Here we go. Thank God. Or whatever benevolent force you are inclined to thank for the return of competitive football.
After a Summer that seemed to last longer than the Roman Empire, football has returned and it remains glorious. There was an expectant buzz around the Racecourse on Saturday that was palpable all the way from Los Angeles, crackling through the Wrexham Player commentary, with the largest crowd for a home opener since 1979 and the biggest crowd in the National League and League Two. There was a real feeling that this year is the year that we finally escape the doldrums of the National League, starting our promotion party with a routine 12-0 slaughter of noted Hampshire football duds Eastleigh.
Unfortunately, nobody appears to have passed the script on to Eastleigh, who arrived with a clear and understandable desire to ruin the big day. Indeed, they seemed to take their partying inspiration from that one bridesmaid's boyfriend who doesn't really know anyone at the wedding, shows up drunk and gets the bride's father in a headlock during the ceremony. For 70-odd minutes, following a goal against the run of play in the first half, Eastleigh reveled in the role of villains of the piece, deploying all the tricks of the trade to try and throw us off our rhythm, bait the crowd, run down the clock and, well, get the bride's father in a headlock. It's hard to hold it against them and I'm sure we'll see plenty more of it this season, but their plans were undone by the introduction of Elliot Lee from the subs bench, who extricated the bride's father from the headlock, gave Eastleigh some stern words of life advice that really hit home before bundling them into a taxi and saving the wedding. 2-1 Wrexham, three times the points we had at this stage last season and everybody home happy in the sunshine.
I remain woefully underqualified to say where Elliot's debut ranks in the pantheon of great Wrexham debuts, but I do feel qualified to say it was bloody good and I hope he does the same thing in every game this season and we win the league by 30 points.
This week saw both the Chairmen in attendance in Los Angeles as they started the promotional push for the documentary which is now only a couple of weeks away. The city is peppered in billboards and I've been sent sightings from friends all over the US, as the Disney marketing team swing into action. After Ryan joined Rob on the Jimmy Kimmel Show on Tuesday, we had a board meeting at a posh hotel in Bel Air where the Club's strategy for the next few years was discussed and I dropped a slice of margherita pizza on my white shirt. It was an incongruous setting for a National League Club's meeting, but I left as excited about the future for Wrexham AFC as I have been at any time during this experience.
Roll on Yeovil. Wear sunscreen and drink lots of water!