Sky Sports pundit Lee Hendrie has tipped Wrexham to push for an incredible fourth successive promotion next season.
The Red Dragons have enjoyed a remarkable rise since their ‘Hollywood’ takeover in 2020. Following the acquisition of the club by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, Wrexham agonisingly missed out on promotion from the National League in 2022, but recovered to win the title the following season.
Returning to the EFL after a 15 year absence, they breezed through League Two with a second-placed finish, repeating that feat this season in League One. They will take their place in England’s second tier next season for the first time since 1982.
Hendrie Makes Premier League Prediction
It’s been a bizarre season in League One. The financial clout of Birmingham City and Wrexham has left the others playing catch up, with the former setting a new EFL points record following a 2-0 win over Blackpool on Wednesday night. Phil Parkinson’s side in the Championship was also confirmed last weekend with a 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic.
Speaking to Football League World, former Aston Villa midfielder believes that both teams could repeat their top two finishes in the second tier next season:
“After what Wrexham and Birmingham have done last season, why shouldn’t they be real strong candidates of going and getting promoted again?
“I think that we see teams coming out of League One, and they probably haven’t got the money and the strong incentives to bring in players that can have that bounce factor to go again.
“This is a different case with Wrexham and Birmingham City.
“I feel that they’ll be amongst play-offs, and there is a big case to say that they’ll go up automatically.
“However, that all depends on the teams that are coming down and the investments there, but I do feel that they have real strong stakes, both of them clubs, to go and get a promotion again, be it play-offs or automatically.”
Writer’s View
Birmingham are certainly well equipped to challenge for a top six finish but it will require a big summer from Wrexham to achieve the same. Taking into account the likes of Leicester City and Southampton coming down from the Premier League, it will be a big ask to make it a ‘four-peat’. Still, Parkinson will be heavily backed and there are likely to be some big arrivals. There will be no shortage of players willing to move to the STōK Cae Ras and Hendrie’s prediction could come to fruition.
