With My Little Pick and Shovel - A Cardiff City Story

congrats mate! massive achievement.
how have cardiff done in your absence?
Cheers mate :)

Since I left Cardiff have finished 2nd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd and 3rd again. Have been through 4 managers, stopped using my youth policy and have frozen out players like Pennock. They've won 1 Champions League, 2 Club World Championships, 1 FA Cup, 1 European Super Cup, 1 Europa League and 3 League Cups
 
EURO 2032 GROUP STAGES
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We've been drawn with Romania, Northern Ireland and Belgium. Very winnable.

EURO 2032 GROUP B
Wales 1-0 Romania

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Morris, Giggs, Bellamy, Davies, Lloyd, Grant, Felgate (Jarman 77), Sellick (France 55), Pennock, Thomas (Roberts 67), Giles

A very solid start in front of a packed Millennium Stadium crowd as we dominate Romania and bag a solid win, with Mark Giles scoring his first competitive goal for Wales

EURO 2032 GROUP B
Northern Ireland 1-4 Wales

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Morris, Giggs, Bellamy (Rogers 76), Davies, Felgate (Powell 60), Grant, Thomas, Sellick, Lloyd (Roberts 76), Giles

A confident performance lead us to a huge 4-1 victory over Northern Ireland that confirms our place in the Second Round. Giles was fantastic and Roberts added the cherry to the cake with his 53rd international goal

EURO 2032 GROUP B
Wales 0-0 Belgium
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Morris, Llewelyn Hughes, Rogers, Cook, France, Jarman, Felgate (Grant 51), Powell, Pennock (Sellick 57), Roberts, Feeley

Very happy as a weakened side got a well earned draw that confirmed our place at the top of the group

LEAGUE TABLE
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Top of the group and an unbeaten start. Happy days.
 
EURO 2032 KNOCKOUT STAGES
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Here we go, here we go, here we go

EURO 2032 SECOND ROUND
Spain 1-1 Wales
Wales win 5-4 on penalties
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Morris, Giggs (Rogers 101), Bellamy, Davies, Lloyd, Grant, Felgate (Jarman 66, 70), Sellick, Pennock, Thomas, Giles

A very tight game that nobody wanted to end but, unfortunately, it had to. Fortunately we were the winners as we held our nerve from twelve yards, with Kieron Sellick, Chris Pennock, Kyle Davies, David Rogers and Dale Thomas holding their nerve. Arron Jarman though.... Tom Giggs is out for the rest of the tournament

EURO 2032 QUARTER FINAL
Wales 3-2 Netherlands
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Morris, Rogers, Bellamy, Davies, Powell, Grant, Felgate, Sellick (Parry 55), Lloyd (Roberts 60), Pennock, Giles

Phew! I was very, very worried when we were 2-0 down as we'd been dominant but had been hit on the break twice. Fortunately Wessel Moonen noticed our domination and tried to give us a deserved win as he got himself sent off, making it easier for us to get back to 2-2, eventually allowing Tyler Roberts to score a dramatic late equaliser

EURO 2032 SEMI FINAL
Switzerland 0-2 Wales

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Morris, Rogers, Grant (Cook 57), Bellamy, Powell, Jarman, Felgate (Feeley 57), Parry (Sellick 57), Roberts, Pennock, Giles

A much easier tie as we faced the competition's over-achievers in Switzerland. A huge 72,500 fans turned out to spur us on to victory and give us a huge send-off before we head up to Hampden Park to take on a huge foe

EURO 2032 FINAL
Wales 2-1 England

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Morris, Rogers, Cook, Davies, Lloyd (Powell 62), Grant, Jarman, Parry, Pennock (Llewelyn Hughes 86), Thomas (Roberts 62), Giles

"Oh what a night.." an amazing night in Glasgow as we dominate England, winning with the wonderful Tyler Roberts' 55th international goal. Amazing.


