By Terry Phillips
Wrexham could soon be back playing against Football League clubs every week if radical plans to merge League Two with the National League go ahead.
Many chairmen and officials of League Two clubs are reported to be keen for a new regional structure to emerge from the current sporting shutdown.
Wrexham have not been part of the Football League since they were relegated from League Two 12 years ago, but discussions are said to have taken place about a merger of the lower leagues and new regional divisions to replace them.
That would provide more local derbies and also cut travelling expenses and follows the vote taken by League Two clubs to end the current season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There would be a pyramid structure involving the Premier League, the Championship, League One, League Two North and League Two South.
Wrexham captain Shaun Pearson has revealed he feared the Dragons were doomed to be relegated at one stage during the current 2019-20 National League season.
Yorkshireman Pearson said: “At the halfway stage we were bottom of the league on 20 points.
⚽ When your football club is in lockdown…
🔴⚪ @Wrexham_AFC captain Shaun Pearson (@shaunpearson5) put his spare time to great use by giving blood in #Chirk.
📝 Read more about how #Wrexham AFC is encouraging more people to donate.https://t.co/rCPTkDU9T2#Absolutescenes pic.twitter.com/MqiY3XP5K2
— Welsh Blood 🏴 – Essential Travel (@WelshBlood) April 30, 2020
“We were about to go to Eastleigh having been beaten 2-1 by Ebbsfleet. I looked around and wasn’t sure we had it in us to get out of the situation we were in.
“We were clearly in trouble.”
When Wrexham slipped into last place it was the club’s worst ever position in their 155-year history.
But when the season was halted because of the pandemic Wrexham had clawed their way out of the relegation zone and stood one point ahead of the bottom three.
Their run of three wins in four matches, 2-0 victories at Eastleigh and against Solihull plus 3-1 v Chorley, lifted Wrexham out of immediate trouble. They earned 23 points from 14 league games, winning seven, since the halfway stage.
“Hopefully lessons have been learned and we can move forward,” Pearson told Wrexham FC’s media department.
“Credit must go to the manager (Dean Keates). He helped the mentality of the group and gave the players confidence.
“Because of the size of the club he doesn’t get the credit deserved for what he has achieved. There have been big clubs, like Stockport and York, who have been relegated.
“The gaffer has obvious strengths and his recruitment has been good.
Caption this superb shot of @shaunpearson5 by @LajWarrington pic.twitter.com/mlLf9lAxJi
— Fearless In Devotion (@fearlessidzine) March 3, 2019
“He has a way of playing that means we can keep clean sheets regularly, and that means you only need one goal at the other end.”
Keates returned to the Racecourse for his second spell as Wrexham manager during October last year. He has been in charge of 100 Dragons’ matches in total, either side of his switch to take charge of home town club Walsall.
Wrexham won 10, drew six and lost 13 of their 29 first team matches since Keates returned and there is genuine optimism for the future.
National League officials are yet to decide how best to finish the season with talks continuing.