How Wrexham Can Get Promoted to the Premier League

The Red Dragons are in the playoff hunt during their maiden Championship campaign.

Wrexham have gotten a taste of the big time. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

Wrexham have got a taste for the big time and their Hollywood goal of reaching the Premier League promised land is now in sight.

The club’s financial supremacy, thanks to celebrity investment from Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has undeniably left them with a notable advantage over their rivals amid a meteoric rise from National League to second tier EFL Championship, but that shouldn’t take away from what the historic Welsh club have been able to achieve in such a short space of time.

Money helps, of course, but there are many case studies that prove it doesn’t guarantee success.

Their streak of promotions was expected to come to an end in the EFL Championship, with many bookmakers in preseason projecting a mid-table finish. Those who have taken a more cynical view of Wrexham’s "fairytale" lapped up their slow start to 2025–26, with a 1–0 defeat at Stoke City leaving them 18th in mid-October, but the Dragons came roaring back at the end of the year.

Now, it looks like they’re firmly in the playoff and promotion hunt. They couldn’t, could they?

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How Wrexham Can Get Promoted to the Premier League

Co-owner Ryan Reynolds has been instrumental in Wrexham’s rise. | Jon Hobley/MI News/NurPhoto/Getty Images

At the end of the 2024–25 season, the two teams with the most points in the Championship automatically get promoted to the Championship. In recent years, the first and second place teams atop the Championship table have earned anywhere from 90 to 100 points.

If the Red Dragons finish outside the top two teams, they must compete in the playoffs to earn a spot in the Premier League. Only the teams that finish third, fourth, fifth and sixth in the standings qualify for the playoffs. Last term, 68 points was enough to squeeze into the top six but usually between 70 and 75 points is required.

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EFL Championship Playoffs Format

Wrexham haven’t yet familiarized themselves with the EFL playoffs, having secured automatic promotion into League One and the Championship. However, the Welsh club may find themselves in the post-season with a spot in the Premier League at stake during their first crack at the second tier.

The playoff format in the Championship is simple, with the four teams that finish between and including third and sixth involved. Third faces sixth and fourth takes on fifth over two legs, with the winners of these semifinals advancing into the final, regarded as "football’s richest game."

The winner of the Championship playoff final will then secure their place in the following season’s Premier League.

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Can Wrexham Make It to the Premier League?

Wrexham caught fire at the end of 2025. | Paul Bonser/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images

Four consecutive league wins over the festive and New Year period emboldened Wrexham’s promotion hopes and there’s every chance they could make a run to the playoffs. Automatic promotion to the Premier League would appear to be a stretch, however.

Nothing is impossible, of course, so Wrexham’s supporters can continue dreaming of playing alongside the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal. To do so, they will need to overcome fierce competiton from the likes of Coventry, Middlesbrough, Ipswich Town, Preston North End, Millwall, Watford, Hull City and Stoke City.

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