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FROM MAGPIES TO ROBINS

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Wrexham have made their first two signings as a Premier League club, with both of them joining from Championship side Newcastle United

The former Magpies, both attacking players, have come in for a combined fee of £20m

The first player to come in was Welsh international striker Rob Wynne, who's joined Wrexham for £4m

Wynne, 26, impressed at Newcastle last campaign, scoring 14 goals in 26 league games in what was a disappointing campaign for the Magpies

Wynne has had a varied career since leaving hometown club Alfreton for the bright lights of Nottingham Forest, making appearances for Charlton, Luton, Dundee United, Bristol City, Hamilton Academical and Newcastle United before joining Wrexham, scoring 54 goals and grabbing 38 assists in 244 league appearances

Wynne has also made 18 appearances for Wales, scoring 5 goals and lifting the World Cup
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Second to join the club was Wayne Noice, who's joined Wrexham from Newcastle for a club record £16m

20 year old attacking midfielder Noice has joined Wrexham following an impressive season at Newcastle, where he won the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Year, following an impressive haul of 29 goals and 15 assists in 40 league appearances for the Magpies

Noice has never spent more than a season at a club after leaving Fulham in 2028, spending a year at Derby, whom he'd joined for £375,000 before spending two seasons on loan at Coventry and then Rangers

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YOUNGSTERS: 3 IN, 1 OUT

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Three youngsters have joined Wrexham, with one leaving the club in a busy day at the Racecourse

The player sold was 18 year old Croatian midfielder Ivica Gabric, who has joined Atletico Madrid for £4.5m

Gabric, signed just last season for just £230,000, never made an appearance for Wrexham but still gained interest from clubs such as Barcelona, Roma and Atletico Madrid

50% of Gabric's next transfer fee will go to the Robins
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The first player signed by Wrexham was Serbian defender Ugljesa Budakov, who's joined the club for £35,000

16 year old centre back Budakov has joined Wrexham from boyhood club Donji Strem

He has made 3 appearances for the Serbian Under 19 side
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Second to join the Robins was Norwegian midfielder, Lars Stai, who's joined Wrexham for £1,600

The 16 year old Norwegian central midfielder has joined the club from Norwegian fourth tier side Kongsviger, Stai's local side

As well as being capped by the Norwegian Under 19 side on three occasions, Stai can also speak four languages fluently: Norwegian, English, Swedish and Danish
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The final player to sign for Wrexham was Samy Guenifi, who was also the most expensive signing at £50,000

18 year old defensive midfielder Guenifi was signed from Algerian side ASO Chief, for whom he'd made 21 league appearances

Guenifi also had 5 caps for the Algerian Under 20 side

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TWO IN FOR NOTHING

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Newly promoted Wrexham have today announced the signing of two players - for no money at all!

The first signing announced was that of English midfielder Shaun Richardson, who's joined the club following the expiration of his contract at Celtic

Richardson, 25, is believed to have been a long time target of Hawkins at Wrexham, with the Welshman having bids turned down for him just last summer

Richardson is yet to really settle since leaving Leeds United for Chesterfield 5 years ago, leaving for Scotland for £2.2m where he made just one appearance for Celtic over three seasons - instead spending time on loan at Hearts
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The second signing was that of another Englishman! This one being 32 year old defender Levi Steer on a free transfer

32 year old Steer is something of a seasoned Premier League campaigner, having played for West Ham, Everton, Nottingham Forest, Watford, Derby, Newcastle and Sheffield Wednesday in the top flight, commanding transfer fees totalling £27m

The former England Under 20 international has been brought in to add some much needed experience to a youthful Wrexham squad
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TWO JOIN WREXHAM

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Newly promoted Wrexham have been very busy in the transfer market today, bringing in two players, one permanent signing and another on loan

First up, the permanent signing. Wrexham have brought in Scottish left winger Declan Martin from Bristol City

Martin, 22, has the joined the Robins for a fee of £5m after impressing at Bristol City, where he scored 5 goals and bagged 13 assists in his sole season at the club

The Warrington-born winger, who has two caps for Scotland, joined Bristol from Manchester United despite never making a league appearance for the Red Devils, instead spending time out on loan at Norwich, Preston and Hamilton
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The second signing was that of Welsh midfielder Arron Jarman, who's joined Wrexham on loan from Cardiff for the rest of the season

