Two the following campaign.
GO DEEPER
How Wrexham, Reynolds and McElhenney secured another Hollywood promotion
Stockport County also clinched promotion to League One with a two-goal victory at home to Morecambe. David Challinor’s side are on course to clinch the League Two title — they require just three points from their final three matches to place themselves beyond Wrexham’s highest point potential.
Wrexham’s promotion is the club’s second ascension since their takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021, having not played in the English Football League (EFL) — covering the Championship, League One and League Two — since 2007-08.
Wrexham missed out on promotion in 2021-22, finishing second to Stockport County, before being beaten by Grimsby Town in the play-off semi-finals. The season was documented in FX series Welcome to Wrexham.
The third series of Welcome to Wrexham, which will document the club’s first season back in the EFL in 15 years, is released on May 2.
GO DEEPER
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham mission statement – how are they doing three years on?
Wrexham’s promotion the stuff of dreams
Analysis from The Athletic’s Wrexham correspondent Richard Sutcliffe
The pitch invasion that followed the final whistle underlined just what a second promotion in as many years means in Wrexham.
This, let us not forget, is a club only still here thanks to the supporters stepping in to save it from collapse.
So, to now be looking forward to League One is the stuff of dreams. Just how far Wrexham can go remains to be seen.
They’ll certainly be up against some big clubs next season, with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City in danger of dropping through the Championship trapdoor to join former Premier League clubs such as Bolton Wanderers, Reading and Charlton Athletic.
(Charlotte Tattersall/Getty Images)
