Wrexham v Grimsby Preview

By: Alex Green
Date: 07/01/2011

I THINK I'm going to like 2011: 7-2, 6-1 and England win The Ashes down under 3-1. Just bloody fantastic all round. A clean sheet wouldn't go a miss though.

Their History

Wrexham is in Wales you know. So are Swansea and Cardiff and Carlisle, well not Carlisle but the others are. According to Wikipedia which everyone trusts with their lives. Well not everyone just journalists and broadcasters, Wrexham were formed in 1872 so cricketers had something to do over the winter. This was in the time before satellite television so they couldn't watch the Ashes in Australia if it had been around, football may never have taken off. Anyway the club was formed in The Turf Hotel in 1872 even though it says 1873 on the badge, those crazy Welsh bastards always up for a laugh. They won the first Welsh cup against the Druids, which is all a bit too Merlin and Excalibur for my liking, just seems one step away from playing in a Dungeons and Dragons league in their mums attic. The team being Welsh has had lots of opportunity in Europe the club have played in the Cup Winners Cup on several occasions and reached the Quarter finals in 1976 and have won the Third Division two seasons later. The team also play at the Racecourse Ground the oldest international stadium in the world and also boasts the largest terrace left in Britain but maybe not for much longer.

Last Season

Ever since the club finished rock bottom of League Two in 2008. The team have spent the last two seasons wallowing in mid-table of the Conference trying to regroup and push back to where they belong in the Football League. Last season the club finished 11th, 20 points off the last play-off spot and too close to comfort to relegation at times. An indifferent start to the season meant Wrexham were always playing catch up. The club managed to make it to the 2nd round of the FA Cup losing to Swindon. The club went 8 games without a win at one point from February to March yet never managed to drop a league position throughout the entire run. It was Wrexham's destiny to stay mid-table throughout the season and they filled that brilliantly.

This Season

The worries of losing ownership of their ground aside Wrexham have had a rather good season so far. Currently a place above ourselves in 7th the Dragons are one of the in-form teams at the moment. If it wasn't for an early season wobble where the club had their only back to back defeats and managed just 1 win in the following 6 matches they may well have been fighting it out with Crawley and Wimbledon at the top. Since then the Welsh team have suffered just 2 league defeats against Wimbledon, and ourselves the last of which was back in early October. Since then a mix of draws and narrow victories have meant a good shot at the play offs.

Key Player: Andy Mangan Number 9

Back from suspension the Liverpudlian will be hoping to replicate the form he had found at the end of last with 3 goals in 4 games. After leaving Blackpool as one of those youngsters he joined Accrington featuring mostly from the bench where he has limited success. Two years later Bury signed him before been loaned back to Stanley after making just 7 appearances In 2008 Mangan moved to Forest Green where 28 goals from 41 appearances helped push the club up the League and away from relegation troubles. This time last year all 5ft of Mangan joined Wrexham in the hope of following on his form but now no longer the main man he struggled but with a knack of getting goals against the so called bigger teams in the League (Wimbledon, Luton and Darlington) don't be surprised if the guy who's had the most shots on goal for Wrexham this year with 20 pops up and spoils our goal fest.

Prediction

I might give up with this lark I rarely get it right and if anyone did in the last week they're lying. I suppose I should follow on with the team's current form.

Wrexham 3-7 Grimsby Town

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