Jarman, 18, has made 1 league appearance for the Bluebirds and is held in high regard at both club and international level

The Cardiff-born midfielder has made 10 appearances for his country, scoring 1 goal and lifting the European Championship in the process
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AUGUST
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Wrexham's first ever top flight season. Let's do this!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 2-1 Fulham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer 27, Foster, King (Bloom 82), Martinez, James, Martin, Noice, Buchta (Powell 27), Wynne (Roberts 82)

What a game! Levi Steer was sent off 27 minutes into his debut and Fulham scored the resulting penalty, forcing me to contemplate whether or not survival was possible with this horrendous start. It looked like the game would run down into a Fulham win but our perseverance paid off as we earned a penalty, which Wayne Noice scored, before he scored the winner from 20 yards! What a player! Oh it's good to be back

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Arsenal 3-1 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Powell, Rogers, Foster, King, Walker, James, Martin, Noice, Buchta (Martinez 63), Wynne

A very good performance at the Emirates meant we were unlucky to lose. Arsenal took a lucky lead but we came back just before half-time. Unfortunately we switched off and allowed Arsenal to take the lead going into the break. If we hadn't conceded that I think we could have at least grabbed a point. At least it wasn't 10-1.

LEAGUE CUP SECOND ROUND
Wrexham 3-1 Fleetwood Town

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Maxwell, Budakov, Rogers, Montesantos, Karakaya, Walker (Martinez 65), Richardson, Antonio, Noice (Wynne 65), Robson, Roberts

My first ever League Cup Second Round win with Wrexham came courtesy of the Under 21s

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 0-0 Ipswich Town

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Richardson (Krejci 59), Martinez, Martin, Noice, Buchta, Wynne (Roberts 73)
We should have won.

LEAGUE TABLE
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Not a bad first month
 
SEPTEMBER
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Month number two of our Premier League adventure. Can we improve on our decent start?

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Nottingham Forest 3-0 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King, Jarman, Richardson, Martin (Higton 60), Noice, Martinez (Buchta 60), Wynne

The game was a lot tighter than the scoreline would suggest as we dominated possession and had just two fewer shots on target. Unfortunately, three of theirs went in

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 3-0 Liverpool

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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King, Jarman, Buchta, Martin, Noice (Roberts 77), Martinez (Bloom 83), Wynne (Richardson 54)

That's better! We were dominant in every facet of the game today and were duly rewarded with a stunning 3-0 victory, with Declan Martin bagging his first Wrexham goal to boot!

LEAGUE CUP THIRD ROUND
Wrexham 2-1 Oldham Athletic

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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King, Jarman (Buchta 68), Richardson, Martin, Noice, Martinez, Wynne

23 shots but only 2 goals. Worrying?

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Watford 1-0 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King, Jarman, Richardson (Buchta 78), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Krejci 78), Wynne (Roberts 60)

We played tremendously well, had 63% possession but were beaten by a late worldie from Fonseca. Very annoying

LEAGUE TABLE
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Hmmm

TOP SCORER: WAYNE NOICE (5 GOALS)
 
OCTOBER
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A very tough month ahead as we face last season's 11th, 3rd, 2nd and 6th placed sides

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 2-2 Leeds United

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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King (Bloom 89), Jarman, Buchta (Richardson 69), Martin, Noice, Martinez, Wynne

A fairly tight game where a draw was pretty fair, although we managed 8 shots on target to Leeds' 2.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Cardiff City 2-0 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King (Bloom 59), Richardson, Buchta (Krejci 69), Martin (Higton 59), Martinez, Noice, Wynne

I arrived at Cardiff and played my boyhood club for the first time in managemnt and visited the Cardiff City Stadium for my first club in 6 years and we were... battered. 3 shots, 1 on target

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 1-3 Manchester United

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Jarman, James (Richardson 61), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Krejci 74), Wynne

We didn't do too badly but unfortunately United didn't either as they scored straight from kick off in the second half. They have a player called Panda. Panda.

