PREVIEW | Wrexham vs Altrincham

It's the Phil Parkinson derby!

17 April 2022

It's Phil Parkinson versus Phil Parkinson as two managers who share a name clash after testing 1-1 draws on Good Friday.

After the mixed emotions of the Solihull Moors game, when a combination of excellent goalkeeping and denied penalty shouts brought Wrexham's winning run came to an end, but Stockport's defeat drew them closer to us in the title race, we immediately find ourselves preparing for a local derby!

This match brings to an end the remarkable run of 7 consecutive home games, and what an incredible experience it has been. Friday's 1-1 draw with Solihull Moors was the first time we failed to win during that sequence of matches, when for once we couldn't come up with the injury time winner we've become used to!

The key question for Phil Parkinson will be whether he'll look to rotate his starting eleven, which has remained unchanged throughout this run of home games. Liam McAlinden and Dan Jarvis have made decisive contributions from the bench in recent games, while the versatility of Tyler French means he could be used to give a number of players a break if required.

His namesake has done a fine job in the Altrincham dugout. They guarnteed another season in the National League on Friday, although in truth there was little danger of The Robins being dragged into the relegation scrap, especially since they turned around a mid-season slump in February.

A mid-winter run of 13 games without a win forced Altrincham to start looking over their shoulders after a good start to the season, but since mid-February they've banished such worries with six wins, two draws and two defeats.

The wins have tended to accumulate at home though. Altrincham's most impressive performance on the road this season probably came on the opening day, when they beat Torquay United, fresh from their play-off defeat.

Since then they've tended to punish sides in the bottom half of the table away from home, with their only other win against a top half side coming at Dagenham. They have the worst away defence outside the bottom seven, but should not be underestimated. They've lost just one of their last 8 games, and on Friday emerged from a tough game against Halifax with a point.

They also beat Chesterfield at Moss Lane during that run, and scored nine goals in a week by beating Weymouth 5-0 and then Eastleigh 4-0.

There's a familiar good feeling around the club, and those results have attracted impressive backing from The Robins' fans. As a consequence, Altrincham are on course to establish their largest average crowd since the Conference was founded in 1979.

LAST TIME WE MET

First half goals from Aaron Hayden and Bryce Hosannah were enough to earn The Red Dragons a 2-0 win at Moss Lane.

HEAD TO HEAD

Altrincham’s matches at The Racecourse have been peppered with drama, red cards and own goals.

The Robins’ first match in Wrexham was in November 1963, when we clashed in the first round of the FA Cup. We’d had to work hard to avoid an upset in at Moss Lane initially, emerging with a goalless draw after the initial attempt to play the game was abandoned due to fog, but we were more comfortable in the replay. Mickey Metcalf scored two and Tecwyn Jones got the other in a 3-0 win.

It was another 46 years before Alty returned to The Racecourse. Aurelien Collin headed an own goal past debutant keeper Chris Maxwell, and hopes of a fight back were halted soon afterwards when Mani Assoumani was sent off.

We also paid the price after a sending off in March 2010 when The Robins arrived for a league match. We’d gone ahead early on through Wes Baynes but the game took on a fractious air as we failed to capitalise on our initial superiority. The match turned in Altrincham’s favour when Frank Sinclair was dismissed for a challenge which broke the leg of ex-Wrexham captain Tom Kearney.

To be fair to Sinclair, it wasn’t an intentional attempt to hurt Kearney, but he went in very strongly and his foot bounced off the top of the ball and into Kearney’s shin, leaving the referee with no option but to show him the red card.

We failed to recover from the loss of the centre back and were punished with eight minutes left when Greg Young struck to earn Altrincham a draw.

Their visit in November 2014 ended nine against ten as the match turned dramatically just before the break.

Wrexham seemed to be strolling to a comprehensive win, Elliott Durrell and Louis Moult having given us a 2-0 lead against a 10-man Altrincham, as Scott Leather had been dismissed for a wild tackle.

However, a hugely contentious red card shown to Moult in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half, turned the match on its head.

Ten minutes later Andy Bishop followed Moult down the tunnel and Kevin Wilkin decided to park the bus to defend the lead. It turned out to be a fatal decision, as Wrexham finally cracked under constant pressure and conceded three goals in nine minutes.

A rare example of a home game against Altrincham which didn’t feature any sendings off came in February 2011. Andy Morrell gave us the lead just before the break and we looked home and dry when Adrian Cieslewicz put us 2-0 up with five minutes left. However, Alty immediately pulled one back and we had to dig in to clinch the points.

