The Wrexham Insider

Wrexham have a free weekend and Phil Parkinson will be watching FA Cup action from afar having fallen in the first round.

Wrexham fans will have certainly hoped for a strong FA Cup run this season.

Phil Parkinson masterminded a win over Shrewsbury Town last season and beat Coventry City a year earlier.

There was to be no cup magic for Wrexham this season though having crashed out in the first round of the FA Cup.

Defeat at Harrogate Town was not in the plans for Wrexham but a poor performance in Yorkshire resulted in elimination.

The third round of the FA Cup is taking place this weekend and Wrexham’s clash with Reading was postponed due to the Royals being in cup action.

Former Wrexham ace set to take on Premier League giants

Wrexham players have been through a hectic schedule of late and Parkinson is pleased with a break for his squad.

Parkinson will no doubt keep tabs on other FA Cup games this weekend though and one tie looks particularly interesting on Sunday.

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Tottenham Hotspur travel to take on non-league side Tamworth with Andy Peaks looking to embarrass Ange Postecoglou.

Wrexham may not be in the National League anymore but fans may still fancy cheering on a lower league side for a cup giant killing.

There is even a familiar face in the Tamworth ranks as striker Jordan Ponticelli will be in contention to play.

Ponticelli only joined Tamworth in December but is now set for a huge clash just a month into his career with the club.

Former Wrexham striker Ponticelli has been coming off the bench for Tamworth of late but would no doubt love to start against Tottenham.

Ponticelli joined Halesowen Town in September but only after their FA Cup exit, so the forward is clear to face Tottenham on Sunday.

Jordan Ponticelli record for Wrexham

Ponticelli joined Wrexham on loan from Coventry City in 2020 but the COVID outbreak halted his impact after two goals in five games.

Wrexham had still seen enough to strike a permanent deal for Ponticelli, and he responded with four goals in 28 games during his first season.

Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds purchased Wrexham in 2021 and Ponticelli lasted just one more full season at the club before being released.

Ponticelli actually scored in Phil Parkinson’s first win as Wrexham boss, ironically finding the net against Tamworth in a 5-0 pre-season win.

Ponticelli scored five times in 33 games in that 2021-22 season, bringing his total record to 11 goals in 66 appearances.

“I am not a guy for excuses,” said Ponticelli to The Leader after being released by Wrexham.

“I was fine before Covid but the next season I got injuries which weren’t great and didn’t help my game-time.

“Again, there are no excuses; it was just unfortunate, that’s the way things go and I just had to get on with it. We had the takeover which increased money at the club, and that led to limiting my game-time but it is what it is,” he added.

The 26-year-old moved on to King’s Lynn Town, Halesowen Town and now Tamworth, with the striker looking to make himself a cup hero against Premier League opposition.

Wrexham fans would surely love to see Ponticelli take that role against Tottenham and he is certainly a player to keep an eye on in Sunday’s third-round ties.

Wrexham are once again on the hunt for a new striker in the January transfer window.

Paul Mullin’s goal return has fallen off a cliff in 2024/25, while Ollie Palmer’s only found the back of the net three times in League One.

This sees Wrexham lagging behind their promotion rivals when it comes to goals scored this season.

Phil Parkinson and co. look set to address that issue in the January transfer window, with attacking reinforcements expected to arrive.

Joe Gelhardt and Patrick Bamford were linked to Wrexham in December but there’s been little movement on that front over the last week or so.

More recently, reports claim Plymouth Argyle forward Ryan Hardie is of interest to the Welsh outfit.

Now, Wrexham’s chances of signing a player they wanted over the summer have been rated by an expert.

Wrexham chances of signing Will Lankshear from Tottenham in January

Wrexham wanted to sign Will Lankshear from Tottenham Hotspur over the summer but Spurs decided to keep him in North London.

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However, the teenage forward has seen his game time very limited in the first half of 2024/25.

With Wrexham eyeing a centre-forward once more, returning for Lankshear does make sense.

But football.london’s Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold has reported that an exit in the winter may be difficult because of Spurs’ injury problems.

He wrote: “football.london understands there has been a lot of interest in Lankshear, with some clubs looking to sign him permanently and many on loan, but Tottenham’s injury problems make it difficult right now to let him go.

“Verdict: Sticking around unless Spurs sign a striker late in the window which might open the door ever so slightly for him,” he added.

Will Lankshear Tottenham stats vs Wrexham strikers

So, while a deal is unlikely to happen soon, there remains a chance Wrexham could be allowed to go back in for Lankshear at the back end of January.

His experience at senior level is limited but the Englishman’s goal return for Spurs at both youth and senior level is superb.

Lankshear is not the only young Premier League talent to have been looked at by Wrexham either, with Manchester United’s Ethan Wheatley of interest as well.

Wheatley has scored 24 goals and provided three assists in 45 appearances across various levels for Man Utd.

Wrexham are continuing to move forward under Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds with new architects now signed up for the future of the STōK Cae Ras.

Wrexham have been enjoying quite the journey on the pitch.

Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds’s arrival in 2021 has allowed Wrexham to progress rapidly and win back-to-back promotions into League One.

Wrexham even sit second in League One and are chasing promotion to the Championship as the club’s rise shows no sign of slowing down.

Off the pitch, Wrexham have found real success with the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ series and have seen the popularity of the club reach incredible levels in the United States.

The infrastructure of the club remains a work in progress though and efforts will be made to bring everything up to a higher standard in the coming years.

Wrexham appoint high-profile architects

Wrexham’s STōK Cae Ras home holds a special place in the hearts of many fans, but there is work to be done.

The old Kop has gone with plans to redevelop that end of the ground in due time.

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For now, Wrexham have a temporary stand until a full stand can be built, noting that talks were continuing with Wrexham Council over the summer.

McElhenney and Reynolds have, rather ambitiously, suggested that they want a 45,000 to 55,000-seater stadium in the future.

That seems a little unlikely but the progress of the club means that the STōK Cae Ras will be modernised in the coming years.

With that in mind, Wrexham have now moved towards a redevelopment of the STōK Cae Ras having appointed a high-profile architecture firm to work with the club.

Wrexham.com note that Wrexham have teamed up with Populous to establish a vision for a revamped STōK Cae Ras.

The initial focus is on redesigning the Kop, but there are ambitions for a stadium holding up to 38,000.

Populous react to Wrexham deal

That is a huge undertaking but Populous have worked on some impressive stadiums in the past.

The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is arguably their finest work yet but they have also worked on Wembley Stadium, the Lusail Stadium for the Qatar World Cup and Fiserv Forum, the home of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks.

Wrexham working with Populous is a major step towards a revamped STōK Cae Ras and they have offered their reaction.

Declan Sharkey from Populous has taken to social media to note that their team is ‘extremely proud’ to have been appointed by Wrexham.

Sharkey noted that Populous want to ‘explore the potential for a wider vision and masterplan’ for Wrexham’s future at the STōK Cae Ras.

The full development of Wrexham’s beloved home will take a while to materialise, but this development is certainly an exciting one for Wrexham.