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Steve Nickson says the ambition of Wrexham's owners and manager persuaded him to take on the role as the club's first-ever sporting director, with his approach to potential signings centered on motivation, discipline and receptiveness.
Wrexham announced Nickson's appointment in September after he served out his notice period as head of recruitment at Newcastle United. Though he was brought in by former CEO Michael Williamson, Nickson will now collaborate closely with interim CEO Shaun Harvey, while manager Phil Parkinson was also involved in the selection process.
Nickson has been charged with developing Wrexham's scouting and recruitment infrastructure, with a primary goal of establishing a global scouting network. The Red Dragons are eager to tap into new markets around the world as they seek to identify high-potential players who can either contribute immediately to the first team or be nurtured and sold for a substantial fee.
Why Steve Nickson Joined Wrexham
In his first public interview since taking up the sporting director role, Nickson has spoken candidly about his choice to leave Premier League outfit Newcastle for Championship side Wrexham. He maintains that he had multiple options when weighing up his next step but was ultimately swayed by the long-term vision in North Wales.
"I had chances to go elsewhere, but meeting the owners, meeting the manager, getting a sense of the place and where it could go — I felt it wasn't just talk; there was genuine thought behind it," he told That Wrexham Podcast. "The new training facility, the new Kop Stand — not just words. They understand what they want: to reach the Premier League, stay there and build something lasting. They also understand that on the football side, that takes time, and we need to get the foundations right."
When reflecting on his early impressions of the club, Nickson acknowledged that recruitment had naturally lagged behind during Wrexham's rapid ascent through the divisions, with only a small number of dedicated recruitment staff in place. He plans to grow that department significantly, creating multiple new roles as Wrexham look to extend their scouting reach into previously unexplored markets.
He continued: "They've done so well in football, and it has gone so well — they are essentially building a plane while flying it, and it is still working and performing really well. In terms of what has happened, there are some gaps behind the scenes because they have moved so quickly. They have done it the right way around; they got the football right first. So, for me, right now it is a lot of operational work, a lot of building relationships with the manager, coaching staff, sports science, all the performance staff where possible, and the people above me.
"The next step for me is recruitment, because that is really my area of expertise. I need to start thinking about the database, technology, staffing — we don't have a large recruitment team. At Newcastle, I had 114 staff in recruitment: scouts, analysts, data specialists — from the academy all the way through to the first team. Here, we will have considerably fewer."
The Three Things Steve Nickson Looks For
Nickson appears to be closely in tune with Parkinson's footballing philosophy. The experienced pair both place great importance on character and attitude alongside raw ability, and are firm that they will not pursue a talented player who does not align with the club's core values.
For Nickson, those values come down to three essential qualities: drive, regulation and openness. Spotting those traits in players who have no prior experience of English football presents a real challenge, requiring extensive background work to gather multiple character references before any move is made.
He added: "We are continuing, but with some evolution. We build on what is already working well. There will be certain alignments — in terms of mentality, I look for drive, regulation and openness, three distinct things when assessing a player on or off the pitch. That kind of work is already being done here, just not framed in that way. Then we get the opportunity to coach the coaches and staff so they understand what that looks like on the field.
"We need to shift our recruitment approach slightly. We have quite a high proportion of UK players, so there is a whole new world out there that we haven't had the resources to explore. The manager probably didn't have the character references or enough knowledge of players in those markets, so he was great about it and said, 'Right, let's add to what we've got to try and take us to that next level.'"