Throughout the 2017/18 football season I will be contributing to the Wrexham AFC matchday programme. I will be penning a feature called Memory Match, a look back at classic Wrexham games from the past that I will share in this blog over the coming months.
This is the third successive season that I have been writing the Memory Match column. Indeed, when I have written a Memory Match for every Football League season that Wrexham AFC enjoyed, I would like to compile all the columns into a book that will reflect the rich history of my beloved football club.
14-03-25
Wrexham v Wigan Borough
League Division Three (Northern Section)
Racecourse Ground
Result: 6-2
Wrexham: Connell, Jones, Pugh, Matthias, Griffiths, Savage, Longmuir, Goode, Jones, Nock, Jones
Goalscorers: Nock (3), Jimmy Jones (3).
Wigan Borough: Goodwin, Jennings, Fare, Fenner, Brown, Welsby, Simpson, Mercer, Ormston, Glover, Kettle
Goalscorers: Ormston, Fenner
Attendance: 5,223
On November 10th 1924, Charlie Hewitt was appointed as Wrexham’s first-ever manager after luring him from Mold Town. The team had previously been chosen by a selection committee. Something had to be done as the Town were underperforming and had just endured a run of six defeats in eight games, culminating in a 5-0 defeat at Springfield Park, home of Wigan Borough – our heaviest defeat of the season.
Hewitt – known as the Captain because of his days as a naval skipper – did not have all the answers though, with just one win in his first 14 games in charge. It wasn’t until March that things began to improve when we beat Crewe Alexandra 2-1 at Gresty Road to set us up for a home encounter with Wigan Borough. Could we take our chance for revenge?
Jack Nock gave Wrexham the lead after only six minutes and we never looked back with the forwards running the show. Writing in the Leader, a journalist with the pseudonym ‘Tee’ says that all of the goals “were the result of clever midfield work coupled with fine opportunism”. I wouldn’t mind seeing some of that this evening …
The home side were aided by a strong wind and when Jimmy Jones put the Blues further ahead it seemed too good to be true. Indeed, we had only won six games at the Racecourse Ground all season, so when Wigan got one back through Arthur Ormston following a defensive mishap, the cynics were expecting the worst
Fortunately, their bitter bile did not have time to ferment as Jones scored his second almost immediately. Jones received a pass from Archie Longmuir and powered forward, skipping past a challenge from Harry Fare with ease before sending in a low shot which goalkeeper John Goodwin completely misjudged and the ball squeezed through his legs.
The fourth goal came after a flowing movement between Goode, Longmuir, Jones and goal-scorer Nock. The race was now on to see who could be the first player to register a hat-trick between Jones and Nock who had both scored a brace. The winner of this contest was Nock who scored after a free-kick delivered by Jimmy Pugh.
Wrexham’s final goal of the afternoon came courtesy of Jimmy Jones after sterling work from Frank Jones who fended off three opponents before finding the unmarked Jones.
The last action of a breathtaking match came when Tom Fenner scored a consolation goal for the visitors, thanks to a mistake from Wrexham custodian Billy Connell. A speculative effort from Fenner was mis-calculated by Connell who allowed the ball to slip under his body and in to the net.
After this game we moved up to 20th position in the league table while Wigan Borough dropped one place to 15th.
Our leading goal-scorer in the league that season was centre-forward Jimmy Jones who scored 11 times. He just pipped Jack Nock to the post as the Stourbridge-born inside-forward had 10 goals to his name.
***
At the end of a difficult season, Wrexham finished in a disappointing 16th spot.
Despite a poor showing in the League, the Welsh Cup gave us a reason to be cheerful. We managed to retain the trophy after beating Llanelli, Newport County and Swansea Town before finally overcoming Flint Town (3-1) in front of 6,565 spectators.
We did not enjoy any success in the FA Cup as we were demolished 4-0 by Barrow at Holker Street at the fifth-qualifying round stage.