We also beat Altrincham in the early stages of the 2015-16 season. We’d already won our first five home games under Gary Mills, scoring three goals in all but one, and we were two-thirds of the way towards hitting three again by the break, through an own goal and a Blaine Hudson strike.

Alty pulled a goal back shortly after the interval, but James Grey struck to secure a 3-1 win.

Last season’s clash was a rather depressing experience. We started well, but The Robins scored on the break just before the break and the goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of us. We found it difficult to rouse ourselves in the second half as Altrincham held onto the win comfortably.

POTENTIAL MILESTONES

Phil Parkinson's 850th match as a manager.

Aaron Hayden's 200th career appearance.

Christian Dibble's 125th career league match.

Jordan Ponticelli's 100th career appearance.

Match Reports

Report | Wrexham AFC 4-0 Altrincham

The Red Dragons roar to three big points!

18 April 2022

Paul Mullin’s brace led the way in another clinical home performance as the Red Dragons roared past Altrincham to make it fifteen unbeaten in the National League, in front of over 10,000 supporters.

It was a dominant performance from Wrexham again, as they took the Robins defence apart with some clinical finishing to wrap up the contest before the break.

Jordan Davies got the Red Dragons off to a flyer as he volleyed home on the turn from a bouncing ball that fell into his path from a Ben Tozer throw.

Mullin doubled the lead in the 33rd minute as he rose the highest from Young’s corner and he headed home past Thompson.

Mullin got his second and Wrexham’s third after breaking into space just outside the penalty area before unleashing a thunderous strike which left Thomspon unmoved.

The lead soon become four as Hall-Johnson burst down the right-hand side before cutting back to Palmer, who curled his effort past the outstretched Thompson and into the net.

Phil Parkinson elected to name an unchanged side for the seventh game in a row as they aimed to make it fifteen unbeaten in the National League.

Wrexham took the lead in the opening minutes from a Ben Tozer throw for the 12th time this season, as Davies controlled the bouncing ball to volley past Thompson.

Mullin came close to doubling the lead as his low-driven effort from 25 yards forced Thompson into a terrific save diving to his right.

Moments later and Mullin did get his goal, as he jumped well from Young’s swept corner to head past Thomspon.

Five minutes later and Mullin got his second as he broke into space before sending his superb strike into the top corner leaving Thompson rooted to his goal-line.

Ollie Palmer managed to make it four and three goals in the space of seven minutes for Parkinson’s side, as he got on the end of Hall-Johnson’s cross and finished cooly.

Mullin came close to securing his first Wrexham hat-trick in the second half, as his leaping header went narrowly over the crossbar.

The visitors were starved of too many opportunities in the game, but Dan Mooney managed to pose questions of the Wrexham defence as his dipping shot was parried out for a corner by Dibble.

They came close again to getting a consolation goal as Colclough’s probing cross was fizzed across the six-yard box, but no yellow shirt could poke it home.

The Red Dragons return to action on Saturday for the first away game since Bromley against Woking Live on BT Sport.

Wrexham (5-3-2): Dibble, Hall-Johnson, Hayden (French 53’), Tozer, Cleworth, McFadzean, Young ©, Davies (McAlinden 77’), J.Jones, Mullin ( Jarvis 81’), Palmer

Subs not used: Camp and Angus

Bookings: Young 56’, Jones 73’

Altrincham: Thompson (GK), Perritt, Ferguson, Mullarky, Jones (White 70’), Mooney, Elliot, Marriot, Kosylo (Pringle 73’), Colclough), Hulme(Hancock 24’)

Subs not used: Moult and Cooper

Bookings: Jones 41’, Osbourne 64’

Attendance: 10,022 (383 Altrincham)

Match Reports

Ticket News

SUPPORTER INFORMATION | Wrexham AFC vs Altrincham

Everything you need to know about attending our Easter Monday fixture at the Racecourse Ground

18 April 2022

Wrexham’s run of consecutive home games comes to an end with match number seven against Altrincham at the Racecourse Ground on Easter Monday, April 18.

The Vanarama National League match kicks off at 3pm.

This game has SOLD OUT and there will be no tickets on sale on the day.

Please also read the important information about visiting the Racecourse Ground tonight – including important notes on bag searching and supporter conduct. Please be patient with staff and volunteers on the day, and please continue to represent our Football Club in the way in which we are all proud.

Thank you for your incredible support so far this season. For a full list of ground regulations, please see here.

