WREXHAM, Wales — Wrexham sealed a historic promotion to the EFL Championship with a 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic in front of Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at the Stok Cae Ras on Saturday.
Two goals in the space of three minutes in the first half from Ollie Rathbone and Sam Smith set Wrexham on the way to victory before £2 million record signing Smith scored a third on 81 minutes to secure second spot in League One and the final automatic promotion berth behind runaway champions Birmingham City.
Wrexham’s promotion sees the club return to English football’s second tier for the first time they were relegated from the division at the end of the 1981-82 season.
Charlton had gone into the game as one of only two teams, alongside Wycombe Wanderers, who could deny Wrexham second spot in the division.
But with Wycombe losing 1-0 away to Leyton Orient earlier in the day, Wrexham knew that a win in their final home game of the season would clinch a record third successive promotion.
No team in English football history, dating back to the first competitive season in 1888, had ever achieved three consecutive promotions in the top five divisions.
But Wrexham’s success has written Phil Parkinson’s side into the history books to leave the club, who ended a 15-year stint in the National League two years ago, just one promotion away from the Premier League.
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