Part 192: Chapter the Eleventh: Restoration.

Chapter the Eleventh: Restoration.
April 24, 2016-May 13, 2026

If we win three out of our four matches, we win the title. If we don't get annihilated in Munich by a 4-0 score, we're going to the Champions League final. I've never been this close to the triple, and I can taste it.



My focus on the triple doesn't prevent me from signing more kids, though. If I were to get hit by a truck Wrexham would still be a juggernaut for years to come thanks to the waves of prospects that will arrive over the next decade.

vs Burnley, April 25, 2026
Premier League


Burnley shocked Manchester United with a nil-nil draw a month ago, but that was at home. They have to travel to Wales for this match, and that bodes poorly for those hoping to see another shock result. Youngster Kamel Zouaghi is getting his first league start for the senior team, the seventeen-year-old is already rated as a 1.5 star player for us. He'd be a starter on more than half of Premier League clubs.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Tounkara, Laux, Loseille, Zouaghi, Ünsal (c), Parr, Shirra, Mercado, Stringel.
Subs: Cirjak, Spyropoulos, Bale, Alvir, Bouzid, Thiago

We have things well in hand thanks to a Stringel goal after five minutes and a Golden Boy boot after twenty more, but then Burnley's captain, centerback Peter Duguid, is sent off for a two footed tackle of Shirra. We only get to three-nil before the break, another Golden Boy goal, but Burnley are dead men walking. The second half sees us score four more goals, including one from teenager Jose Andres Alvir in his senior team debut, as we put the hurting on undermanned and overmatched Burnley. The rout is capped by two goals in the final fifteen minutes from Stringel, securing his hat trick.

Man of the Match: Isaac Stringel




Wrexham 7-0 Burnley

At Bayern Munich, April 29, 2026
Champions League, Semifinal Away Tie


If we score a goal Munich will need to win 5-1 in order to advance. To say that they're in a tight spot is to understate their peril. I plan on getting that goal, and I plan on playing the same type of soccer we used to rough them up in Wales.

Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control
Starting 11: Minami, Cirjak, Hammatt, Quiboulaz, Loseille, Maloney, Ünsal, Mercado, Stringel, Mujkic (c), Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Reed, Tounkara, Enrique, Bailey, Allan, Parr.

We get that away goal in the 38th minute from Isaac Stringel, and Bayern is looking hapless in front of their home crowd. They do manage to hurt Sinan Ünsal moments before halftime, but right after the break Stringel is back at it. Bayern would need to score six goals in forty minutes to rain on our parade, and can only manage an 80th minute strike in a physical match where our players pick up four yellow cards. None of them risk suspension for the final. We're now set to face Manchester United, who coolly disposed of Juventus in the other semi.

Man of the Match: Isaac Stringel




Bayern (1) 1-2 (5) Wrexham



This is some bad news. Ünsal hasn't been the superstar I'd been expecting when we splurged nine-figures for him, but losing him for the rest of the season depletes our depth and means that we're in trouble if Shirra also gets hurt.



I wouldn't have it any other way.


(That's a lie, I'd rather have faced an easier opponent in Juventus)



Thiago, and the rest of our players, aren't getting anywhere near enough respect. Collecott won't even be in the running for his own nation's awards, he certainly shouldn't be winning Best Player in Europe.



Reed's quite self-assured at the age of 23.

At West Ham United, May 2, 2026
Premier League


Dinko Mejasic, our former left back, has had a good little career after leaving us in 2022. He returned to the Premier League this season after a three year stint with Gladbach in the Bundesliga where by all accounts he was one of the better fullbacks in the league.

Starting Formation: 4-4-2 Vivace
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Quiboulaz, Laux, Loseille, Enrique, Parr, Mujkic (c), Shirra, Stringel, Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Cirjak, Tounkara, Maloney, Bailey, Allan, Mercado.

Thiago wastes no time, picking up his 38th league goal of the season in the third minute after he blows by two markers to get to a Shirra through ball. Dinko Mejasic reminds me of why I sold him by getting carded on the half hour, and then Meteor takes us to intermission with a deft finish off of a Thiago indirect free kick. The score stays steady until the final ten minutes of the match, when a knackered West Ham defense finally breaks down and allows goals by Reed and Allan to give us the final margin of victory.

Man of the Match: Steve Reed




West Ham 0-4 Wrexham



Penn is an excellent, canny defensive midfielder and right back who caused us fits in the last Champions League final by always making the crucial interception. He's also their captain, and so they won't have his leadership to buck them up on the pitch. This injury might be the end of his storied career, he's shredded his ACL, MCL, and LCL and is on the shelf until at least early 2027... and that's not something a 33-year-old can come back from easily.




Injuries cut both ways, though, as Loseille has already become one of our best players at the tender age of 21. He might be back for the Champions League final if we're lucky, but he'll miss the FA Cup final for sure.




There's not much excitement at the bottom of the table in the final week, with all three relegation victims locked in. Watford had spent over a decade in the Premier League, finishing as high as 9th before succumbing to the undertow. QPR continues it's rollercoaster ride, this marks the fifth time they've been relegated from the top division since 2013.



