Wrexham director Humphrey Ker believes the prospect of Premier League football is a very real possibility but accepts that more investment will be needed.
The Red Dragons have enjoyed an astronomical rise in recent years since the club was acquired by Hollywood pair Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2020. They have since rose through the football pyramid with three successive promotions that have taken them from the National League to the Championship.
Their latest saw them finish runners-up to Birmingham City in League One. After a season which saw them go toe-to-toe with Wycombe Wanderers for that all-important second place, it was the Chairboys who fell away during the latter stages of the campaign to hand Wrexham a place in the Championship.
Ker Dreaming Of Premier League
With a place in the second tier for the first time since the 1980s now confirmed, talk is already taking place about whether the Welsh-based outfit can achieve an unprecedented fourth successive promotion. However, games against the likes of Shrewsbury Town and Crawley Town will be replaced by visits to Leicester City and Southampton.
Still, Ker believes that the Premier League is more than just a pipedream. Discussing the matter, he said:
“I think it’s very possible (reaching the Premier League), but I think that if you know we build our training ground, and we build our stand and we renovate the stadium and we get ourselves up to like we’ve got a 20,000-seat modernish stadium that retains the charm, and we can make that jump.
“Then I think what happens is that Rob and Ryan go into their Rolodex and call up one of the dozens and dozens of people who’ve got in touch within the last four years and been like ‘hi I’m a multi, multi, multi billionaire, I want to join in on this with you’.
“They would stay on, remain in their roles, but we would have someone who could help because basically getting out of the championship to the Premier League, you’re just lighting money.”
Writer’s View
It does seem inevitable that Wrexham will eventually find themselves playing amongst England’s elite. However, they have been sensible during their rise and will realise that the Championship will be a whole different ball game to what came before. They will be fully focused on retaining their Championship status next season and will need reinforcement to achieve just that. A mid-table finish will be seen as a huge success.
