SANTA CLARA — Wrexham A.F.C. – the world’s most famous lower-league soccer team – is a traveling circus.
The Welsh club goes from town to town followed by cameras filming the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary series, adored on social media and boosted in profile by its world-famous owners in Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Their meteoric rise from the doldrums of the National League to English soccer’s League One after back-to-back promotions has captured the attention of the soccer world.
From the outside, Wrexham looks like glitz and glamour.
But when team manager Phil Parkinson led his boys onto the Levi’s Stadium pitch Wednesday night, he wanted to show Silicon Valley the kind of grit that the men from northeast Wales pride themselves in having.
“Whether it is preseason or not, I want to see that kind of spirit,” Parkinson said. “We’ve built that reputation for representing a real working-class town and fantastic area. We have to reflect that in our performances.”
The Red Dragons certainly showed plenty of heart in their second straight game against a Premier League foe.
Even though Santa Clara is far removed – geographically and culturally – from the Welsh town, anyone would be impressed by what they saw from the Dragons.
Four days after drawing Bournemouth in Santa Barbara, Wrexham went down 1-0 to London bluebloods Chelsea in the first half.
Instead of taking the loss against an opponent with infinitely more resources, the Dragons dug in and got two second-half goals by Luke Bolton and Jack Marriott to take a surprising lead, albeit one aided by Chelsea’s mass substitutions at halftime.
“It’s important that we show the Wrexham spirit that we’ve been known for the last few years,” Parkinson said. “We’ve had everyone determined to beat us home and away. Every time we play away, it’s the biggest attendance for that particular club.”
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The Welsh side ended up drawing 2-2 with Chelsea, still a stunning result.
Headlining an international preseason tour is a laughable proposition for most teams of Wrexham’s size, and playing in front of more than 15,000 fans at NFL stadiums is something most clubs wouldn’t dream of.
But for Dragon standouts like Marriott, that’s the reality. A few moments after he walked off the field in the South Bay, he reflected and appreciated what playing in a place like the Bay Area meant for both himself and the team.
“These are all memories, moments of my career I want to appreciate and take in, and have photos to show my son. It’s quite incredible,” Morrison said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, so I want to give a big thank you to the fans for coming out.”
