"Birmingham City have a better chance" - Exclusive: Questions raised over Wrexham AFC and Premier League promotion | OneFootball

Joe Jacobson believes Premier League promotion will be the biggest test yet for the Red Dragons

Wrexham’s meteoric rise through the English football pyramid has captured global attention.

Since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over, the club has secured back-to-back promotions and now finds itself in League One.

But with talk of a potential Premier League future, questions have arisen over whether the current model is built for long-term success, or whether the club hit a ceiling before reaching the top flight.

A recent 2-2 draw at Cambridge United served as a setback in their campaign for a third successive promotion. Manager Phil Parkinson, though frustrated, insisted Wrexham remain well-placed in the race for the Championship.

With Birmingham City seemingly running away with the League One title, the battle for second spot remains tight, with Wrexham holding a slender three-point lead over Wycombe Wanderers, who have a game in hand.

Joe Jacobson’s verdict on Wrexham AFC’s rise and rise

Can Wrexham sustain their Hollywood-backed rise beyond League One and become a Premier League team within five years? Former Wycombe Wanderers defender turned EFL pundit Joe Jacobson spoke exclusively to Football League World on the topic, believing there are reasons to be cautious.

"Wrexham’s a little bit different. Yes, they have the money, but it feels like they have a lot of players, and their squad at the moment is geared towards just getting out of that division," Jacobson told FLW.

"They did it in the Conference, they did it in League Two, and now they’re doing it in League One, just getting the best players for that division there and then. It’s not like they’re signing players for a five-year plan and for the future - it’s instant success."

Beyond recruitment, Jacobson also questions whether Wrexham's current style of play would translate to success at the next level: "In the Championship, they’re going to have to spend an awful lot of money if they want to have that system and that philosophy and get promoted again. I don’t think they necessarily play the right style of football to get themselves out of the Championship either."

Another question mark is whether Wrexham have the infrastructure to sustain their rise: "Is the stadium, is the club, big enough to go up again? Potentially, if you look at the likes of Bournemouth and Brentford, who’ve done it on similar stadium capacities.

"But I think Birmingham have a better chance of getting up there, with the bigger infrastructure behind them. Just the murmurings of the guys at Wrexham - I feel like at some point they’d sell sooner rather than later, whereas the Birmingham one seems like they’ve got a really long-term plan now."

While skepticism is understandable, history suggests that a well-run club can make the jump from League One to the Premier League in a short timeframe.

Watford, Manchester City, Southampton, Norwich City, and most recently Ipswich Town have all achieved back-to-back promotions from League One to the top flight.

However, these clubs largely had long-term structures in place, whether through stable management, well-planned recruitment, or clear club philosophies. Wrexham’s ownership model brings unique advantages, but also lingering uncertainty about the sustainability of their rise.

Wrexham are a club who have defied expectations before, and their Hollywood-backed project has shown no signs of slowing down. But as Jacobson points out, the Championship will present a completely different challenge. The jump in quality, financial demands, and the need for a long-term strategy will test the club’s ambitions like none have thus far.