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Following the confirmation of Wrexham talisman Paul Mullin’s 2025-26 League One loan move to Wigan Athletic, one can feel the end of an era.

The Welsh club has 110 goals in 170 games, or Super Paul Mullin, as many of the Stok Cae Ras faithful have.

A cult hero among the fans, and a huge favourite with the club’s Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, he has been prominent in the “Welcome to Wrexham” documentary series.

Mullin played a significant role in the club’s subsequent attempts to advance from the National League to the Championship.

The 30-year-old started just nine League One games for Wrexham last term, scoring three league goals and two more in the EFL Trophy, but only made 17 appearances.

Speculation mounted over his Wrexham future, with his contract not due to expire until the summer of 2027.

Mullin stated: “I’m excited for the next part of my story. I’m going to join Wigan on loan for the upcoming season.”

23 July 2021

After leading Cambridge United to League One promotion, Mullin chooses to leave and joins Wrexham on a free transfer on a three-year deal.

I called Rob McElhenney, the co-owner of Waxham, a few nights ago, and I wasn’t all that sure about making the move, according to Mullin.

“But once he outlined the plans for the club, and the plans for me in the future, it was something I really wanted to be a part of and something that just excited me that much that I had to come.

He actually gave me the club. I want to be a part of what they have planned for the club because it is incredible.

21 August 2021

In his first game as manager, Phil Parkinson, Mullin scores in his Wrexham debut. At Solihull Moors, the Dragons are held to a 2-2 draw. He scores from the penalty spot.

26 October 2021

In their first game since beating Maidenhead United, co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney watch their team for the first time.

Bryce Hosannah is sent off, but the referee later misidentifies him and sends his ban to Mullin. Ironically Mullin gets sent-off when the sides meet in the reverse fixture at the Racecourse in January.

2021, October 30

26 March 2022

In a remarkable game at the Racecourse against Dover Athletic, who are already relegated, Mullin gives Wrexham the lead. Before the hosts responded with a shocking 5-2 lead, Dover’s dramatic stoppage time goal earned a 6-5 victory.

8 May 2022

With Mullin’s impressive win over Stockport County, Wrexham can keep their National League title hopes alive thanks to their impressive victory, which places them ahead of the Hatters in goal difference. County would ultimately win the National League title in the end.

2 8 May 2022

With a dramatic 5-4 victory over Grimsby Town at the Racecourse, Mullin’s promotion hopes are overturned as he scores twice, increasing his season total to 32 in all competitions.

22 April 2022

20-22-28

With Dragons co-chairman Rob McElhenney present, Mullin scores a hat-trick in a 5-0 win over Maidstone United.

8 October 2022

In their 7-5 victory over Barnet, Wrexham and Mullin again demonstrate their attacking instincts.

2022, Oct. 25,

7 January 2023

With a 4-3 win over Coventry City, Wrexham snagged one of the goals of Mullin, who also helped them knock them out of the FA Cup.

2023, January 29

Wrexham are denied a famous win by a late Sheffield United goal in the FA Cup fourth round at the Racecourse, after a late Mullin goal looks like securing another Championship scalp. Mullin scores an equalizer from the penalty spot for the visitors in the replay at Bramall Lane, but the Blades prove too strong, winning 3-1 with injury time goals.

10 April 2023

Wrexham earn a huge victory over promotion rivals Notts County on Easter Bank Holiday Monday at the Racecourse. Before Wrexham recorded a dramatic 3-2 victory thanks to goals from Jacob Mendy and Elliot Lee and a stoppage time penalty save from Ben Foster, Mullin makes the substitution for the Notts County opener.

22 April 2023

3 June 2023

Mullin is at Wembley for the FA Cup final to receive the Golden Ball award after finishing as the season’s top scorer in the competition, with nine goals.

20 July 2023

Wrexham’s expansion into North America is accompanied by a 3-1 win over a young Manchester United side, but Phil Parkinson is “funny” after suffering a punctured lung in a collision with goalkeeper Nathan Bishop, who makes him “flumming.” Unable to fly because of the iniury, Mullin spends two weeks recuperating in Los Angeles and misses Wrexham’s first game back in the EFL.

2023, September 9

2023 October

Mullin has been added to Wales’ standby list for the friendly against Gibraltar at Wrexham because he is a grandparent.

Then Wales manager Robert Page said of Mullin:” We’ve had a few conversations about Paul, so the next step is he’s now on standby and he’s one step away.