LEAGUE CUP FOURTH ROUND
Swansea City 3-0 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Rogers (Lynch 64), Steer 12, Foster, King (Richardson 64), Jarman, James, Martin, Noice, Martinez (Powell 12), Wynne

Oh Levi. Sent off for dissent in the 12th minute. The 12th minute. Still had 64% possession though

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea 3-2 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Lynch (Powell 57), Foster, King, Jarman, James (Buchta 57), Martin (Lacey 70), Martinez, Noice, Wynne

We played really, but so did Chelsea, and they have better players, so they won

LEAGUE TABLE
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What a horrible month

TOP SCORER: WAYNE NOICE (7 GOALS)
 
NOVEMBER
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We have to improve on last months showing

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 2-3 Tottenham Hotspur

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Lynch, Foster, King (Richardson 79), Jarman, James, Martin, Noice, Martinez, Wynne

Owen Pringle you horrible little man. Last kick of the game. Last kick of the f*cking game

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
West Ham United 0-2 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King (Buchta 68), Jarman, James (Richardson 63), Martin (Fishwick 68), Noice, Martinez, Wynne

What a performance! 69% possession and 20 shots, a clean sheet and three points! All in a days work as we visit London with nothing and return home with victory

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 1-0 Hull City
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Llewelyn, Steer, Rogers, Foster, King, Jarman (Walker 81), James (Richardson 81), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Buchta 81), Wynne

Another impressive performance, another win. We dominated possession (64%) and had plenty of chances. I could get used to this

LEAGUE TABLE
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Things are looking a lot better now

TOP SCORER: WAYNE NOICE (8 GOALS)
 
DECEMBER
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A promising month last time out, let's keep it going!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Southampton 1-1 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Fishwick, Rogers, Steer, Foster, Jarman, James, Wynne (King 76), Martinez (Richardson 64), Martin, Noice

We tried out a very deep 4-2-3-1 with two defensive midfielders and managed to stifle Southampton fairly well, even taking the lead before eventually succumbing to a counter attack

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 3-1 Rotherham United

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer (Powell 89), Foster, King, Jarman, James (Richardson 75), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Buchta 89), Wynne

67& possession and a very good performance provided the cherry on the top of our three point cake. Rotherham took an undeserved lead which had me worried, especially as we missed chance after chance. Fortunately we found a breakthrough and never looked back, adding two more goals to make it a comfrotable victory

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Brentford 0-3 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer (Powell 80), Foster, King, Jarman, James (Richardson 61), Martin, Noice (Krejci 80), Martinez, Wynne

A great away performance as we went 2-0 up in 15 minutes and then went on to control the game, adding a third in added time

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Manchester City 6-1 Wrexham

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Llewelyn, Foster, Steer, Rogers, Fishwick, Jarman, James, King (Richardson 79), Martinez (Buchta 79), Martin, Noice (Wynne 79)

Battered.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Stoke City 1-1 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Jarman, Walker, Martinez, Noice, Martinez (Buchta 64), Wynne
Gutted when Noice missed the penalty. Elated when he scored the rebound. What a result!

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 3-2 Derby County

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King (Fishwick 80), Jarman, Walker (Richardson 71), Martin, Noice (Roberts 71), Martinez, Wynne

A very topsy-turvy game where the better team won in the end. Fortunately that team were wearing the red shirts of Wrexham as we pick up another three points

LEAGUE TABLE
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Looking good

TOP SCORER: WAYNE NOICE (12 GOALS)
 
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MILLION POUND BLUEBIRDS

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Wrexham manager Matthew Hawkins has once again returned to his old stomping ground for a brief visit before leaving with a player or two

The serial winner, with 3 Champions League titles under his belt, has spent a £1m on his shopping spree in Cardiff, returning to Wrexham with two bright prospects

The first signed was 20 year old Welsh goalkeeper Kristian Pipe, who's joined Wrexham for a fee of £600,000

The Caerphilly-born shot stopper came through the system at Cardiff which many credit Hawkins for helping to build

The Wales Under-21 international never made an appearance for Cardiff, instead making loan appearances for Oxford United and Bristol Rovers
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The second signing announced was that of 22 year old English midfielder Stephen Ward, who cost Wrexham £400,000

