After winning promotion back to the League following a 15-year absence, Mullin, whose 46 goals in a single campaign helped fire Wrexham to glory, has been determined to keep the celebrations alive, even if it meant sneaking in a power nap in an uncomfortable setting.

“We had a party at the Club and that went on until all hours,” he laughs. “I ended up on a physio bed having a sleep for 20 minutes until they came in singing my song and that was the end of that!”

The city of Wrexham was starstruck in November 2020 when acting duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed a takeover of the Welsh side. Mullin now finds himself rubbing shoulders with the famous pair – who fly over from the United States on a regular basis – and even starred in a television advertisement alongside Reynolds.

“They genuinely care,” he says. “It’s not a façade or fake for the television; it’s nothing like that. They’ll text and ask how the family are, or how you’re feeling going into the next game and general chit-chat to keep in touch.

“They feel they need to be accessible to the players and communicate with them, being big superstars. They are human-beings like everyone else, but people perceive them differently and they’re not.”

Two years ago, Mullin turned heads when he rejected the offer of a new deal from Cambridge United in favour of dropping down to the National League with the Red Dragons.

The striker needed some convincing to leave the EFL behind, even if only temporarily. The 28-year-old had seemingly cracked the code at that level, finishing up the 2020/21 term with 34 goals in 50 outings for the U’s as Cambridge won promotion, but he passed up a season in Sky Bet League One to join the Wrexham revolution.

“They had to win me over in terms of what the plans were for the Club,” he explains. “I had to buy into that and believe what they were telling me. Everything they’ve promised me, they’ve stuck to.

“I want to play as high as I can in football, as anyone does, but when this opportunity arose, it was the best for me as a family man, who wanted to be close to home. It was the perfect solution for me rather than moving away to play in higher leagues. I care about my son more than that.”

Worlds collided when the footballing philosophy of Phil Parkinson met the cameras of Hollywood, but the players – including Mullin – have soon adapted to having film crews hiding in their shadows.

In December last year, The King and Queen Consort paid a visit to the Racecourse Ground as part of a trip to the area to celebrate Wrexham’s newly bestowed city status.

“The gaffer has been unbelievable in dealing with it,” Mullin notes. “There was a time this season when the King came to visit the stadium the day before a long away trip to Eastleigh. Obviously, he would have just preferred to go to the game as usual.

“He’s so good at dealing with those situations and helping the lads out with it as well and trying to make everything as seamless as possible. We haven’t let it affect us and it’s only made us perform better. He kept us all aware that the main job is on the football pitch.”

A new documentary – Welcome to Wrexham – shone a spotlight on the Club who were forced to endure a lengthy wait to make their long- anticipated return to the EFL. After suffering relegation in 2007/08, it’s been a rocky road back for the North Wales outfit.

“The whole attention and the media spotlight and pressure has all been ramped up a thousand times,” Mullin adds. “My life hasn’t changed – I’m just me and I stick to being me. What you see is what you get.

“It becomes a bit strange at first getting used to it, when you walk into a supermarket or a shop in the town centre and people ask for photos. At first, you stand back and you’re like, ‘Me?! Why would you want a photo with me?’

“It’s a great thing for the Club and even us as individuals to have the attention we’ve received this year. Obviously, if you’re not playing well, that attention isn’t going to come, so first and foremost, you have to play well in order to achieve it.

“Everybody’s talking about us every day and we’re on the news. You’ve got everyone saying, ‘Are they going to do it?’ or ‘Are they going to fall away?’ The owners being the owners, they like to build up a bit of suspense, so they’ll be tweeting that we’re top of the league and things like that.”

After finishing rock bottom of League Two in 2007/08, Wrexham’s 87-year stay in the EFL came to an end as the Club found itself in the non-league pyramid.

Following on from last season’s Play-Off heartbreak, the Club finally clinched promotion back to League Two as National League champions with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood in late April – a fixture in which Mullin bagged himself a brace – amassing a record-breaking 110 points in the process.

“There’s pressure, but none more so than the fans; they’re coming into the games wanting to win and wanting to get promoted so badly that sometimes you can feel the nerves coming off them while you’re playing,” Mullin acknowledges.

“That wasn’t the case in the last game when we won the league. We went 1-0 down after 30 seconds and the whole stadium erupted, singing for us that we’re going to win the league.

“We knew what it meant to the people of Wrexham to get promoted. To deliver it, it was emotional. You could see the smiles on their faces and the tears in their eyes as they’re celebrating that they’ve wanted this for so long.”

Now, Mullin and Wrexham are eager to see what the script has in store for the 2023/24 campaign.

This feature originally appeared in the summer 2023 edition of the EFL Magazine.


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