Take a chance on Wrexham

My name is Ragnar Ragnarson and I met Red Passion writer Matthew Kelly while he was in Sweden last year. Very good fellow! I really enjoyed our chat over a cup of coffee. Anyway, I want to tell you why I became a real Wrexham fan. It was in the middle of the 1970’s and if you were Swedish and about 10-12 years old you had to support an English team in the First Division - mainly because every Saturday Swedish television showed an English football match live from the First Division. My friends supported Arsenal, West Ham, Tottenham, Manchester United, Chelsea and so on. I didn't find any of these teams very interesting. Then I found a team with a great name: WREXHAM. But, they were struggling in the Fourth Division. I didn't care though.

From now on I was a Wrexham fan! I studied everything that I could find out about the Wrexham team even though it was quite difficult to find information about the club and the team. It was very, very hard to find anything about Wrexham, the first-team squad, goalscorers...and so on. I was really struggling. It was at this time Wrexham went to Sweden in the European Cup Winners’ Cup and beat Djurgarden on aggregate by 3-2. That for me was a very big deal - and helped me become a real fan of Wrexham. I stood by Wrexham when they were in the Fourth Division. I remember when we lost 6-1 at Torquay in the first match of 1987-8 season. What a start! By the way, have Wrexham ever won by more than 8-0 at home? I was thinking about the Welsh Cup 4th Round, 1985/86, when we beat Bridgend 8-0! And to score seven goals in the second half! Has that ever happened again - or before? I’ve also got a picture of Kev Russell with hair! RP

N.B. Look out for more Djurgarden-Wrexham nostalgia in future editions of RP.

Are you a Wrexham fan 'in exile'?  If you'd like to tell your story, please send it to Red Passion.