Wrexham Sporting Director Reveals Three Traits He’ll Look for in New Signings

Steve Nickson says the determination of Wrexham's owners and manager convinced him to join the club as their inaugural sporting director, with his focus for prospective incomings focused on drive, regulation and openness.

Wrexham confirmed Nickson's appointment in September after he completed his notice period as head of recruitment at Newcastle United. Although he was appointed by former CEO Michael Williamson, Nickson will now work closely with acting CEO Shaun Harvey, while manager Phil Parkinson was also consulted during the hiring process.

Nickson has been tasked with expanding Wrexham's scouting and recruitment operations, with a core focus on building a worldwide scouting network. The Red Dragons want to explore untapped markets across the globe as they look to sign high-potential talent who can either make an immediate impact on the first team or be developed and sold for a significant profit.

Why Steve Nickson Joined Wrexham

Anthony Gordon sits in the dining room with Head of Recruitment Steve Nickson. — Steve Nickson 15 years at Newcastle United in various recruitment roles. | Serena Taylor/Newcastle United/Getty Images

In his first interview since being appointed sporting director, Nickson has opened up about his decision to leave Premier League side Newcastle for Championship club Wrexham. He insists he had several opportunities when considering his next move but was won over by the long-term project in North Wales.

“I had opportunities to go elsewhere, but meeting the owners, meeting the manager, getting the feel of it, where this place could go. I thought it wasn’t just words; there was a real thought process to it,” he told That Wrexham Podcast. “The new (training) facility, the new Kop Stand, not just words. So they understand. They want to get to the Premier League, stay in the Premier League and go on and be successful. They understand that on the football side, that takes time, and we need to get the foundations right.”

When asked about his first impressions of the club, Nickson acknowledged that recruitment had understandably fallen behind during Wrexham's meteoric rise through the divisions, with only a handful of dedicated recruitment staff at the club. He aims to expand that department, creating several new positions as Wrexham look to extend their scouting network into previously untapped markets.

He added: “They’ve done so well in football, and it has gone so well; they are building a plane as they are flying it, basically, and it is still working and doing really well. In terms of what has happened, behind the scenes there are some gaps because they have just gone so quickly. They have done it the right way around; they have got the football right first. So, for me, at the minute it is a lot of operational stuff, a lot of building a relationship with the manager, coaching staff, sports science, all the performance people if I can do, and the people above me.

“The next bit for me then is recruitment, because that is really what my bag is. I have got to start thinking about the database, technologies, staff; we haven’t got a lot of recruitment staff. At Newcastle, I had 114 staff in recruitment: scouts, analysts, data people; that is from academy all the way through to first team. We would have a lot less.”

The Three Things Steve Nickson Looks For

Jacques Ekomié joined Wrexham from Ligue 1 club Angers. — Wrexham signed Jacques Ekomié from French club Angers in the summer transfer window. | Wrexham AFC.

Nickson appears closely aligned with Parkinson's philosophy. The experienced duo both value character and attitude alongside individual talent, and insist they won't sign a gifted player if they don't fit the club's core values.

For Nickson, that can be distilled into three key traits: drive, regulation and openness. Identifying those qualities in players who have never played in English soccer presents a challenge, with considerable work required to gather multiple character references before any potential signing.

He added: “We are continuing, but with some evolution. We add to what is good already. There will be certain alignments, so in terms of mentality, I look for drive, regulation and openness, three different things when I look for a player in the field or off the field. That sort of stuff is done already, but it is not put like that. Then we get the chance to coach the coaches, the staff, to understand what that looks like on the field.

“We have to change that recruitment a little bit. We have quite a lot of UK players, so then there is a new world out there that we didn't really have the resources for. The manager probably didn’t have the character references, didn't know enough about that out there, so he was great with us and said, ‘Right, let’s add to what we've got to try and get us that next stage.’”

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