Latest news with #MaxCleworth
Leader Live
16-05-2025
- Sport
- Leader Live
Wrexham: Cleworth, McClean and Dobson most appearances
Not one member of Phil Parkinson's squad played in every league match but Max Cleworth, James McClean and George Dobson featured in 42 of the 46 fixtures. Centre-back Cleworth started all 42 games he was involved in and the consistent 22-year-old, named Players' Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season, was only absent on four occasions after suffering ankle ligament damage in the 0-0 draw at Leyton Orient on September 28. Reds' captain McClean made 39 starts and three substitute appearances, with midfielder Dobson in the side for 38 matches and a sub four times. Ollie Rathbone was not far behind the trio by featuring in 41 games with the midfielder - voted Player of the Season - handed 34 starts and he came off the bench on seven occasions. DID YOU MISS OUR 48-PAGE PROMOTION SPECIAL? ORDER YOUR COPY HERE - Two other players hit the 40-match mark. Wing-back Ryan Barnett made 31 starts and nine substitute appearance while striker Steven Fletcher was only in the starting line-up twice with 38 of his run-outs coming as a replacement! Defender Eoghan O'Connell (38 starts and one substitute appearance) and leading scorer Elliot Lee (26+12) just fell short of featuring in 40 games, while goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo (33), Matty James (30+2) and centre-back Tom O'Connor (25+6) were involved at least 30 times. A total of five players made more than 20 appearances. Strikers Ollie Palmer (26+1) and Paul Mullin (9+17) found opportunities limited in the second half of the season while serious injuries prevented frontman Jack Marriott (9+17) and midfielder Andy Cannon (17+7) from playing more matches. Centre-back Lewis Brunt featured on 22 (21+1) occasions. Six members of the squad reached double digits. January transfer window signings Ryan Longman (14+5), Sam Smith (18) and Jay Rodriguez (17) fell short of 20 appearances along with wing-back Sebastian Revan (9+10), defender Dan Scarr (12+2) and goalkeeper Mark Howard (9+1). Seven other players featured in the league including midfielder James Jones (0+2) and striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson (1+3) before signing for Burton Albion in January. Goalkeeper Callum Burton (4), midfielder George Evans (1+6), striker Mo Faal (0+8) and wing-back Jacob Mendy (1+3) were all used by Parkinson along with frontman Sam Dalby who made one substitute appearance before joining Dundee United on a season-long loan before the summer transfer window closed. Altogether, 29 players were involved during the 46 fixtures as Wrexham finished runners-up in League One behind champions Birmingham City. Senior pros Luke Bolton and Will Bolton didn't make one appearance in the league but were involved in cup matches along with Anthony Forde who left The Racecourse by mutual consent in the January transfer window and signed for Burton. Defender Aaron James, midfield duo Josh Adam and Harry Ashfield, and goalkeeper Bradley Foster, also played in at least one cup game. Parkinson used a total of 36 players in league and cup competitions throughout the course of the season.
The Irish Sun
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Ryan Reynolds splashes out £500k to send Wrexham squad to Las Vegas for third year in a row
ACTOR Ryan Reynolds is splashing out £500,000 to send his Wrexham squad on a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate promotion — for the third year in a row. He and fellow owner Advertisement 3 Ryan Reynolds is splashing out £500,000 to send his Wrexham squad on a trip to Las Vegas Credit: AP 3 Defender Max Cleworth is looking forward to the Vegas trip Credit: AP Defender Max Cleworth said: 'I can't wait. 'That's the main thing this week. 'I don't think I'll sleep until we go.' It will be his first trip to Sin City in Nevada but Advertisement read more on wrexham Wrexham was a non-league club when the two actors Next season, the Welsh side will be in the second tier of English football. Manager 'I'll be turning my phone off. Advertisement Most read in Football Latest 'I just want a message when they're all back in the country in one piece.' Celebrity Wrexham owner spotted in retro Celtic strip as he asks 'are they Catholics or Protestants' 3 Ryan and Rob McElhenney promised to reward the players and staff if they made it to the Championship. Credit: Reuters Unlock even more award-winning articles as The Sun launches brand new membership programme - Sun Club.
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Thousands of Wrexham fans celebrate promotion
Thousands of Wrexham football supporters joined players and club officials at an end-of-season promotion celebration at Stok Cae Ras on queues formed outside the ground as the crowd waited for the gates to open before the event to mark promotion to the event featured musical acts as well as the club's annual end of season Ollie Rathbone was named the player of the season with defender Max Cleworth winning the young player award and the player's player of the Mullin won the goal of the season award for his volley in the win over Blackpool on Boxing Day with Elliott Lee the top serving club secretary Geraint Parry was recognised for his contribution with a lifetime achievement won promotion with a 3–0 victory over Charlton Athletic last weekend, sparking huge celebrations with fans thronging the pitch at the end of the were joined after the game by co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, who said Wrexham had made "history" despite people doubting their ambitions were realistic. Wrexham will compete in the second tier next season for the first time in 43 years with eyes on reach the Premier League after three successive promotions.
New York Times
23-02-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Why had Wrexham's defence suddenly become so leaky? And is it fixed?
