Key events
Steven Pye
In some ways, history is repeating itself. In 1982, Chelsea and Wrexham met in the FA Cup after they had beaten Hull and Nottingham Forest respectively in previous rounds. The same has happened in 2026; but this is where the similarities end.
When the clubs met 44 years ago they were in the second tier and had huge debts. With Chelsea reportedly £1.6m in the red, the future of Stamford Bridge was in doubt as property developers hovered. Relegation-threatened Wrexham spent most of the 1980s merely trying to survive.
On top of inconsistent league form and financial woe, Chelsea also had problems with their supporters. After trouble at Derby in November 1981, the FA banned Chelsea fans from away matches. However, policing the ban proved almost impossible. Chelsea fans continued to travel and make their way into the home ends of various grounds. The ban was lifted after a few months and the episode did little for the club’s reputation.
Team news
The Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson makes three changes to the team that beat Charlton a week ago. Ryan Longman, Zak Vyner and Sam Smith come in for Issa Kabore, Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore.
With Chelsea playing Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday, Liam Rosenior has made nine changes to the XI that started at Villa Park in midweek. Jorrel Hato and Alejandro Garnacho are the survivors.
Wrexham (possible 3-4-2-1) Okonkwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Doyle; Longman, Dobson, Vyner, Thomason; Rathbone, O’Brien; Smith.
Subs: Ward, Scarr, Brunt, Barnett, Keillor-Dunn, Windass, Broadhead, Rodriguez, Moore.
Chelsea (possible 3-4-2-1) Sanchez; Tosin, Badiashile, Sarr; Acheampong, Lavia, Andrey Santos, Hato; Neto, Garnacho; Delap.
Subs: Sharman-Lowe, James, Gusto, Chalobah, Cucurella, Essugo, Derry, Joao Pedro, Guiu.
Will Unwin
“It’s just surreal,” says the former Wrexham midfielder Mickey Thomas, scorer of arguably the club’s most famous goal. When he helped strike down Arsenal, the reigning English champions, in the FA Cup third round in 1992, he could not have expected 34 years later to be regularly rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s biggest stars, regaling them with the story of how he smashed a free‑kick past David Seaman.
In recent years, Wrexham have welcomed a glittering array of famous Hollywood guests to Cae Ras, thanks to Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac, who often invite Thomas to the owners’ box. The north Walian town has become a hotbed for famous faces, all given the warmest welcome by a club enjoying a meteoric rise.
Channing Tatum, Hugh Jackman, Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd have made the trip across the Atlantic to witness how Reynolds and Mac have transformed this corner of Wales. They, however, are not as big a draw as Premier League Chelsea, who visit in the Cup fifth round on Saturday. Wrexham, occupants of a Championship playoff spot, have the capabilities to take their second top-flight scalp of a season that could end with a fourth consecutive promotion.
Preamble
The last time Wrexham met Chelsea, in the old Division Two 44 years ago, Frank Carrodus scored the only goal to give the bottom club Wrexham an unlikely victory. The match was watched by 3,935 people at the Racecourse Ground; Dustin Hoffman, Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty were not among their number. The most exotic names in the stadium that day were probably Chelsea winger Peter Rhoades-Brown and Wrexham keeper Eddie Niedzwecki.
Times change, football changes and tonight the two teams will meet in a Hollywood-adjacent blockbuster: it’s being shown live on two different channels in the UK alone. It’s Wrexham’s biggest game since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club six years ago, a chance to take a major scalp and reach their first FA Cup quarter-final since 1997.
The script is written, an unashamedly cheesy one at that, but Chelsea plan to make a few last-minute edits.
Kick off 5.45 p.m.