The former England Under-21 international was signed for Cardiff by Hawkins back in 2027, joining the Bluebirds from West Ham for £1m

Ward made only 1 league appearance for Cardiff in his 6 years at the Cardiff City Stadium, scoring on his debut in a 2-0 victory over Chelsea

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WREXHAM BRING IN TWO

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Wrexham have today completed the signings of two players for a combined fee of £18m

The first signing announced was the signing of Colombian midfielder Ivan Mateus, who's joined the Robins from Atletico Madrid for £7m

The 19 year old midfielder, who has 6 caps for Colombia, has joined the club after two years and 17 league appearances at the Estadio de Madrid
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The second signing announced was that of Welsh attacking midfielder Lee Walsh, who's joined Wreham from Cardiff for £11m

Walsh, 21, came through the Cardiff City academy but failed to make a league appearance for the Bluebirds and has left eh club in search of this

Walsh has 35 caps for the Wales Under-21 side, scoring 1 goal

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Nice signings, good to see you grabbing some talent from Cardiff!
 
JANUARY
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Can we kick off 2033 with a few wins?

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Fulham 2-1 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Walker, Richardson, Martin (Buchta 63), Noice, Martinez (Roberts 63), Wynne

A very even game that should have ended in a draw, but they kicked us off the park, registering 20 fouls. 20!

FA CUP THIRD ROUND
Wrexham 2-0 Swindon Town
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Llewelyn, Rogers (Powell 67), Steer, Foster, King, Walker, Smith, Hughes, Krejci, Martinez (Buchta 67), Richards

We weren't at our best today but still got through. That's all that matters.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 1-1 Arsenal
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Walker (Buchta 59), Richardson (Powell 68), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Roberts 83), Wynne

We played Arsenal off the park and deserved to win. Disappointing.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Ipswich Town 1-3 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Jarman (Ward 72), Richardson, Martin, Noice, Martinez (Krejci 77), Wynne

A comfortable victory away to Ipswich, although they're red card did help a little bit

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 0-1 Nottingham Forest

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Jarman, Richardson (Ward 62), Martin, Noice, Martinez (Krejci 57), Wynne

This game could have gone either way, unfortunately it went the way of Nottingham Forest with their late-ish winner

FA CUP FOURTH ROUND
Wrexham 2-1 Cardiff City

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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Mateus (Krejci 64), Richardson (James 70), Martin, Noice, Buchta, Wynne

What a win! Rob Wynne's last minute goal sent many Cardiffians back down the A470 with tears in their eyes as we progress to the FA Cup Fifth Round!

LEAGUE TABLE
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We could finish in the top half at this rate

TOP SCORER: WAYNE NOICE (13 GOALS)
 
FEBRUARY
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The squad is set. Lets do this.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Liverpool 1-2 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster (Powell 83), King, Jarman, Mateus (Richardson 83), Martin (Ward 67), Noice, Walsh, Wynne

To go ahead so early on and then lose the lead so quickly was slightly worrying, but we rallied and dominated the game, eventually scoring the winner fairly late on. Lee Walsh was Man of the Match on his debut

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 2-2 Watford
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King (Ward 60), Jarman, Mateus (Powell 73), Martin, Noice, Walsh, Wynne

To go 2-0 down and then come back to draw is very pleasing. Watford are no mugs and are European regulars at this point

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Leeds United 2-4 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Ward (Richardson 72), Mateus (Smith 64), Martin, Noice, Walsh (Buchta 80), Wynne

What a second half! 6 goals, an own goal and a penalty! Three points for Wrexham to boot

FA CUP FIFTH ROUND
Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Wrexham
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Jarman, Mateus, Martin, Noice, Walsh, Wynne

16 shots, no goals. Very disappointing.

BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
Wrexham 1-1 Cardiff City
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Llewelyn, Rogers, Steer, Foster, King, Mateus, Ward, Martin (Richardson 65), Noice, Walsh (Krejci 76), Wynne

We went behind early but managed to rally, equalise and hold on

LEAGUE TABLE
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Not bad

TOP SCORER: ROB WYNNE AND WAYNE NOICE (15 GOALS)
 
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