Wrexham blew a Wembley date for Ryan Reynolds and Tom Brady – but does it matter?

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“Que sera sera…”

A celebratory chant to salute reaching Wembley, that mecca of English football, had several airings on Wednesday night as Wrexham and Peterborough United did battle for the right to meet Birmingham City in the EFL Trophy final.

Most were throaty Welsh affairs, as quick-fire goals from Mo Faal and George Dobson late in the first half looked to have booked Wrexham’s return ticket to a stadium they last graced in 2022 for the FA Trophy final.

When four minutes of stoppage time rolled around, Wrexham’s lead had been halved courtesy of Malik Mothersille, but it still felt like Phil Parkinson’s side were on course to book that ‘Hollywood Derby’ date with Birmingham.

Then, though, came a long punt forward and a comedy of defensive errors that allowed Bradley Ihionvien to level the scores before the first of those four added minutes had elapsed.

On the balance of play — the visitors had 17 shots across the night to the hosts’ eight, plus 33 touches in the opposition penalty box compared to Wrexham’s 10 — it was hard to begrudge the trophy holders.

But, from a Wrexham perspective, this really was an epic collapse, capped by a penalty shootout that saw Jed Steer save from Paul Mullin and Elliot Lee as Peterborough triumphed 4-2.

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It allowed the 375 Peterborough fans to regale their stunned hosts with ‘Que sera sera’, the terrace anthem that re-works Doris Day’s classic hit to end it with a joyful, ‘we’re going to Wemb-er-ley’.

Thanks to the dressing rooms being located directly underneath where the away supporters sit inside the Racecourse Ground, those words will have followed the home players down the tunnel and into the showers.

“We were so close,” said Parkinson. “We were almost touching it. As far as I’m concerned, we threw away a chance to get to Wembley. Two really poor goals to concede.

“From a game that looked so comfortable to end with us not going to Wembley is very difficult to take. We have no one else to blame but ourselves. It’s a competition that starts low-key, but when you get to this stage, it has to hurt. And it does.”

Chances are it won’t just be Parkinson and his players smarting from this exit. The producers of Welcome to Wrexham will no doubt have been planning a big Wembley episode in the upcoming fourth series, especially with David Beckham and Will Ferrell having attended the club’s last visit to the national stadium for the 2022 FA Trophy final defeat to Bromley.

The EFL will never admit as much, but there’s also likely to have been a few within the governing body gutted to see a Wrexham-Birmingham final — and all the ensuing publicity a gathering of Tom Brady, Ryan Reynolds et al would have garnered — slip through their fingers.

Likewise, CBS Sports, the EFL’s new broadcast partner in the USA this season. Such is the interest in Wrexham on the other side of the pond, all 32 League One fixtures featuring Parkinson’s side have been shown live — making them the only one of 72 EFL clubs with a 100 per cent appearance record this season.


The makers of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary will have cursed the club’s near miss (Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)

The consolation for CBS — and Parkinson — is that there’s little time to dwell on the disappointing exit to Peterborough, with Wrexham in action again on Saturday lunchtime at home to Bolton Wanderers.

This is the first of seven fixtures in March for Wrexham. With trips to promotion rivals Huddersfield Town, Reading and Wycombe Wanderers included in this busy schedule along with a home clash against Stockport County, Wrexham must look forward and not back.

Parkinson will drum home that message when the players return to training on Thursday morning, the 57-year-old having preferred to focus his immediate post-match words on what had gone wrong against Peterborough and how there cannot be a repeat during the run-in.

“We gave a team who were out on their feet a lifeline,” added the Wrexham manager. “But we won’t let this knock us. Not at all. Bolton is a great game for us. It’s a terrific run coming up, in fact.

“All the lads are ready. We won’t dwell on this at all. We just have to learn from it. You can’t take your eye of the ball, in terms of what you need to do. We did that in two moments.”

Parkinson maintained his stance of previous rounds in the competition by making wholesale changes to the side that had beaten Mansfield Town last Sunday. Only Arthur Okonkwo, Max Cleworth and George Dobson retained their places as Wrexham took the opportunity to give minutes to players who had barely featured in recent weeks.

Teenager Harry Ashfield and Mo Faal, the club’s one-time record £590,000 signing, were among those who took that chance to impress, the latter’s lofted finish to open the scoring after being played through by Cleworth the clear highlight for the hosts.

Neither are likely to feature on Saturday as Parkinson turns back to his first-choice XI, with the likes of record-signing Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez set to return for a televised clash that seems ideal to ensure there is no hangover from missing out on Wembley.

“I’m not just saying it now because we went out, but the league is our number one priority,” Parkinson said. “I’ve said that before every round. We’ve treated the league as its own entity.

“We had a great win at Mansfield and are in a confident vein of form, having won three out of the last four games in the league. We’re confident. Bolton are a good side, but so are we.”

(Top photos: Ryan Reynolds and Tom Brady; by Getty Images)





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Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams
Alexandra Williams is a writer and editor. Angeles. She writes about politics, art, and culture for LinkDaddy News.

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