The fans of Wrexham AFC are being urged to get into the festive spirit and tuck into mince pies – to help the club buy new players and gain promotion.
The family–run Village Bakery have donated 3,500 of the seasonal favourites so they can be sold at home matches as part of the campaign to raise money for their transfer window war chest.
With the club in third place two points behind table toppers Macclesfield Town in the National, the aim is to achieve the holy grail this season by being promoted back into the football league.
The timing would be perfect as it would coincide with the 40th anniversary of Wrexham’s greatest ever season when John Neal’s legendary team won promotion to the old Division 2 and reached the quarter finals of the FA Cup and the League Cup.
The Dragons faltered against Harrogate Town last Saturday when they lost 2-0 in the FA Club Trophy, but are hoping to strengthen their league position with a win against Dover Athletic at the Racecourse next Saturday when the mince pies will be on sale again.
They are also on sale at the club’s pop-up Christmas shop at the town’s Eagles Meadow Shopping Centre.
So far they have amassed more than £53,000 to buy new players and manager Dean Keates already has his targets in mind.
Dean said: “We’re just over the half way point of the season and things are okay but nothing gets decided in December other than Santa.
“What the Village Bakery have done for us is an unbelievable gesture and it just shows you what the whole town is about. Everybody pulls together and tries to help each other out.
“All being well, the fans will buy the mince pies in numbers and the proceeds will go towards building the budget to help us push us on in January.
“We have our targets but obviously you think you can get somewhere but all of a sudden it’s not there so we’ll just see what happens.
“So far we’ve raised £53,000 which has been added in to the budget to entice players of Shaun Pearson’s calibre from the football league to get them down here. ”
Midfielder Sam Wedgby, 28, who’s in his first season with club, said: “It’s a massive club and the fans are really passionate. You grasp that when you first sign here.
“There’s a lot of support from the whole community and companies like the Village Bakery. We have to thank everybody at the bakery.”
Like Sam, fellow midfielder Akil Wright, 21, allowed himself one of the mince pies.
He said: “I’ve tried one and it’s really nice. I can’t have too many though because there are a lot of games coming over Christmas so I have to watch what I eat.”
Last year the Village Bakery unveiled a new official club pie after fans chose the hot chilli beef version encased in short-crust pastry from a shortlist of two.
Managing director Robin Jones was delighted to help the club in their hour of need with the gift of the mouth-watering mince pies.
He said: “First and foremost, the Village Bakery is a community-based family firm and we are long-term supporters of the Dragons.
“We all live within three or four miles of the bakery and dad’s always been a great supporter of Wrexham Football Club and it was just an idea that we wanted to do for Christmas.
“Wrexham are flying high at the moment and we have loads of our staff who are Wrexham fans so it’s just nice to give something back.
“Hopefully, Wrexham can put the proceeds to good use and get some new players in to boost the push for promotion.
“It’s every fan’s dream to win promotion back into the football league so we’re hoping our mince pies will play a small part in helping the club taste more success in the future.”
