How would Wrexham and Paul Mullin fare in MLS? The factors to consider

This summer, the U.S. will welcome its new favourite British club for the first time: Wrexham, who were recently promoted from the National League, the fifth tier of English football. 

On their preseason trip, Wrexham will face Premier League giants Manchester United and Chelsea, plus local side LA Galaxy II – who will play host at Dignity Health Sports Park on July 22.

Credit for turning the fortunes of a Welsh club, the surrounding town and community on its head falls gratefully on Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds after the Hollywood pair bought Wrexham for around £2 million ($2.5m) in late 2020. Since then, Wrexham have won promotion to League Two at the second time of asking, the English Football League’s fourth division, making transatlantic stars of manager Phil Parkinson, Wayne Jones, the landlord of The Turf Pub and Paul Mullin, Wrexham’s star striker and talisman. 

Despite amassing a record-breaking 111 points, it is difficult to assess precisely where Wrexham place within global football at this point of their surreal transformation. They’re rich by National League standards; they have a quality manager by National League standards; and they have a goal machine in attack who has scored 134 of his 137 goals in English football’s fourth-best league or below, but they are still technically a non-league club.

Underpinning their record points total, Wrexham have scored 116 goals, one fewer than title rivals Notts County but 13 more than the previous league record of 105. Their 34 wins is a league record, beating Crawley’s total of 31. Between October and April, they also recorded a 28-game unbeaten league run.

All will agree they are not Premier League standard, given the enormous wealth and quality throughout the most-watched football league in the world, but will they be favourites for promotion from League Two next season? Would they, as currently constructed, be a top-half League One side? Could they even compete to survive in the Championship? Fans of Sheffield United, who watched their team score in the fifth minute of second-half injury time at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground to rescue a replay in the fourth round of the FA Cup, might argue they could.

“What I would say is that the players that are currently on our squad are far better players than those usually found in the National League,” Wrexham board advisor Shaun Harvey told The Athletic. “And as such, we believe we will be able to compete very comfortably at the next level inside England. But it’s always different. It’s always difficult to compare.”

The club are not afraid to be ambitious. With the backing of FX, who will air season two of the “Welcome to Wrexham” series in the United States later this year, Wrexham continue to grow into a unique football-club-meets-reality-television-show phenomenon. 

“We feel that the sky is the limit for Wrexham,” Humphrey Ker, the club’s executive director, said. “You look at the crowds…