Non-league Wrexham have become one of the most captivating stories in British football since their Hollywood owners took over the club in 2020, with the journey documented in Netflix‘s Welcome to Wrexham.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have ambitions of taking the Welsh side to the Football League, and are now inches from achieving their dream as a dramatic National League season enters its final chapter.
Wrexham have been engaged in a fierce battle with Notts County at the top of the table – both sides are already clear of 100 points with two games remaining.
And with the National League being such a hard league to get out of, finishing in top spot is absolutely vital. Here’s how promotion works, and what Wrexham need to do to reach League Two.
How does National League promotion work?
Only the team that finishes top of the 24-team National League gets automatic promotion to League Two and entry to the Football League.
There is one other promotion spot, which must be achieved through a play-off system.
Teams that finish between second and seventh enter the play-offs, which take place over three rounds. All play-off ties are single knockout games, with the highest-ranked team playing at home. Extra-time and penalties decide any game that ends in a draw after 90 minutes.
In the first round the team that finished fourth plays the team that finished seventh, and the fifth-placed team plays the sixth-placed team. The teams that finish second and third get a bye, meaning they do not have to play until the next round.
The winner of the game between the fourth and seventh-placed teams will then play the team that finished second, and the winner of the game between the fifth and sixth-placed teams plays the team that came third, in the play-off semi-finals. The two winners then progress to the final.
The National League play-off final is held at Wembley and will be on Saturday 13 May this year. The winner will be promoted to League Two.
Will Wrexham be promoted?
Wrexham are now just one win away from securing automatic promotion after they beat Yeovil Town 3-0 on Tuesday.
They have 107 points from their 44 games, with 33 wins, eight draws and three losses.
The Welsh club took a huge step to finishing top when they beat Notts County 3-2 on 10 April, thanks to a dramatic last-minute penalty save from goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Notts County are four points behind Wrexham, with 103. They travel to bottom club Maidstone United on Saturday, before hosting 19th-place York City on the final day of the season.
Wrexham’s remaining games are at home against sixth-place Boreham Wood and away to relegation-threatened Torquay United.
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