Wednesday night sees Liverpool play their second of three pre-season fixtures in the United States this week. Last Saturday, Andoni Iraola's side beat Sunderland 4-2 in Nashville, concluding the tour on Sunday against Leeds United at Soldier Field in Chicago. In-between, the Reds will be in New York City to face Wrexham at Yankee Stadium. As their only non-Premier League opponent of this tour, fans might not know a huge amount about Wrexham, so here is all you need to know.
Liverpool vs Wrexham: previous meetings
Despite the fact Anfield and the Racecourse Ground are located a mere 40 miles apart, these two clubs have only ever met three times in competitive fixtures.
- 9 January 1963: FA Cup third round - Wrexham 0-3 Liverpool; Roger Hunt, Jimmy Melia & Jimmy Melia.
- 24 January 1970: FA Cup fourth round - Liverpool 3-1 Wrexham; Bobby Graham X2 & Ian St. John.
- 17 January 1978: EFL Cup quarter-final - Wrexham 1-3 Liverpool; Kenny Dalglish hat-trick.
The pair last clashed in a League Cup quarter-final 48 years ago, when a Kenny Dalglish hat-trick saw Bob Paisley's team prevail 3-1 in Northern Wales. The Reds then ousted Arsenal in the semi-finals, before losing to Nottingham Forest 1-0 in a final replay at Old Trafford. This was the first of 15 League Cup Finals in which Liverpool have featured, a competition record.
Wrexham's recent rise
As recently as 2022/23, Wrexham were in the National League, England's fifth-tier, their 15th successive season in non-league, the division's longest-serving club. Well, following the takeover of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Red Dragons have achieved back-to-back-to-back promotions, something professional English football had never previously seen.
They went from the National League to the EFL Championship in double-quick time, thereby competing in the second-tier for the first time since 1981/82 last season. However, Wrexham's streak of promotions did come to an end, finishing seventh, just one place below the play-off spots. Nevertheless, it feels like only a matter of time until they are promoted to the top division for the first time in their 161-year history.
Wrexham's popularity in America
As a result of their celebrity ownership, alongside the highly-popular Disney+ and Hulu documentary, Wrexham have become one of the most well-supported clubs in North America. Last year, it was reported that, of their record £26.7 million revenue, more than half came from overseas, primarily North America.
Thus, this is not their first pre-season tour of the States. In the summer of 2023, Wrexham played matches in North Carolina, Los Angeles and San Diego, before games in Santa Barbara, Santa Clara and Vancouver the following year. This time last summer, they toured Australia and New Zealand, on show in Sydney, Melbourne and Wellington. Fair to say, not many non-Champions League level European clubs are doing that, let alone a side in the second-tier.
Played for both Liverpool and Wrexham
Liverpool's all-time leading scorer Ian Rush is among those to have played for both clubs. Born and raised in North Wales, he scored 346 times for the Reds during a 16-year career at Anfield, winning five First Division titles and 20 major honours overall. He was Liverpool's leading scorer in eight seperate seasons, a club record, and picked up the European Golden Boot in 1984.
After leaving Merseyside, Rush bounced around various clubs, including returning home to Wales at the age of 36. He made 24 appearances for Wrexham in the 1998/99 season, a third-tier outfit at the time, failing to score a single goal, before departing for his final club Sydney Olympic.
Meantime, fellow Welshman Joey Jones also played for both Reds. He represented the Dragons 450 times across three spells, while also spending four seasons at Liverpool. During this time, the left-back won six major honours, starting the 1977 European Cup Final triumph in Rome over Borussia Mönchengladbach. Jones sadly passed away almost exactly a year ago at the age of 70.
In the current Wrexham squad is Danny Ward, who made three senior appearances for Liverpool in 2016 and 2017. He is their back-up goalkeeper, behind Arthur Okonkwo.
Wrexham's impressive pre-season results
Any Liverpool supporter expecting their team to swat aside Wrexham in the Bronx on Wednesday night may just be disappointed. Phil Parkinson's side are currently unbeaten in pre-season, first drawing 0-0 with Wisła Kraków, invited to Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium to celebrate the Polish club's 120th anniversary. Then, Sam Smith was the only scorer as the Red Dragons beat Manchester United in Helsinki.
On Saturday, they began their US-tour by claiming another Premier League scalp, this time defeating Leeds United 3-2 in Tampa. Kieffer Moore was on target in the first minute, before Bailey Cadamarteri and Smith also netted at Raymond James Stadium.
Wrexham's competitive campaign commences as soon as next Friday night, facing Middlesbrough at the Riverside in the Carabao Cup. Thus, weeks ahead of Iraola's team in their preparation, they could very much upset Liverpool in New York.
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