Football Manager 24: Taking Wrexham from League Two to the Premier League – part three

Football Manager 24 is out and The Athletic’s Richard Sutcliffe is attempting to take Wrexham all the way up the leagues. 

Part 1 | Part 2

Nothing surprises you in football. Or so the saying goes. But even I’m taken aback when Steve Parkin pops his head around my office door a few days before Christmas.

“Another gone, gaffer,” says my trusted assistant. We’ve become wearily accustomed to managers getting the sack in League Two, with seven clubs having made a change already, including Bradford City and Tranmere Rovers twice.

“Who is it this time?”

“Harrogate Town. Simon Weaver has been sacked by his dad.”

My first thoughts are for Simon. He’d been in charge of the Yorkshire club since 2009 and brought them into the EFL. He’s also a good lad. But then I can’t help but think about the time of year and the father-son dynamic that had powered Harrogate up through the leagues.

“I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the Weaver household on Christmas Day as the turkey gets carved up. Awkward or what?”

Twelve weeks later, part of me wonders just how those 2023 festivities went for Simon and dad Irving. More importantly, I’m also pondering whether Harrogate’s visit to north Wales will be the night we clinch promotion.

Win and we’re up, regardless of how the chasing pack get on thanks to fourth playing third at Colchester United.

It’s been a case of ‘when?’ rather than ‘if? for some time. We were seven points clear at the top when Harrogate, now second-bottom in the table, made their Christmas managerial change and brought in David Artell.

Even so, I want us to do it in style. A style befitting the champion team we’ve become thanks to a 33-match unbeaten run that only ended a fortnight ago at Gillingham.

As the players stare back at me in a team meeting I’ve called on the morning of the match to reiterate what’s at stake, I make this abundantly clear.

“You’re the best team in League Two by a mile. You’ve proved that week after week after week. But now I want more. I want promotion tonight. And then I want us to go on and smash not only last season’s points tally in the National League but also the League Two record points total.”

The reaction is positive. I sense a couple feel that final demand was a step too far. Probably the same ones who kicked off a month ago, claiming my post-match debrief following a 3-0 win over struggling Bradford City had been “too harsh”. But, overall, there’s a broad agreement that this is our time.

“We can do this, gaffer,” promises captain Eoghan O’Connell, as his team-mates nod along.

The SToK Cae Ras is packed long before kick-off. Or the home areas are, at least, with Harrogate failing to take up their full allocation of tickets. Segregation means we can’t fill the block left empty, another reminder of why the opening of the new Kop stand — still scheduled for October — can’t come soon enough.

As I take my place in the technical area after applauding the three sides of the stadium currently in use, I suddenly feel nervous. I’m not sure why. We’re 22 points clear with 27 to play for. If we don’t go up tonight, we probably will on Saturday when we host Tranmere, the one club preventing Harrogate from propping up the entire EFL.

Even so, that nagging suspicion something will go wrong remains until the 35th minute. Then, Lewis Bate, the Leeds United defensive midfielder who was one of four loan signings we made in January, puts us ahead with a close-range finish.

Wanya Marcal, another new face from Leicester City, doubles our advantage seven minutes into the second half.

“Here they come, the mighty Champions…” sing the Wrexham fans in unison, as club anthem Fearless in Devotion rings out across the stadium. Josh Falkingham pulls a goal back for Harrogate but the party continues uninterrupted, Paul Mullin adding a third goal for good measure in stoppage time from the penalty spot.

My assistant Parky jumps on my back at the final whistle, as the fans pour onto the pitch in celebration. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have both flown in from the United States and are equally pleased with the club’s success.

Both owners join the lads in the dressing room. A magnum of Champagne suddenly appears and for a time, all I can hear is the popping of corks. I’m happy for the team to have their moment but I also need to make clear the season isn’t over.

“Enjoy yourselves tonight, boys. But don’t forget. I want this side to go down in history as the best ever. I want us to be talked about in 10, 20, 30 years… so no easing up. There are 24 more points available, meaning we can set a record that will never, ever be broken.”

“Go, coach!” shouts Ryan to a room full of cheers. I presume it’s the Canadian way of praising a successful manager, though the accompanying sniggers from a couple suggest maybe I should leave the players to it.

A month ago, more than a couple wanted me out of not only the room but also the club. What I considered to be a brutally honest assessment of the Bradford win — “Well done on the three points but we can’t play like that again or we’ll be in trouble” — upset several of the squad’s biggest characters.

To me, it was ridiculous. But also a reminder as to how carefully the modern player has to be handled. A ‘clear the air’ team meeting was held a couple of days later and that seemed to do the trick, even if we could only draw 1-1 at Sutton United in our next fixture despite the hosts being down to 10 men for 85 minutes following Lee Angol’s red card.

A 1-0 win at home to third-placed Notts County the following weekend got things back on track, Anthony Musaba netting the only goal on an afternoon when our ploy of relentlessly pressing David McGoldrick worked a treat.

Ben Woodburn, another January loan addition from Preston North End, joined Brooklyn Lyons-Foster, signed for £25,000 from Tottenham Hotspur, and both caught the eye down the left against Notts to reaffirm my belief that 2024’s first transfer window had been a good one.

We lost Manchester United’s Shola Shoretire and Crystal Palace’s Malcolm Ebiowei after their loans were ended early. Both had shown flashes of quality so losing the pair was a blow.

Brahima Diarra also returned to Huddersfield Town, leaving us short in key areas. But Woodburn, Bate, Marcal and Liverpool’s teenage winger Kaide Gordon proved more than adequate replacements on loan, while Lyons-Foster looks a good bet to replace 34-year-old James McClean in the long term.

The signings helped raise spirits after back-to-back defeats had seen us crash out of the FA Cup and EFL Trophy to Sunderland and Wigan Athletic at the third round stage.

Four days after promotion had been clinched in March via victory over Harrogate, the title followed thanks to a 4-2 romp at home to Tranmere. Credit to the players, there was to be no let-up after that, a 5-4 win at Crewe Alexandra proving a particular highlight, not least because it helped deny our neighbours a play-off place come the end of the campaign.

We finished a colossal 28 points clear at the top. If that wasn’t proof of our domination, then having no less than five players in the League Two Team of the Year suggests this team will go down in history.

As for the rest, Notts joined Wrexham, Stockport and Doncaster in clinching promotion thanks to a penalty shootout triumph over Colchester United in the play-off final.

At the other end, the Weavers’ awkward Christmas dinner was justified by the club staying up under son Simon’s successor as Tranmere and Bradford crashed out of the EFL.

Our time in League Two is over, too. Will we ever be back? Who knows? Or cares. For now, this club is looking upwards.

(Photo: Richard Sutcliffe)