After Wrexham earned back-to-back promotions from the National League to League One, The Real EFL spoke to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley regarding the Welsh club’s prospects in the transfer market.
The Red Dragons have become a rather controversially run club in the English Football League over the past two seasons due to the ownership’s willingness to pay several times more than any other club in the lower tiers. In fact, during the course of the side’s non-league promotion campaign in 2022/23, Wrexham spent £6.9 million on wages, a record for the fifth division and more than every other team in League Two that season.
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With the club now in League One, teams stuck in the third tier, such as Bolton Wanderers and Peterborough United, will undoubtedly be looking over their shoulders at the big spenders coming up from the division below. However, will Wrexham be able to shell out as much as supporters and rivals anticipate?
The Real EFL‘s Jake Coburn spoke to Dr Plumley about the situation, posing the theory that the new general election, which will likely postpone the implementation of an independent regulator, could allow Wrexham to splash the cash once more this summer.
“Yes, I think it’s likely we’ll see big investment again from clubs like Wrexham,” stated Dr Plumley, the Principal Lecturer in Sport Finance at Sheffield Hallam University.
“There is the election and the independent regulator in the background as well and that will take time to see what that looks like from a regulation point of view in the detail. But even given the way the current [regulations] are at the minute, it’s still likely that Wrexham, as an example, will spend and we’ve seen Stockport do it as well haven’t we in the last couple of years.
“There is a soft salary cap in League One, it’s something called a Salary Cost Management Protocol but it’s based on wages to turnover ratio,” Dr Plumley continued. “60 percent recommended but not enforced so, theoretically, Wrexham could still spend heavily in League One before you’ve got to look at ‘if you get to the Championship, then you’ve got to conform with profit and sustainability reg[ulations]'”.
Dr Plumley also stated that Wrexham won’t really need to be too careful with their spending unless they potentially earn promotion once more to the Championship.
“I think if you look at where we’re at right now, and you’ve seen what Wrexham have done already, I think it’s likely that they’ll continue to invest. And as I say, you know, they’ve got big aspirations. So it’s when you get into the Championship that you have to be a little bit more careful.
“But I’d certainly see them pushing again this year,” he concluded.
Wrexham have garnered many admirers over the past three years since the Hollywood takeover. However, this news is certain to rub envious opponents the wrong way. Wrexham are set to continue their investment-backed escapade and may even eye up a promotion race in League One next season.
The interview came courtesy of Instant Casinos.