Ticketing and entry

This match is all-ticket, and all tickets must be purchased in advance of the game – there will be no cash turnstiles in operation. Tickets for this game have sold out.

If you selected collection for your match-day tickets, please report to the collection points detailed below. We urge all supporters to collect their ticket as far in advance as possible.

We also ask all supporters to consider using the print-at-home/eTicket option in future.

There are a number of tickets still to be collected for this game, so please try and get to the collection points early.

The Wrexham AFC Club Shop is open from 9am-2.45pm for all home ticket collections for this game.
From 1.30pm on match-day, the Wrexham AFC Club Shop is only open for collections for fans in the Wrexham Lager Stand (home and away).
From 1.30pm, Macron Stand ticket holders should collect their tickets from the collection point on the Mold Road side of the stadium.
From 1.30pm, WREXRENT Stand ticket holders should collect their tickets from the collection point alongside the RCF Classroom.
See the map below for these locations.

Please note, the ticket office will not be open for any other ticketing enquiries before the game.

Racecourse Ground map.jpg

To avoid the risk of long queues on match-day, and leading up to kick-off, we would like to reiterate our request that all supporters collect their tickets as far in advance as possible and consider using Print-at-Home/eTickets in future.

Gates open for this game at 1.30pm. Please note, there will be no cash turnstiles in operation for this all-ticket game.

Again, we ask all supporters to get to the Racecourse Ground early where possible, to reduce queuing times and ensure any enquiries can be dealt with promptly and well in advance of kick-off time.

Print-at-home/eTickets

If you selected the print-at-home/eTicket option, please remember the following key steps to help ensure a smooth entry into the Racecourse Ground:

Print it out as a paper ticket, in its original size (A4)
Print on plain white paper, and do not alter the ticket in any way
Ensure the print is of sufficient quality to be read by the scanners on the turnstiles, and not faded/discoloured
Make sure you do not fold along the QR code

How to use an eTicket on your phone

Load your ticket up on your phone before getting to the turnstiles
Ensure your phone is carrying enough charge before leaving for the Racecourse Ground
Ensure your screen is not damaged in anyway
Set your screen brightness to full
Zoom in on the barcode section of the ticket to help the turnstile operators to scan you in

Wrexham Lager Stand ticket holders should enter via turnstiles 3-10. Macron Stand ticket holders should use turnstiles 25-30. WREXRENT Stand ticket holders should enter via turnstiles 36-42.

Please remove all face coverings when entering the ground, both outside and through the turnstiles.

Random bag searching will be increased for this game; bags will be searched and tagged by stewards.

Please only sit in your specified seat, and keep hold of your ticket in case any issues arise. Supporters found inside the Racecourse Ground without a valid ticket may be ejected.

Please stay off the playing surface at all times, and abide by the ground regulations.

Bag searching

Those attending fixtures at the Racecourse Ground are asked not to bring a bag to matches unless necessary, with small bags to be searched and tagged by security staff.

Fans should note that random searching may also be undertaken on entry to the stands. The Club would like to thank all supporters for their co-operation in this area.

You can see a full list of prohibited items in our Ground Regulations.

Supporter conduct

Wrexham AFC would like to remind supporters of the Club’s zero-tolerance stance towards unacceptable behaviour.

We are proud to be a welcoming family Club, and we are proud of the role we play in our community, but must reiterate that instances of unacceptable behaviour do not fall in line with these values.

For clarity, home or away, supporters should not under any circumstances:

Enter the field of play, at any time.
Throw objects, such as bottles and especially pyrotechnics
Bring, let alone use, pyrotechnics such as flares and smoke bombs to any stadium.

Wrexham AFC strongly condemns the behaviour of a small group of attendees on occasion this season, whose actions have at times impacted on the match-going experience, home and away, of our true supporters.

As ever, the Club will work closely with North Wales Police to identify anyone involved in these isolated incidents, with those found to be in breach of ground regulations, or engaging in disorder or anti-social behaviour, facing stadium bans.

Please see the Club’s most recent statement on supporter conduct on match-days here.

Should you encounter any trouble or unacceptable behaviour, you can report this to your nearest steward or, confidentially, by emailing info@wrexhamafc.co.uk.

Away supporters

Away supporters for this game will occupy the university end of the Wrexham Lager Stand. Entry is via turnstiles 1-2.

Please note, there is no alcohol on sale in the away end in line with national regulations, as the refreshment kiosk is pitch-facing.

Parking

Parking is available in the Wrexham Glyndwr University car park, adjacent to the stadium, at a cost of £3 per car. Blue badge parking is also available.

