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Rob Mac says he already has "butterflies" thinking about what next season could bring, after Wrexham narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premier League.
The Red Dragons saw their remarkable run of three back-to-back promotions come to a halt after finishing seventh in the Championship, just two points short of the final playoff position. It was a bittersweet moment for North Wales: immense pride at the club's highest-ever league finish in its 162-year history, alongside a nagging sense of disappointment at falling just short of the mark.
While a sixth-place finish would not have guaranteed a spot in the Premier League, the fact that Hull City claimed that position and went on to triumph in the end-of-season playoffs served as a stark reminder of just how close Wrexham came to achieving four consecutive promotions.
A fourth straight promotion would arguably have ranked among the greatest feats in soccer history, though Hull's achievement was extraordinary in its own right. The Tigers began the campaign as one of the favorites for the drop after narrowly surviving relegation the year before, yet still managed to secure promotion despite operating under a transfer embargo that barred them from bringing in new players.
Although missing out stung, the Wrexham co-chairman said he was genuinely delighted for Hull.
"We're so excited for Hull," he told Sports Illustrated. "I texted their owner, and I tweeted it too—congratulations—but I also reached out to them personally. I thought it was an incredible story, and I love seeing joyful people succeed. Sure, it wasn't us this year, but that's football. You go again."
Rob Mac Reveals Excitement for Next Season
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has already acknowledged that the club must "strengthen" its squad this summer if it wants to mount a serious promotion challenge next season, particularly with expectations that the Championship will grow even more competitive.
Wolverhampton Wanderers, Burnley and West Ham United have all been relegated from the Premier League and will receive parachute payments next season, while Middlesbrough, Southampton and Birmingham City are also expected to be formidable contenders.
The North Wales club has already begun laying the groundwork for the summer transfer window, and Mac admitted he is energized by the prospect of pushing for a place in the Premier League.
"I was just on a Zoom call because we're already gearing up for next season," he continued. "There really is no offseason for us. It was Memorial Day here, so technically it was a holiday, but I still put in a few hours of work and found myself getting butterflies already. I was so excited and pumped up about the possibilities."
Speaking of exciting possibilities, the Wrexham co-chairman is hoping to help create plenty of them this summer. Mac has partnered with Enterprise to give fans the chance to win a car when a corner kick leads to a goal during soccer's biggest global tournament. The #OnEveryCorner program gives fans in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Spain, and France the opportunity to win a vehicle during any corner kick in the tournament from June 11 to July 19, 2026.
If a corner kick is awarded, participants must swiftly post #OnEveryCorner along with #Sweepstakes and tag @Enterprise on X. If the corner kick results in a qualifying goal, one lucky entrant will win a car. Fans will also have another chance to win a vehicle throughout the tournament at OnEveryCorner.com.
With more than 1,000 corner kicks projected across 48 teams and 104 matches, every set piece represents a real-time shot at winning a car. Having watched Wrexham become such a threat from corners over the past five years, Mac said it was a partnership he was keen to be part of.
"Well, as you know, we work very closely with sponsors for the club, but I don't take on many partnerships with outside brands," Mac added. "But Enterprise came to me with this concept, and I thought the promotion was fantastic. It was a great tie-in, and what they were trying to achieve made a lot of sense. It was also community-focused, which is always important to us—that's part of our ethos in how we steward the club."
If the program had been around during Wrexham's extraordinary rise from the National League to the Championship, Mac already knows which players he would have backed to boost his chances of winning a car along the way.
"I think you'd probably start with Luke Young. I loved Young's corner kicks because he was really the one who showed us just how dangerous they could be. I don't know why, but he always seemed to find a way to put the ball in exactly the right spot for someone to get on the end of it, whether it was Ollie Palmer or Paul Mullin. But you'd definitely want [Steven] Fletcher in there too, with that giant head of his, rising above everyone and putting it into the back of the net—and now Kieffer [Moore] as well!"
Rob Mac Eyes World Cup Bragging Rights
With the World Cup just around the corner, there is also the prospect of some friendly bragging rights. Mac will not only be cheering on the USMNT, but will also be keeping a close eye on how they stack up against Canada, the home nation of his Wrexham co-chairman Ryan Reynolds.
"Of course," Mac said with a grin. "A few years ago, he went into Canada's locker room and fired up the team. I don't think they won that game, though, so I'm not sure whether he's a good-luck charm or not—who's to say? Then again, it took me six or seven games before I finally got to watch Wrexham win, and everything turned out O.K. after that."
Wrexham will also make history this summer. For only the second time in club history, the Welsh side will have a current player competing at the World Cup. In fact, they will have two.
Club captain Dom Hyam has been called up to Scotland's national team, while fellow defender Liberato Cacace has been included in New Zealand's squad. It represents a tremendous source of pride for Wrexham and yet another sign of how far the club has come under its current ownership.
"What an honor for the players, and what an honor for the club, to have international call-ups," Mac added. "We've had to get used to it because it's happening much more frequently now. At first, we'd just get a text or a call saying we were going to lose somebody for the week or the weekend, and that was all pretty new to us. In the National League, League Two and League One, it happened very rarely. Now it's becoming much more common, which is a great sign for the club.
"But you really miss those players when they're away. At the beginning, we kept wondering why and how we were losing players so regularly. Then you talk to them, and of course it means everything to them. Representing your country and receiving an international call-up is a dream come true for so many players. So we'll definitely be rooting for New Zealand and Scotland."
To learn more about the sweepstakes, review the official rules and discover additional ways to enter,
football fans are encouraged to visit OnEveryCorner.com.