Wrexham are touring Australia and New Zealand for the very first time. Whereas the Championship awaits the Welsh facet in 2025-26, they are going to first must play three A-League golf equipment throughout three cities on their preseason tour.
ESPN might be with them each step of the best way as Phil Parkinson, Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney & Co. plot their path to the Premier League.
A really totally different Aussie expertise for Wayne Jones and Wrexham
MELBOURNE, Australia — Lots has modified for Wayne Jones, one of many breakout stars of the “Welcome To Wrexham” documentary sequence, and his beloved Wrexham for the reason that final time he was in Australia again in 2005.
Twenty years in the past, Jones was wrapping up a two-year lengthy backpacking journey throughout the nation, an odyssey that had stretched throughout all sections of the nation and, within the fantastic custom of Brits heading Down Beneath for a working vacation, seen him choose bananas in Tully and grapes in Mildura, carry out manufacturing unit work in Perth, and do no matter other forms of jobs he would see marketed within the hostels during which he laid his head.
Wrexham, in the meantime, had simply set the unwelcome precedent of changing into the primary Soccer League membership to endure a 10-point deduction for going into administration, setting them on a path to be relegated to League Two and, just a few years later, the Nationwide League.
As explored within the sixth episode of Welcome to Wrexham, if not for protests from followers in opposition to the then-ownership of Alex Hamilton, the membership could have died. Flash ahead, and the Pink Dragons at the moment are owned by Hollywood stars Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds and are set to compete within the English second-tier for the primary time since 1982 after changing into the first-ever membership within the historical past of the English pyramid to safe three-straight promotions.
Landlord of the now-famous Turf pub, Jones has turn out to be identified all over the world due to the documentary sequence cataloguing this rise and, after being a part of earlier preseason excursions of North America, has returned to Australia alongside the Pink Dragons as a part of their preseason tour.
“To be again right here, 20 years to the 12 months, now a Championship membership with superb homeowners who need nothing however the most effective for the membership and a employees that work tremendously properly for the membership — it is a huge distinction to the place we have been 20 years in the past,” Jones informed ESPN. “It is actually one finish of the size to the opposite. So I am far more get pleasure from this time round.
“I feel I have been in denial for the final couple of years, the place I have been saying my life hasn’t modified. However, in fact, it is modified. I am sitting in Australia, speaking to you guys. I am strolling down the road and folks acknowledge the shirt. So clearly, it is modified.”
Certainly, it is exceptional what an award-winning documentary can do for a city’s fame. As a result of, as Jones recollects, the final time he was in Australia “only a few folks knew about Wrexham full cease, not to mention the soccer group.”
“I spoke to anyone right here 20 years in the past, I used to be saying ‘I stay in Wales, which is subsequent to England’,” he recalled. “Nothing in opposition to anyone regionally or anyone I met with travels; the city did not have a lot to shout about.
“Now we get stopped in every single place. All people acknowledges the badge. The man within the airport on the best way out was like ‘We get hundreds of those shirts coming by way of each week.’
“They did not know us 20 years in the past, however they actually do now.”
Sights and sounds
It is all within the particulars 🧵
Take a better have a look at our model new house equipment, prepared for our return to the EFL Championship ⬇️
🔴⚪ #WxmAFC
— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) July 9, 2025
Wrexham unveiled their kits for the 2025-26 marketing campaign in a single day, taking inspiration from their strip the final time they have been within the English second-tier.
And Jones is a fan; “I get type of Joey Jones vibes about it. As a result of that is iconic on Joey.”
Quote of the day
“Do not suppose I’ve watched the newest season, however I watched the primary couple. I’ve adopted Ben Foster all through my profession, met him as a 13-year-old, so when he joined the membership, I watched what he received as much as and have been an informal follower ever since.” — Melbourne Victory goalkeeper Jack Duncan on enjoying Wrexham.
What’s on tomorrow for Wrexham?
It is matchday for the primary time Down Beneath as Wrexham face A-League Males outfit Melbourne Victory at Marvel Stadium.
4-time champions of Australia, the Victory have certified for back-to-back grand finals, dropping to Central Coast in 2024 and Melbourne Metropolis in 2025, however with the Australian top-flight not beginning for not less than one other three months, they’ve solely been again in preseason for per week.
Moreover, a number of key figures, together with Socceroos Kasey Bos, Daniel Arzani, and Ryan Teague, have moved to European golf equipment through the offseason, whereas different key contributors similar to Nishan Velupillay, Reno Piscopo, Franco Lino, and Lachlan Jackson have all been dominated out by coach Arthur Diles.
