Wrexham to meet Liverpool at Yankee Stadium as Premier League remains the goal
Wrexham will take on Liverpool in a pre-season friendly at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx on Wednesday, a fixture that co-owner Ryan Reynolds described as a “punch-me moment.” The match comes as Wrexham continue to press their long-term ambition of reaching the Premier League despite a late-season setback in 2026.
Five years after Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (now simply Rob Mac) completed their takeover of a club then in the National League, Wrexham have climbed the ladder rapidly, achieving promotion three times in four years. The suggestion that the ultimate vindication would be to face Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League in 2027-28 underlines how quickly expectations have risen. Phil Parkinson, the manager, accepts that there is a growing demand for the club to complete that ascent next season. The club’s recent profile-raising fixtures reflect its accelerated progress and the heightened scrutiny that comes with it.
Parkinson’s squad arrive in the Bronx with confidence, having beaten Manchester United and Leeds in pre-season so far. Those results have helped the dressing room move on from the disappointment of missing out on the Championship playoffs in 2026, which was decided on the final day of last season. While the failure to reach the playoffs represented a setback to Wrexham’s immediate aims, Parkinson stresses that the broader achievement of finishing seventh in the Championship at the first time of asking should not be underestimated. The manager’s view frames the campaign as a platform rather than a failure.
The friendly against Liverpool is being treated as both a high-profile occasion and a test of how far the club has come since the takeover. Reynolds’s reaction captured the surreal quality of the fixture for supporters and ownership alike: “punch-me moment.” For a club with such a recent history in the lower leagues, the chance to play elite opposition on an international stage marks another milestone in its rapid rise.
Wrexham’s trajectory — three promotions in four seasons — has transformed expectations off the pitch as well as on it. That sequence of promotions has brought increased attention, higher-stakes friendlies and an expanded profile, but it also raises the bar for what is considered a successful season. Parkinson and his squad must reconcile the momentum from notable pre-season wins with the disappointment of the playoff near-miss as they prepare for the next campaign.
The immediate focus is the match in New York and the messages it will send about Wrexham’s ambition and progress. If the club can build on its pre-season victories and the platform of a seventh-place Championship finish, the objective of reaching the Premier League — and potentially playing Liverpool at Anfield in 2027-28 — will remain central to supporters and the coaching staff alike.