Wrexham chase promotion - but where is Paul Mullin?

Paul Mullin has been Wrexham's leading scorer in both of their recent promotion seasons - but is now unable to make the matchday squad

Arms outstretched, Paul Mullin stands looking out at a sea of Wrexham fans singing his name and celebrating promotion.

It is April 2024 and the popular Liverpudlian is the side's leading goalscorer and leading man of the documentary series that catapulted the club owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney into the homes of a worldwide audience.

It was a familiar scene. Just 12 months earlier, the striker had stood in the same place, the same pose, for the same reason.

Now, as the Stok Racecourse readies itself for a potential - and unprecedented - third successive promotion, Mullin is conspicuous by his absence.

He is no longer a guaranteed starter, having not played a league minute since January. In fact, he has not even made the bench for the past nine games.

So whereas once, the question around the club's dramatic Hollywood rise was 'Why Wrexham?' it is now where is Paul Mullin - and what has happened?

"He's inspired millions of people all over the world with what he does. The more games this man plays for this club, the bigger this club's going to continue to get."

McElhenney was not holding back as he interrupted an interview with Mullin, first to congratulate the Liverpudlian on his March 2024 hat-trick against Accrington Stanley, and then to share the praise with the inevitable cameras.

He may not be far wrong given the club's documentary-fuelled profile and resulting popularity in the US.

And Mullin has been top billing throughout its run. Since signing in 2021, his 110 goals make him the club's seventh-highest scorer in its 160-year history.

"He's a modern-day club legend, for obvious reasons, and a figurehead and talisman of what we have done on the pitch," says Wrexham fan and co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast Tim Edwards.

"But it's not just the goals; it's the way he plays which makes it feel as though we are playing for the club through him. That working-class, street footballer who plays for the love of the game and everything else is a bonus, a bit like Wayne Rooney.

"He gets the club and we get him - which only makes the current situation feel a little weird."

Mullin, who has a close relationship with Wrexham co-chairman Ryan Reynolds, is said to be fully committed as Wrexham chase promotion to the Championship

Unusual has become the norm, though, for Wrexham - and for Mullin.

His relationship with the club's celebrity owners led to him being invited to play a cameo role in Reynolds' recent Deadpool and Wolverine blockbuster. The 'Welshpool' costume he wore is on display in a glass cabinet in one of the hospitality areas of the ground.

And when he suffered a punctured lung against Manchester United on a tour of the States, he convalesced at the Los Angeles home of McElhenney.

His recovery from back surgery last summer has been more dosed in reality, though. Two major operations would take their toll on most.

A delayed start after a second problematic pre-season - and then missed chances. There have been only nine starts as a result.

All told, it is three goals this term - one for every 384 minutes played, three-times worse than his past two seasons in the English Football League (EFL).

And for a proven finisher, his xG rate is also the poorest among Wrexham's strikers.

"He's right up there with the best I played with and the best I've watched in my 30 years with the club," says Waynne Phillips, a member of the famed Wrexham side that beat Arsenal in the 1992 FA Cup.

"But his season never really got going - and then, ultimately, players were brought in who have done better."

Namely former Burnley and Southampton frontman Jay Rodriguez and 16-goal striker Sam Smith, a striker signed from Reading in the winter window in a deal thought to be close to £2m. Both have started every game since they arrived.

With another ex-Premier League forward in Steven Fletcher, a leading scorer as substitute (with a division-best goal every 118 minutes), and one-time Derby County attacker Jack Marriott also in reserve, there has been no room on the bench - or for sentiment.

"You're not going to spend big money on strikers in January and not start them," adds Phillips, now a weekly Wrexham watcher for BBC Wales, who does not put the omission down to any sudden change of style or set-up.

"And you don't get a place - or even on the bench - because of what you've done in the past. Phil Parkinson is an experienced manager with the promotions to back it up; he's been ruthless with players in the past and he will do it again."

Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez have been Phil Parkinson's preferred strike duo since arriving late in the January transfer window

None of that has stopped the wondering.

The fall from star billing to understudy has prompted social media whispers of a fall-out with Parkinson.

"Nonsense" has been Mullin's only word on the matter as he replied to a suggestion on X that he had argued with the manager and had called the owners to complain.

Sources at the club and close to the player himself maintain the same. There have been no issues with training, no bust-up beyond a feeling of disappointment at being left out, no storyline that only the cameras will reveal in the next series of the documentary.

Instead of using his close relationship with the owners as some sort of leverage, Mullin is said to have put that respect for them and the club ahead of his natural frustrations.

And he is not alone.

Ollie Palmer - another hero of promotions past - has also been moved aside as Parkinson evolves his side.

In the opening game of the season, more than half of the starting XI had appeared in the National League. In last week's win over Burton Albion, there were just two.

Palmer could have left in January, but told officials he still felt he had a part to play and was prepared to wait for his chance, be it through injuries or a late attempt to inject something different.

As one source put it, 'that's football - it's just with Wrexham, it's happening in a spotlight'.

"Because it's become a chronicled story for the world to see, the players become characters - and there's an emotional connection," adds Edwards.

"We still love them but, as time has gone on, we're less angry about it.

"If we had stuck with them and the goals were still not flowing we'd be wondering why Phil Parkinson didn't buy players in January.

"I guess it's a case of trusting the process."

Mullin has not made an appearance in the league since scoring as a second-half substitute in the home loss to Stevenage in late January

Parkinson, often the calm amid the cameras and organised chaos that has accompanied Wrexham's rise, has played it straight.

"The lads out of the team like Mulls and Ollie, who have both made significant contributions for us, they're right with the group training hard every day and waiting for the moment because you never know when that moment is going to come," he said last month.

With six wins in the past eight games, the supporter upset has eased and the Mullin questions have stopped coming in press conferences.

Yet a scene-stealing return is not being discounted.

Phillips says it would be "fitting" for Mullin, who has done more than most to bring the success to the storyline, to prove he can cut it at this level and have a late impact in the bid for the Championship.

Whether Wrexham get there, and then whether Mullin remains to play in the second tier, is another matter.

Still only 30, he has a - reportedly well-paid - contract until 2027 and has shown no agitation to leave.

"This season has ultimately not gone the way that any of us thought it was going to, or that any of us would have wanted to go for Paul, but I think that there's still a huge future for him at the club," director Humphrey Ker told the Fearless in Devotion podcast, adding that his prior performances in the FA Cup against the likes of Coventry City and Sheffield United gave the club belief he has Championship pedigree.

That question will have to wait given there is still a promotion to win and a season finale to script.

"Everyone wants Mullin in the squad, but right now him not being there is being justified," sums up Edwards. "To be brutal about it, Phil Parkinson is a legend, Paul Mullin is a legend - but only one picks the side."

Additional reporting by Nizaar Kinsella