One Paul Mullin feat has been the key to putting Wrexham AFC on the cusp of the Championship | OneFootball

Paul Mullin's instant goalscoring success the biggest reason Wrexham AFC are nearing a place in the Championship

Wrexham’s meteoric rise up the EFL pyramid has captured the imagination of football fans worldwide, as has the attacking quality of the club’s three-time Player of the Season.

It would be fair to say Paul Mullin has failed to live up to lofty expectations this season, with Phil Parkinson’s men closing in on a place in the Championship.

Although “Super Paul” has struggled to find the back of the net this season, it would be reasonable to say the North Welsh side wouldn’t have risen so quickly up the EFL pyramid if not for the clinical finishing of their number 10.

Paul Mullin was an instant success at Wrexham

From the moment he put pen to paper with Wrexham in 2021, he almost instantly became an overnight sensation for the club.

After signing, Mullin told the BBC that Red Dragons’ co-owner Rob McElhenney convinced him about the Wrexham project, persuading him to leave Cambridge United: “He (McElhenney) really sold the club to me. What they have planned for the club is magnificent and something I want to be a part of.”

Mullin arrived in North Wales in July 2021 on a three-year contract with plenty of expectations, scoring 34 goals in 50 competitive fixtures at Cambridge in the prior campaign. He lived up to the hype in 2021-22, scoring 26 goals in 38 National League appearances for the Red Dragons. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to earn them a promotion on that occasion, but Mullin was far from finished scoring goals.

The National League’s reigning top goalscorer netted 38 times in 2022-23, good for second in the competition that season behind Notts County’s Macaulay Longstaff (42).

While his Golden Boot reign ended, his contributions helped Wrexham earn automatic promotion above Notts County.

Although he missed the early stages of their League Two campaign in 2023-24, Mullin proved when he was available that he could still contribute to this team, scoring 24 times in 38 appearances in the fourth tier as Wrexham were promoted once again.

His first three seasons with the club were extraordinary, and he quickly became a beloved figure among Wrexham’s supporters.

Paul Mullin’s Wrexham milestone

During the 2023-24 campaign, Mullin achieved something that only nine players before him had ever done in this club’s lengthy and illustrious history.

On April 6, 2024, he reached the century mark for goals across all competitions for Wrexham in a pivotal 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Colchester United.

The winning goal in that match came courtesy of Max Cleworth, his first as a Red Dragon.

Mullin’s rise at Wrexham, along with his 100th goal, earned plenty of praise from the club, including one of the great Red Dragon heroes from yesteryears, Micky Thomas, who said on X the day after Mullin achieved that feat:

Remarkably, Mullin achieved that milestone in a mere 136 games with the club. That was the first match of a five-game winning run for the Red Dragons as they claimed a second successive promotion.

League Two is Paul Mullin’s ceiling

When you rise to prominence as quickly as Mullin did with Wrexham, there are always expectations that you should be able to do better year after year.

Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s worked out for the man who made a brief cameo appearance in co-owner Ryan Reynolds’ 2024 movie “Deadpool and Wolverine.”

Having to undergo spinal surgery at the start of this League One campaign, Mullin had to sit and watch as Wrexham began the season well yet again, with Jack Marriott one of the early scoring sensations in his absence.

Since his return, Mullin has only shown flashes of the brilliance we saw over the previous three league seasons. His best moment came on Boxing Day last year when he scored the Goal of the Month in December in a 2-1 victory over Blackpool.

That is as good as it’s gotten for the 2022-23 FA Cup Golden Ball winner, who hasn’t played a League One fixture since scoring in their 3-2 defeat versus Stevenage in late January.

His last competitive appearance for the first team took place in their Vertu Trophy semi-final defeat versus Peterborough United, missing his penalty kick as the Red Dragons were eliminated in a shootout after that match ended in a 2-2 draw.

Based on his performances in League One throughout his career, it seems as though his ceiling as a footballer is League Two and that's the best version of Mullin that Wrexham will get.

Paul Mullin’s current Wrexham contract

Given his form at that time, it wasn’t surprising to many that Wrexham extended Mullin’s contract in January 2024.

The man who turned 30 last November committed to Phil Parkinson’s men until the end of the 2026-27 season. As he’s not even been on the bench down the stretch of their League One campaign, it’s difficult to envision a scenario where the club will keep him with the club until his contract expires. The 2024-25 season appears to be the swan song for Mullin in a Wrexham shirt.

When you add to that the fact that Mullin has been earning a weekly wage bill of £5,800 according to Salary Sport, it seems even less likely that we’ll see the striker born in Litherland with the club next season.

Wrexham have Mullin to thank for their current position

While Max Cleworth, Ryan Barnett, Arthur Okonkwo, Steven Fletcher and Sam Smith are among the many who’ve been pivotal to Wrexham’s success in 2024-25, the Championship wouldn’t be a distinct possibility if not for Mullin.

He scored over a third of their goals in League Two last season (24 of 89) and over 30% of their final tally in their National League-winning campaign (38 of 116). Wrexham conceded multiple goals 10 times domestically last season and nine times in the National League in 2022-23.

Without Mullin’s consistency, they might still be fighting to get out of the National League, seeing as Notts County were stride-for-stride with them that season.

Throughout most of this campaign, the Red Dragons’ sound defensive work has kept them within touching distance of the Championship.

Mullin, meanwhile, has cemented his place in this club’s history, currently sitting ninth on Wrexham’s list of all-time top goalscorers.

Not to take anything away from all the players who have played a part in the Red Dragons’ recent success, but Mullin’s contributions are probably the biggest reason they’ve risen to prominence so quickly.

Few players had as many expectations on their shoulders as Mullin did.

Even though this hasn’t been a spectacular season for him, he’s delivered at a high-level time and again and deserves plenty of acknowledgment should they earn a historic third successive promotion.