A welcome step in the right direction after a midweek aberration or merely taking advantage of Mansfield Town's status as League One's worst team on recent form? Only time will tell. But for Wrexham, it was a welcome three points as Phil Parkinson's side gave their automatic promotion hopes a timely boost with a deserved 2-1 victory. Advertisement Max Cleworth's second-half winner helped repair much of Tuesday's damage when nearly all of Wrexham's promotion rivals gained ground as they lost at home to in-form Leyton Orient. Now, the gap to second-placed Wycombe Wanderers and that automatic promotion spot stands at three points, while nearest rivals Stockport County are four points behind in fourth, having played a game more. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect on Sunday, however, was the control exerted by Parkinson's side, especially in a midfield that had to overcome the loss of Andy Cannon to a serious-looking knee injury in the first half. This solid base provided by the energy of Ollie Rathbone and George Dobson helped the defence put in one of their more polished collective displays, certainly since Cambridge United's surprise 2-2 draw at the SToK Cae Ras on December 14 heralded a notable drop-off in form. Up to then, Wrexham had by far the most miserly defence in League One after conceding just 11 goals in 19 league games — five better than Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town. This run also included a phenomenal 12 clean sheets. Contrast that stingy record with keeping just two clean sheets in the subsequent 13 games, during which 17 goals have been conceded. Across the same period, Birmingham have let in just three goals and Orient and Wycombe have let in 10 apiece, while another seven clubs boast a better defensive record than Wrexham. The graph offers a possible reason for this unwelcome swing. Featuring rolling expected goals against (xGA) versus actual goals conceded over that same period, it shows us Wrexham overperformed on the defensive front in the early months of this season (blue). Certainly, the quality of chances created by the opposition suggests they should have scored more. That they didn't can be put down to a variety of reasons, including good goalkeeping (Arthur Okonkwo was in excellent form until breaking his wrist in early November), good defending or simply good fortune. As the above shows, things have dipped in recent weeks, with Wrexham now conceding more than their xGA suggests should be the case (red). Again, this can be put down to a variety of factors, including how Okonkwo's form dipped sufficiently to be briefly taken out of the spotlight in the league by Phil Parkinson and replaced by veteran Mark Howard. Advertisement The form of those whose job is to protect the goalkeeper has also fluctuated in recent weeks, with Eoghan O'Connell being dropped in the wake of poor displays at Barnsley and Shrewsbury Town. He was replaced last month by Dan Scarr, who then lasted just two games before coming back out of the side as O'Connell was restored. Lewis Brunt returned from injury at Crawley on February 1 after missing five games but missed out at Mansfield following a poor display on Tuesday, while even Cleworth, surely a leading contender for Player of the Year, has had his moments lately. The plus for Wrexham comes via the old adage 'form is temporary but class is permanent', with O'Connell having featured in 11 of those 12 clean sheets in the league this season and Cleworth in 10. Even allowing for the relative lack of clean sheets lately, Wrexham are still substantially over-achieving defensively with an xGA of 32.2 this season going into the Mansfield victory comparing favourably with the actual 25 goals conceded. Wrexham were vulnerable down their right over Christmas, with six out of seven goals coming from that area. They largely plugged that gap only for another one to open up. There were also two corners recently that led directly to either Okonkwo or Howard picking the ball out of the net. No goalkeeper in the world would have stopped Bradley Ibrahim's 25-yard screamer for Crawley earlier this month. Or, as Parkinson put it afterwards: 'The lad won't hit another goal like that in his career.' Also worth considering amid the frustration of this increase in goals conceded is the rolling 10-game xG (for and against), shown below, which tracks the quality of chances being created at both ends of the pitch. This reveals Wrexham have still been creating more than the opposition, suggesting there wasn't a lot wrong and that an upturn in individual form, as happened at Mansfield with the back three, will bring the necessary results to stay in the promotion hunt. Sunday was a step in the right direction, even allowing for how Ryan Longman lost Macdonald for the equaliser after Keanu Baccus and Jordan Bowery had found it far too easy moments earlier to open up the visitors down the left. There was also a big let-off in first-half stoppage time after Macdonald again got away from Longman to hit a shot that Okonkwo initially spilt before pouncing on the bouncing ball. Advertisement Other than that, though, Wrexham were rarely troubled, with Seb Revan — like Longman starting his first league game in more than a month after Parkinson freshened up at wing-back — growing into the game, while Tom O'Connor slotted in well on his first league start since last month's Stevenage loss. Cleworth could also be hugely pleased with his effort in both defence and attack, a fine display topped by a drilled finish to extend Mansfield's rotten run to eight defeats and just one draw in their last nine league outings. 'We got our decision-making right and that gave us great control,' says Parkinson. 'We're never happy when we lose and we certainly weren't after Orient. But we responded really well. 'Max was great today. Defensively good but he also stepped in with the ball. Him and Tommy (O'Connor) were progressive in staring attacks off for us, which is really key to how we play.' GO DEEPER Wrexham's new Kop stand: What the designs and planning details reveal
BBC News
27-01-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Parkinson hails Cleworth's 'class' against Birmingham's Stansfield
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has hailed Max Cleworth's "class" after his performance against the "best striker in the division" in Birmingham's Jay 22, was part of the Wrexham team which stopped Stansfield from adding to his tally of 12 goals this season during their 1-1 draw in League One. Stansfield, also 22, was signed by the Blues for around £15m from Fulham last summer, while Cleworth has been a mainstay of Wrexham's teams since Phil Parkinson took over as manager in the National League in 2021."A lot of people were talking about Jay Stansfiled before the game, but maybe they'll be talking about Max Cleworth after the game because I thought he handled him brilliantly," Parkinson said after the game, dubbed by some as the 'Hollywood derby'."I'm not going to say too much because the transfer window is still open," added Parkinson."But I'm so pleased for Max, he's a player who's grown with us, he really has. We through him in the deep end in our first ever game - he's played a lot of football for us and his development has been great, and tonight was a real class performance against probably the best striker in the division."Wrexham will be looking to extend their unbeaten home form on Tuesday night when they face Stevenage, with new signing Ryan Longman in line for a potential debut.
