We haven’t met Wrexham in the English Football League (EFL) since 2006/07 and they arrive at The Mem on Saturday currently on course to achieve a third successive promotion, having finished as National League Champions in 2022/23 and securing second place in League Two last season.
This will be the 43rd league meeting between the sides, with Rovers having won 17 of the previous 42 encounters, Wrexham 18 and there’s been seven draws. In terms of goals, Rovers have scored 57 and Wrexham 52.
The first ever league meetings between the sides came back in 1962/63 when Rovers were beaten 5-2 at The Racecourse Ground on 1st September 1962 while the return game at Eastville on 11th May 1963 ended in a 1-1 draw.
In 2006/07 Wrexham were 2-0 winners at The Racecourse on 28th October 2006 and also won the return fixture, 1-0 at The Mem, on 24th March 2007. It was the final league defeat of the season for Rovers who went on to clinch promotion via the play offs.
The sides met twice in The Conference in 2014/15. On 9th September 2014 Rovers were 1-0 winners at The Memorial Stadium when a crowd of 5.082 saw Andy Monkhouse score the only goal of the game in the 34th minute.
The return fixture at The Racecourse Ground, on 2nd December 2014 ended goalless. It was an eventful game for Rovers as they lost goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall to injury on 41 minutes. With no goalkeeper on the bench, skipper Mark McChrystal took on shot stopping duties.
There was also a game played on the Isle of Man in July 2004, when Rovers were 4-2 winners against Wrexham in the Island’s Steam Packet International Football Festival. Rovers scored through Richard Walker, Junior Agogo, Lewis Haldane and a Steve Roberts own goal. Chris Armstrong scored both Wrexham goals.
On 2nd February 1974 Rovers, unbeaten in the league since the beginning of the 1973/74 season, were defeated in their 28th game of the campaign when they lost 1-0 at Wrexham, the only goal of the game being scored by Arfon Griffiths, just a minute into the second half. but the game ended on a controversial note as Rovers had, what they believed, a perfectly good goal disallowed.
Players to have turned out for both sides include Danny Allsopp, Phil Bater, Sam Finley, Kevin Gall, Jefferson Louis, Chris Llewellyn, Paul
Raynor, Scott Shearer, John Vaughan, Gareth Taylor and Danny Williams.
Among the players who have made their Rovers league debut against Wrexham are; Mike England, Dave Palmer, Steve Williams, Ian Holloway, Kevin Westaway, Matt Hayfield, Mike Wyatt, Simon Bryant and Jamal Easter.
Current league standings show Wrexham in third place, with 41 points from 20 games while Rovers are in 20th place with 21 points from 19 games.
Last weekend the Welsh side drew 2-2 against Cambridge United at The Racecourse Ground, while Rovers were beaten 2-0 by second placed Birmingham City at St Andrews, a match that turned out to be Matt Taylor’s last in charge.
Once it was confirmed that Taylor had been shown the exit, the many rumours about his successor began, fuelled by comments made on social media by those claiming to be in the know, and newspapers quoting betting odds for those thought to be in the running.
At the time of writing no appointment has been announced, but whoever is in charge against our visitors from North Wales, it makes no difference. It really is time to make The Mem a fortress again and the onus is on the manager/interim manager to impress on his players that they need to show that they are proud to wear the shirt and play with passion.
Supporters can accept many things, but a lack of pride in playing for our club isn’t one of them. If the players selected for the match go out and give it their all then supporters will do their bit and get behind them – it’s time that the atmosphere at The Mem changed, for the better, so let’s hope that’s the case for our final home game of 2024.