Wrexham starts – Wrexham’s push toward the Premier League begins with a Welsh derby against Cardiff on Aug. 17 at Cardiff City Stadium, launching the Championship season schedule released Thursday.
For Wrexham, the road to the Premier League starts with a familiar kind of pressure: a Welsh derby.
The Championship season will begin with Wrexham playing Cardiff in the league’s opening stretch, the match scheduled for Aug. 17 at Cardiff City Stadium. It is set to wrap up the first round of fixtures in England’s second-tier league.
The Championship published its season’s schedule on Thursday, with play starting a week before the Premier League begins.
Wrexham enters this campaign after a remarkable turnaround. The club finished in seventh place in its first season in the second division since the 1980s—one position outside the playoff spots. That finish stands as the highest in Wrexham’s 162-year history. coming after an unprecedented run of three straight promotions under Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.
The Aug. 17 meeting will be a special one for both sides: it will be the first league match between Wrexham. based in north Wales. and Cardiff. based in the south of the country. since 2002. Cardiff earned promotion at the end of last season. setting up the renewed rivalry at the start of Wrexham’s next chapter.
After the derby, Wrexham returns home for two more matches—against Watford and Birmingham—before the Championship campaign settles into its rhythm.
The team also has notable preseason fixtures lined up. Manchester United and Liverpool are among the opponents Wrexham will face before the league schedule truly gets underway.
The stakes are clear, even before the first whistle. Wrexham’s results have already rewritten what seemed possible in the Championship. Now the schedule lays out the next test—starting with Cardiff, and on a date that marks the beginning of the chase.
Wrexham Cardiff Championship schedule Premier League Ryan Reynolds Rob Mac Watford Birmingham Manchester United Liverpool Welsh derby