Paul is undoubtedly one of the Welsh players that we have taken note of, and he deserves it. The next stage of his development is now.

Mullin says he would be “over the moon” to play international football but adds “I don’t expect to be called up”.

20 November 2023

1 January 2024

After agreeing to a contract extension with Wrexham until the end of the 2026-27 season, Mullin says, “I’m unbelievably happy and grateful.”

I’ve loved every second of it since I signed for the club. It’s not just become my club, but my whole family also.

As a child, you long for the opportunity to perform in front of the support we receive.

“Here’s to making more memories that last a lifetime,” the message is clear.

27 February 2024

22 March 2024

Mullin scores a first-half hat-trick as Wrexham hammer Accrington Stanley at The Stok Racecourse to move into the automatic promotion spots. McElhenney and Mullin are pictured above praising the striker, saying, “The bigger the club will continue to get,” after the game.

29-Mar 2024

13 April 2024

Wrexham are now promoted for a second time in a row thanks to Mullin’s double in the win over Forest Green Rovers. A goal in a 3-0 win at Crewe the following week sees Mullin end the season with 24 goals, with nine coming in the final nine games of the campaign.

2024 June 2024

2024, July 2024

In Deadpool & Wolverine, a Marvel comic book series, Mullin makes an unexpected appearance. His masked cameo sees Mullin star as Welshpool – a Welsh version of Ryan Reynolds ‘ character Deadpool.

“You might have noticed that one Deadpool Corps member had a higher death rating than the others. Reynolds (pictured with Mullin above) said, “WELSHPOOL.”

24 August 2024

In a home win over Reading, Mullin makes his second-half substitute debut. In a League Cup victory over Salford the following month, he scores his first goal of the season and shows off a Deadpool mask in celebration.

19 October 2024

With Jack Marriott recovering from a broken leg in training, Mullin’s goal after just 16 seconds seals Wrexham’s 1-0 victory over Rotherham.

December 26, 2024

2025, January 28

Wrexham suffers their first home league defeat of the season, falling 3-2 to Stevenage, with Mullin coming off the bench to score. It proves to be his last goal for the Dragons. In the pecking order, he finds himself behind Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez, veteran Steven Fletcher, and fit again Marriott.

February 26, 2025

Leading 2-0 in the EFL Trophy semi-final at home to Peterborough United, Mullin is among a number of Wrexham substitutes introduced halfway through the second half. The game is then converted to penalties by two Peterborough goals, including a stoppage-time equalizer. As Peterborough secure their victory and place in the Wembley final, Mullin misses one of Wrexham’s spot kicks. Mullin does not feature for Wrexham for the remainder of the season.

2025 March

“Nonsene” is Mullin’s only word in response to a rumor on X that he had a fight with the manager and called the owners to complain.

26 April 2025

Wrexham won the championship by beating Charlton Athletic 3-1, but Mullin is absent once more. The Merseysider did not play in a league game after January and did not participate in matchday squads for the final three months of the season.

2 May 2025

2025 June

An emotional Mullin opens up on his absence in the ‘ Welcome to Wrexham ‘ documentary, saying he “resented” the decision to drop him and questioning whether he would play for the club again.

Mullin said on the Disney+ series, “Playing just one game of the Championship with Wrexham would be worth utterly everything.”

“I’ve enjoyed absolutely every minute of this story,” said one author, “and who knows where it might end.”

The signing of Plymouth Argyle forward Ryan Hardie casts further doubts over Mullin’s Wrexham future.

23 2025 June

Wigan Athletic, a League One side, announce the signing of Mullin for a 2025-26 season on loan.

“I’d like to wish Paul all the best for his loan move”, Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson said.

Former Luton Town manager Rob Edwards has been appointed as Middlesbrough’s new head coach.

Michael Carrick, who was fired earlier this month, will be replaced by Edwards, 42, who will join Riverside Stadium on a three-year contract.

He was then fired by the Hatters in January, when Luton were 20th in the Championship, but he was unable to avoid being relegated from the top flight 12 months later.

His current focus is to improve the Boro team, which finished last season in 10th place, four points outside the play-off spots.

According to Edwards, “It’s a real privilege to be able to lead this outstanding football club,” he said on the club website.

He continued, “It immediately made me feel excited and that this was the right decision.” We have a really good chance here, so I wanted to go back in if I had a chance to go there.

