SO much has changed since Wrexham and Wolves went head-to-head in a league fixture.
Wolves were on their way to the Division Four title on their last visit to The Racecourse in 1988 and while they headed towards the top flight, Wrexham celebrated a couple of promotions themselves before falling through the Football League trapdoor and into the non-league doldrums in 2008.
Tomorrow they meet again in front of a revamped Kop that was busier than normal the last time Wolves were in town 38 years ago.
While money seems to be no object in Wrexham’s remarkable new era under Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, times were hard - very hard - back in 1988.
Gordon Mytton was the chairman at the time and in the final matchday home programme of the season following Wrexham’s 4-2 home win over Graham Turner’s promoted Wolves, the building developer spoke candidly about the Racecourse coffers.
The Wolves game on April 30 had attracted Wrexham’s best home attendance of the season - 6,898.
Not a bad gate when you consider only 963 had bothered to turn up for the home game against Exeter City five weeks before.
“I had lunch with the Wolves chairman before our game last week and he told me his gate receipts for the previous game topped £65,000 - we sometimes struggle to get that in a dozen games,” Mytton told the programme editors.
“That’s the difference when you have good gates.”
Mytton said that bigger gates were key to manager Dixie McNeil’s budget to bring in players.
“On the one hand you have to have a good squad and the board appreciate Dixie’s predicament but there is no bottomless pit from which to draw reserves,” Mytton added.
“If someone were to move on then Dixie would be given free rein to pull another player in.”
McNeil, now the club president, managed to put together decent squads and they actually pulled off a double over Wolves that season.
A hero of both those victories was Mike Williams - a defender who became a big favourite at Wrexham following his free transfer move from cross-border rivals, Chester City.
“They battered us at Molineux, but we won 2-0!” said Williams.
“Wolves had Steve Bull in those days and he was scoring for fun but he didn’t score in the two games against us that season!
“I remember that win at Wolves. I had three stitches in my face as memento. I can’t recall who did it but we had Kevin Russell in our side and with his pace, balls over the top were great for us and we knew he’d get on the end of them.”
Russell and loan striker Robert Alleyne got the goals in front of an 8,451 crowd on November 28 at Molineux but it was even better at The Racecourse five months later where Williams headed in the opener in a 4-2 victory over the champions-elect.
“They were going for the title and their fans packed the away end but we played really well that day,” added Williams, who won back-to-back player of the season awards in 1986 and 1987.
“We were a good team but it was a case of survival in those days. They were hard times for us and crowds were down for a lot of clubs in the country - even those at the top.”
The Wolves game attracted Wrexham’s best crowd of the season - 6,898 - and another bumper home gate of 5,977 against another promoted side Bolton boosted The Racecourse coffers in a campaign where 15 home gates were below the 2,000 mark.
Russell also scored in the 4-2 win over over Wolves with the late Geoff Hunter also on target before Brian Flynn scored his first ever goal for Wrexham.
Share