Wrexham's starmaker planning for the future

Gus Williams previously worked with the Football Association of Wales Trust

Wrexham's owners, Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, are demonstrating their ambition to see the club produce home-grown stars.

Recently appointed as the Championship club's academy manager, Gus Williams has been impressed by the owners' commitment to youth development.

"We know how important and how special Wrexham is to Rob and Ryan," Williams told BBC Sport Wales.

"Rob and Ryan view the academy with high respect and high expectations in terms of what it can deliver for the club.

"They value the history of the club and also the academy as part of that and because they value people in general."

Williams says the acting duo have backed that vision with hard cash.

"The investment that they've already placed into the academy is between £2-3m in terms of infrastructure and now further investments demonstrates the sincerity of the statements that they've made about the academy," he explained.

"It reinforces the point to any potential player and any potential parent out there that Wrexham football club has a genuine intention to grow and develop its academy – to compete not only with the best in Wales – but throughout the UK."

Hailing from Anglesey, Williams has played a prominent role in identifying and recruiting Wales' stars of the future.

As the Football Association of Wales' (FAW) national talent identification pathway manager, Williams' remit was to widen the country's talent pool which saw the emergence of Ethan Ampadu, Dan James and David Brooks among others.

While those players are bidding to secure a place at next summer's World Cup finals, Williams has swapped the FAW for the role of academy manager at the club which has gone from National League to Championship in three years.

Williams had previously been a part-time coach at the club's academy when Steve Cooper – who would go on to manage Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Leicester City – was head of youth development.

The 54-year-old was "intrigued" when he saw the role of academy manager advertised following the departure of Andy Lowe in July.

"The main reason, from my perspective, was purely the basis that players in north Wales and the north west [of England] had an opportunity now that Wrexham had been reinvigorated into a football league club after 15 years of absence," Williams said.

"It's trying to get north Wales back on the football landscape of not only Wales, but also the UK and beyond.

"We've heard on a number of occasions in the last few months the CEO of Wrexham, Michael Williamson, highlighting the importance of the academy and highlighting the importance of local talent, regional talent - bringing them into the club and providing a pathway for them to go into national football."

Williams says that is also echoed by the FAW and its chief football officer, David Adams.

"When we say local, it goes beyond the community of Wrexham. It goes into the far flung places of north Wales where nobody's even heard of," added WIlliams.

"So we've got to ensure that we have every area of north Wales covered as a fundamental and then we can start opening up into other areas around the country."

'Plan for the future'

Max Cleworth came through the club's academy and made his first team debut against Solihull Moors in the National League in August 2021.

Wrexham's reputation in identifying and nurturing talent from the wider north Wales area goes back decades with players such as Joey Jones, Mickey Thomas and Gareth Davies.

Promoting young talent was a central part of former manager Brian Flynn's 12 years in charge of the club.

But a major consequence of relegation to non-league football in 2008 was the loss of funding for the academy at a time when the club's very existence was threatened by financial problems.

With those financial issues now in the past, Wrexham are now able to invest in their academy with significant developments at the academy site located at Darland High School in Rossett.

And to develop players that will eventually step up into the first team as was the case during the Flynn era.

"You've got players like Gareth Owen, Lee Jones, Waynne Phillips, Neil Roberts - all of these players who've come through the programme previously," Williams added.

"They're all great examples of what Wrexham Football Club produced in the past.

"In the present, you've got Max Cleworth and Harry Ashfield, who've come through the system.

"It's our responsibility now to make sure that we acknowledge the past, we admire the present and we plan for the future but across the whole aspect of that planning, the golden thread is the person and the player."

Williams, who had a spell as Blackburn Rovers' head of recruitment before returning to the FAW in March 2023, places a firm emphasis on the importance of creating the right environment for players.

"The environment has got to be right, the ethos of the staff has got to be right," Williams said.

"They've got to understand that it is about the person, the player. In Wales, it was about the person, the player.

"Having an understanding of the core values of Wales was fundamental for Welsh players coming in from anywhere across the world."

He added understanding the core values of Wrexham Football Club is also essential for new recruits to the Stok Cae Ras.

"This is Wrexham Football Club, an iconic football club, a special football club in north Wales that's been around for three centuries.

"And it'll be around for a lot more longer than we will."

'Rome wasn't built in a day'

Wrexham's rise since the arrival of the owners five years ago has seen them achieve three successive promotions to reach the Championship.

Reynolds and McElhenney have made no secret of their ambition of seeing Wrexham in the Premier League.

"What it means to the academy is, of course, that we've got to continue to work and develop our infrastructure so that we can go through the category status that sits within the Premier League and the EFL structure," said Williams.

"Currently we're category three, we are working hard to become a category two and the ultimate aim is to become a category one.

"We're good, but we want to be great and our quest is to get to category one."

He admits that will take a lot more hard work.

"The old adage, Rome wasn't built in a day, applies here. It will take time. We need to get that infrastructure right," he said.

"Throughout the interview process, the message was pretty clear from the club representatives that there's a genuine intention in investing in the academy at Wrexham Football Club.

"They have a sincere belief that the academy will produce players, and will produce better people for Wrexham Football Club and for the wider football community and also for other industries, whatever they do in their walk of life."