After leading Forest Green Rovers into League One for the first time in his first EFL season as manager of AFC Telford United in the National League North and working for Wolves and England at age groups, Edwards moved up to Watford in the summer of 2022.

He didn’t stay for long at Vicarage Road, playing 11 games, to be exact, but Luton won.

Six months after signing with the Hatters at Kenilworth Road and beating Coventry City in the play-off final at Wembley, he had already coached them to the Premier League.

For the entire club, returning to the top flight for the first time in 31 years marked a significant improvement, but Luton’s promotion was only made clear on the final day of the season.

Resuming the Championship proved to be a challenge, especially if you’re away from home. After 10 straight defeats, the club and Edwards had to reconcile.

Middlesbrough have fallen into the second tier after eight years of being in the Premier League.

Their north east rivals from the A19 had a memorable season last year, with Newcastle United winning the Carabao Cup, ending a 56-year wait for a major trophy, and Sunderland earning dramatic promotion to the Premier League.

Only two of the eight seasons have they reached the play-offs under Edwards, who is now the eighth manager or head coach to have been a part of the organization since 2017.

In Carrick’s first season, they finished fourth, but they struggled to get there in the second and third campaigns, finishing eighth and then 10th.

Ryan Reynolds, a partner at Wrexham, says he can’t wait to see Paul Mullin sporting a different kit once he’s signed for Wigan Athletic.

After spending the majority of last season’s promotion-winning campaign on the sidelines, Mullin claims he feels “sad” and “disappointed” to leave Wrexham. He has signed for the League One side for the 2025-26 season.

Given Mullin’s enormous contribution to the Red Dragons’ transition from the National League to the second tier in successive seasons, Reynolds says it will be strange to see him play elsewhere.

The Hollywood actor posted a picture of Mulls on social media that made him want to go on a loan and get another kit.

Without his heart, talent, and work ethic, “we wouldn’t be where we are.”

After leaving Cambridge United in 2021, Mullin started 110 goals in 170 games for Wrexham, but he was permanently dropped from the squad for the duration of the 2024-2005 campaign.

According to Mullin, “It was sad to leave where it was,” according to Wigan’s website.

The way that football is conducted is rather disappointing, despite the fact that you can leave clubs.

“But one door opens and one closes.” I’m prepared for the start of a chapter.

Even with the arrival of forwards Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez in January, many Wrexham fans still have questions about why Mullin was unable to make the bench in the final few months of the previous season.

However, some pundits and supporters have been keen to pay tribute to a man who has, at least for the moment, become infamous at Stok Cae Ras.

Waynne Phillips, a former Wrexham midfielder, calls Mullin “one of the greatest players to have worn the red of Wrexham.”

“There have been so many wonderful memories over the past four years,” said BBC Wales pundit Phillips.

A Springboks legend has predicted the team are on the verge of a record-equal third straight title at the next Australian competition after three decades of “Madiba Magic” that led South Africa to their seminal victory over New Zealand in the 1995 Rugby World Cup final.

Mark Andrews, who weighed 6 feet 7 inches tall, was one of the pillars of that year’s success at the World Cup on June 24, 1995, but he would admit that Nelson Mandela’s imposing presence was what was most prominent on the day.

Because of what he had done, Andrews, the political prisoner turned president of South Africa, said, “He was worth putting our bodies on the line for.”

Around 1,800 meters above sea level, the final game was going to be about the fittest’s survival in the rarefied Highveld air.

The hosts won 15-12 after a drop goal from Springboks fly-half Joel Stransky in extra time, but the game was eventually settled.

Years later, Andrews reminisced the theory that the fitter Springboks had outlasted the visitors, in a conversation with All Blacks great Ian Jones, who also played in the final.

Mandela, who had served 27 years in prison, was instrumental in facilitating the transition from apartheid to democracy when he was elected president in 1994.

His unmatched impact on the 1995 Rugby World Cup made a huge difference to the Springboks.

In the 2009 film “Invictus,” in which Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon played president and player, respectively, Mandela’s friendship with captain Francois Pienaar would later come to life.

Madiba, the clan name he was affectionately known as, wore the Springboks’ colors, which had long been seen as an ode to apartheid, during the final.

He made a masterful effort to recast the emblem for all South Africans, sprinkled his charismatic intelligence, known as “Madiba Magic,” on the momentous occasion.

Sean Fitzpatrick, who led New Zealand in the final that day, recalls how Mandela united a nation by bringing that green Springbok jersey, the jersey of his oppressors, into the stadium.