Please do not park in the main club car park, and please also be respectful of our neighbours when choosing where to park. Cars must not be parked in permit-only areas around the ground.

We know all supporters are proud of our place in the community, and we ask everybody to respect that when parking their cars so as to avoid disruption to our neighbours.

Please also be mindful of our neighbours when leaving the Racecourse Ground, and take care when walking to and from the stadium.

Travel information

By car: The Racecourse Ground is located on Mold Road. The postcode is LL11 2AH. By car, take the A483 from Chester or Oswestry to Wrexham. Exit at the ‘Mold’ junction and then follow signs for ‘Town Centre’ and the Racecourse Ground will come quickly into view.

By train: The nearest train station is Wrexham General, which is located next to the ground.

By bus: Wrexham bus station is located in the centre of town. From the bus station, head towards the prominent multi-storey car park and turn right along Mold Road. The ground will be located on the right-hand side, just after you cross the bridge over the railway tracks, about half a mile along this road.

Hospitality

All hospitality areas for this game open at 12pm. Supporters in the Bamford Suite, Exec Room and Board Room should use the Bamford’s entrance – accessible from the main club car park.

Supporters in the executive boxes, 1864 Partners Lounge and Aviation American Gin Suite should enter via the reception on Mold Road.

Please contact geoff.scott@wrexhamafc.co.uk should you have any further questions regarding hospitality.

Centenary Club

The Centenary Club is open for this game, to ticket holders only. Tickets cost £5, and allow you access to the bar with reduced queuing times, and the chance to soak up the pre-match atmosphere with your fellow supporters.

Kiosks

Refreshment kiosks will be open for this game in the WREXRENT Stand, Macron Stand and Wrexham Lager Stand, serving a range of hot and cold drinks, alcoholic drinks, hot food and confectionary.

We ask all supporters to use card payments where possible.

Match-day programmes

Printed match-day programmes will be available to buy from our sellers in the Macron Stand concourse, at a cost of £3 each. Programme sellers will be situated within the concourse of the Macron Stand and WREXRENT Stand and outside the Wrexham Lager Stand turnstiles. The Club Shop also has programmes for sale.

If any programmes remain after the match, they will be available online from the club shop at shop.wrexhamafc.co.uk for delivery only, from Tuesday April 19.

Disabled supporters

Our accessible viewing platforms in the Macron Stand and WREXRENT Stand will be open for this game. Supporters who have been contacted to use the Macron Stand platform, should enter via the Mold Road reception and use the lift.

Supporters who have been contacted to use the WREXRENT Stand should enter via gate 12.

Wheelchair users should enter via gate 12, to the left of the turnstiles on Mold Road, for the level entrance into the stadium.

We ask that all wheelchair users stick to their allocated spaces, due to the high demand for places this season. Ticket-holders in the Autism Friendly section should also use gate 12 – our designated quiet entrance. The refurbished sensory room will be open for this game. Please note, we have fitted a radar lock to the sensory room – if you require entry, please see the friendly-face stewards.

Our autism-friendly section is PG1 – a designated quiet area, with more space for supporters.

All of our accessible toilets at the Racecourse Ground have radar locks on – please ensure you bring your radar key, if you have one, to access these toilets. If you do not have a radar key, you can ask a steward.

Our audio-descriptive commentary service will also be available for this game. Receivers can be picked up from reception in the Macron Stand, but supporters must bring their own headphones. Your commentators for the game will be Alex Carter and George Randles.

COVID-19 guidelines

We continue to follow the existing Welsh Government guidance at the Racecourse Ground. We urge all supporters to continue to remain vigilant and respectful of your fellow fans and consider them when making decisions on match-day.

Please also maintain good hand hygiene, use hand sanitisers where provided and avoid touching your face, handles or railings wherever possible.

You are responsible for deciding whether or not you should attend any match and, prior to attending each match, carry out a personal risk assessment based on your own age, health and susceptibility to infection and clinical vulnerability and of those in your household or support bubble (based on government guidelines).

You must not attend this game if you have been asked to self-isolate, and you should not attend if you or anyone in your household has developed any COVID-19 symptoms.

Please avoid unnecessary movement away from your seat, and wherever possible wait until gangways are clear to avoid queuing and crowded concourses as much as you can.

Can’t make the game?

Live audio commentary will be hosted on WrexhamPlayer, for free – please register to access commentary.

A live text feed will be available on the Live Match Centre, as well as updates on our social channels.

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