When Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney was asked for his highlight of the 2022-23 season, most would have expected him to pick out the moment that saw the men's team clinch the National League title and promotion back to the English Football League after 15 years away. But his actual answer was a glimpse at how the plans he and Ryan Reynolds have for this football club are not limited to the men’s team.
"It was Rosie Hughes scoring that goal at the end of that game," McElhenney said on the Fearless in Devotion podcast, referring to the 2-1 win over Connah’s Quay it secured for the women's team in front of a record-breaking crowd at the Racecourse Ground. "For me, it wasn’t just a celebration of the women, it was a celebration of the town itself and emblematic of what we hoped would happen, how you all show up for each other. We weren’t sure when we opened up ticket sales for the game that it would have as much interest as a men’s game, and it was because the community rallied around. It was not just about the win, it was that moment, 10,000 people showing up for another member of the community. I just found it beautiful."
That occasion was light years away from what Gemma Owen saw around the town when she was growing up as a football-mad young girl. Back then, there weren’t many other girls playing the sport at all, leaving her to do what most did by kicking a ball around with the boys on the street, and there certainly weren’t female role models that she could see.
Fast-forward to today and, as the club’s head of women’s football, she is playing a major role in Wrexham’s ambitious project which is changing all of that. “I’m in a position now where we can show young girls of the age that I was at that time, 'Well, actually, look what's out there for you now. Look at the opportunities that are there for you',” she tells GOAL. “It's been a fantastic 12 years so far and the last two or three have been crazy, but very enjoyable. I can't wait to see what comes next.”