QPR and Watford may want to look over this list and see if they want to take any of these players on for the next season, none did so well that I'll be looking to give them time with the senior team.

vs West Bromwich Albion, May 5, 2026
Premier League


A win clinches the league title. While we're only three points up on United, we've got a +87 goal differential and a game to play while United are way back at +65 with two games remaining- we could lose our final match this match 7-0 and they could win both their matches 7-0 and we'd still finish ahead of them.

Starting Formation: 4-4-2 Vivace
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Tounkara, Hammatt, Enrique, Maloney, Mercado, Mujkic (c), Allan, Stringel, Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Cirjak, Quiboulaz, Laux, Bailey, Shirra, Parr.

We're up after West Brom mauls Callum Allan in the box and Matias Mercado puts away the penalty. Allan stakes us out to a two goal lead when he gets a chance to work unmolested ten minutes later. Things get a bit dicey at the opening of the second half when our young left back Enrique is given a bogus red card for a professional foul, but the Baggies get a (more deserved) red card twenty minutes later, and we're back to even strength. The final goal comes on a free kick from Thiago, he's been a monster on free kicks this season and this one is no less spectacular than his others. It's a cherry on the cap of a banner day for our supporters, who see us reclaim the league title after the vicissitude of the prior year.

Man of the Match: Callum Allan




Wrexham 3-0 West Brom



It's hard to win an appeal, even when warranted, but we'll certainly try.



Do you know how hard it is to find four-and-a-half star goalkeeping coaches? Fine. Enjoy your retirement waffles.



In the midst of all the excitement at the club, the World Cup continues to creep nearer.



Well how about that. I've never had a suspension rescinded before.



I'm not sure why I had Tounkara learn this... he's a centerback. He's blazing fast, but he shouldn't be trying to beat defenders in the first place.



That makes two United starters down. Bennett is one of their starting centerbacks, along with Cyril Boumsong.



I'm never going to sign him, am I?



At least this means we're no longer paying part of his salary, right?



Oh come on!



All in good time. I'm sure the Portuguese can't wait to have a flood of English and Welsh show up on their doorstep, and there's no reason to make them suffer our presence for two weeks when we've got an FA Cup final in six days.



Yes, that would be a good way to thank the fans. And it would please me quite a bit, seeing as we're playing Bruno...



There it is, right on time and as expected.

At Chelsea, May 10, 2026
Premier League


This is just for fun, and for screwing over Bruno Santos. A win for Chelsea would seal fourth place and the final Champions League spot over Manchester City. A loss and a City win puts Chelsea in fifth place and piles ignominy upon Santos that he shall never live down.

Starting Formation: 4-4-2 Vivace
Starting 11: Minami, Reed, Quiboulaz, Laux, Enrique, Maloney, Parr, Mujkic (c), Shirra, Stringel, Thiago.
Subs: Kocsis, Cirjak, Tounkara, Hammatt, Bailey, Allan, Mercado.

We're very good at scoring goals in the first twenty minutes of a match, and this game is no different. This time it's Meteor, streaking in from out wide to nip the ball away from Chelsea's centerback at the edge of the box and finding paydirt in the seventeenth minute. At halftime we're still up by a goal, while City have opened up a two goal lead over Southampton. If the season ended now, Chelsea would be stuck in the Europa League after their fourth straight fifth place finish.

I'm sure that's the message that Bruno Santos hammered into the heads of his players over the break, but it sure didn't work. A Mujkic to Thiago connection makes it two-nil in the 47th minute, and before the Stamford Bridge crowd can realize that their dreams of Champions League qualification were slipping away Shirra unleashes Stringel with the most stylish back heel, 360 degree pass I've ever seen. Stringel cheekily lobs the keeper, and we've put paid to the Champions League dreams of one Bruno Santos.

Man of the Match: Mateo Mujkic




Chelsea 0-3 Wrexham




Boo-yah.



This feels so much better than the end of last season.



Don't worry, I've already been planning for the FA Cup final.



Hall of Fame, you say?



I'm comin' for you, Shankley! I'm sure the Englishmen love that only three Englishmen are in the top ten, especially compared to five Scots.




And that's how we stay profitable.



That's more like it.



I really can't complain about this going to Meteor, who was brilliant down the stretch for us.



No podium sweep this year. I should look into that Neil Darby kid on Everton. He's a very impressive 22-year-old striker.



Minami has been everything I could have hoped for, no one was even close to him when it came to number of clean sheets.



It honestly didn't seem that impressive, but I won't turn down an award.



Neither will Thiago.




He outscored four teams on his lonesome. Those are video game numbers, and I realize just how silly that sounds.



The awards finally boost Thiago's reputation enough to make him one of the 50 or so players with a worldwide following. Hopefully this means he stops getting overlooked for World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or.



That's still fewer than we deserved, Tounkara and Parr both have reason to feel snubbed while Shirra and Quiboulaz both had good arguments to make the second team.



I'll feel as if I've earned this if and only if we complete the triple. I'm not done yet.



We set a lot of team records this season. A record high in points (98). A record high in league goals (111). A record best defense (21 conceded). A record goal differential (+90). A record number of clean sheets (24 of 38 matches). Most importantly, we've taken back what's ours. We've taken back the throne. Now all that is left is to reclaim our other trophies, and win the Triple.