A new generation of supporters was affected by South Africa’s success, and Bryan Habana, a young schoolboy, just happened to be playing his first game of rugby on that historic day.

A 12-year-old boy who had never played rugby before had a dream and an inspiration when they saw Nelson Mandela walk out in that number six Springbok jersey. Also, witnessing the euphoria of the Springboks overcoming the incredibly talented All Blacks.

With his 15 tries in all competitions, Habana won the William Webb Ellis Trophy in 2007 and holds the record for the most tries scored in a rugby world cup final with Lomu.

“I’m going to tell everyone that 1995 was a turning point in my life.” The World Cup victory, according to Habana, was by far my pinnacle of success.

“But I can tell you for real, that 2019 was our most prestigious year as a South African sporting nation.”

Up until 2019, only players who were deemed coloured by South Africa’s apartheid-era racial laws, such as Chester Williams (1995), JP Pietersen (1977), and JP Pietersen (1977) were eligible to play for the Boks in a final.

According to Habana, the team “speak to a community and a population of 60 million South Africans” as a result of the class of 2019.

Not everyone, however, agrees with Habana.

The Springbok emblem, according to Julius Malema, the leader of South Africa’s far-left opposition party, is “an apartheid symbol” that “represents white supremacists.”

The national rugby team needs a new jersey, colors, and name, according to the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) commander-in-chief, who declared, “the springbok must fall.”

Malema was denied a visa to enter the country last week, saying he was “non conducive to the public good” and citing remarks he had made calling for violence against white South Africans.

Andrews claims that politicians like Malema are “trying to marginalize and divide” and that Mandela’s idea of unity is what the Springboks support.

The 53-year-old former number eight continued, “I don’t think they have what’s best for South Africa at heart.”

They “have what works best for them: to try to target and provoke anger and rage.”

Under coach Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s potent bench, known as the “bomb squad,” gives Andrews confidence that the Boks are on course for a hat-trick of titles in 2027 despite the fact that Mandela may no longer be available to play the 16th man.

He exclaimed, “No other country has two packs that are as strong as ours.”

Because of those positions’ depth of talent, “it unfairly benefits us.” Use it, if you have it, I mean.

Rishabh Pant, the wicketkeeper for India, was given a demerit point after admitting to dissention toward the umpires during the first Test against England.

According to article 2 8 of the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct, Pant, 27, was found to have committed a level one offence.

Harry Brook and Ben Stokes were batting on day three of the third Test at Headingley when the incident occurred in the 61st over of England’s first innings.

Pant was spotted discussing the condition of the match ball with on-field umpires Paul Reiffel and Chris Gaffaney.

Pant reacted by throwing the ball on the ground in front of the umpires when they refused to change the ball after they had checked it with the ball gauge.

Pant was not required to appear for a formal hearing because he accepted the sanction suggested by match referee Richie Richardson and admitted the offence.

“Pant’s disciplinary record has been reduced to the point where it was the first offense in a 24-month period,” according to a statement from the ICC.

A player is banned when they reach four or more demonetization points within a two-year period.

One Test, two ODIs, or two T20Is are banned for two suspension points.

Pant, a left-hander, was a key player for India in the Leeds game.

After having surgery on a torn right Achilles tendon, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton may miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season.

Seven minutes into the final game seven of the NBA Championship play-off finals at the Oklahoma City Thunder, the 25-year-old attempted to drive to the basket without making contact.

His team lost the remainder of the game, 103-91, to put an end to their hopes of winning their first NBA title, in clear distress as he was helped from the court.

The injury, which has a likely eight to ten-month recovery period, will need surgery on Monday, according to the Pacers.

The two-time All-Star, who joins Milwaukee’s Damian Lillard and Boston’s Jayson Tatum, is the third high-profile player to rupture an Achilles tendon during the play-offs this year.

Kevin Durant was forced out for a full season due to an injury that occurred during the 2019 NBA Finals while playing for the Golden State Warriors.

Despite suffering a calf strain in game five of the finals, Haliburton still managed to play in Sunday’s decider.

In the final seconds of each of the four play-off rounds, he hit a winning or tie-breaking shot.

After the surgery, he posted on X that he would “fight for this city and my brothers.” “I’d do it again,” he said. “For the chance to do something special.

Words cannot adequately express how sorry this is. Unfathomable is the relief. I’ve put my whole life into this situation, but it ultimately ends here.

After the game on Sunday, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle paid tribute to Haliburton.