Wrexham drew Chelsea in Monday evening’s FA Cup 5th round tie. The 2 winners and 2 losers from the Wrexham vs Chelsea FA Cup draw.
Until 2025, friendlies were the only way for Wrexham to be able to play against top Premier League teams. The 2025/26 season has brought a change in a more exciting and competitive manner. Wrexham have already taken on Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town multiple times this season who were cutting it out in the previous top-flight campaign.
The Reds have also hosted current Premier League outfit Nottingham Forest a month ago, where they sparked a 7-6 FA Cup upset on penalties. Chelsea are next in this list which is a sign of how far Wrexham have come from being National League strugglers just over five years ago.
It goes without saying that everyone in the Wrexham dressing room will be pumped up to face Chelsea in March. Still, every player has their unique preferences whenever the FA Cup draws come around. That said, there are 2 winners and 2 losers from Wrexham drawing Chelsea in the FA Cup 5th round.
2 winners and 2 losers from Wrexham vs Chelsea FA Cup draw
Winner: Phil Parkinson
As soon as Wrexham got paired with Chelsea in the FA Cup draw, it was clear that Phil Parkinson will be the happiest man from this tie. Besides loving big games, Parkinson prefers having an FA Cup atmosphere in front of the Red Dragons fanbase.
He has never hidden this fact, and getting Chelsea on top of a home draw was just the icing on the cake from Parkinson’s point of view. Eleven years ago, Phil Parkinson stepped in an FA Cup knockout evening with Bradford City to face Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. The Blues were sailing smoothly towards the 2014/15 Premier League title, which they eventually won a few months later.
READ MORE: Phil Parkinson’s 3-1 claim says he missed one Wrexham starter vs Bristol City
READ MORE: Wrexham set to welcome Chelsea for FA Cup 5th round clash in March
READ MORE: ‘Smooth’ – Ipswich Town boss fancies beating Wrexham despite FA Cup loss
As such, they were expected to storm past Parkinson’s League One outfit Bradford City. 2-0 within the first 40 minutes was the usual Chelsea dominance everyone had thought of pre-game. However, Parkinson rallied his Bradford side to keep pushing for goals one after the other.
Somehow, the unexpected happened with Bradford City thumping a star studded Chelsea 4-2 out of the FA Cup. Hence, Parkinson will be more than excited to meet Chelsea in the same FA Cup competition, and hopefully cause another upset with Wrexham this time.
Winner: Wrexham fans
On Sunday, the Wrexham fanbase was busy shortlisting Arsenal and Liverpool as the potential FA Cup opponents they wanted to play. Many of them were convinced that the Reds could give a good fight to Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Although it’s neither Arsenal nor Liverpool on the FA Cup fixture, Chelsea at home isn’t too bad. The Blues often keep resting and rotating players due to their Premier League and Champions League commitments.
Who knows, they might name a weaker lineup for the Wrexham tie and Phil Parkinson’s men capitalise on it to produce a memorable evening at the Racecourse?
Loser: Josh Windass
Josh Windass hated the idea of drawing a top Premier League team away from home. Well, his wish for another Racecourse FA Cup evening got fulfilled but Chelsea aren’t one of those clubs he was willing to rub shoulders with.
READ MORE: Phil Parkinson’s 3-1 claim says he missed one Wrexham starter vs Bristol City
READ MORE: Wrexham set to welcome Chelsea for FA Cup 5th round clash in March
READ MORE: ‘Smooth’ – Ipswich Town boss fancies beating Wrexham despite FA Cup loss
Anyways, the 31-year-old won’t let this unhappy FA Cup draw affect his performances. After all, Windass remains calm and composed even in Wrexham’s comeback moments, and that quality will be crucial in avoiding early slip-ups and misses in that huge showdown.
Windass was excellent in the 1-0 Ipswich Town win on Friday night but can he keep that good form going until the Chelsea game, that remains to be seen.
Loser: Arthur Okonkwo, Ben Sheaf and George Dobson
Pretty much like the Wrexham fans, there are good chances that the club’s 3 former Arsenal academy talents also held their hopes for an Arsenal FA Cup draw. All of Arthur Okonkwo, Ben Sheaf and George Dobson spent a significant time in the Gunners youth setup before being essential first team regulars at Wrexham.
Sheaf has turned out among the Red Dragons finest 2025 summer signings. Okonkwo and Dobson were brilliant in the FA Cup wins over Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town. As such, an Arsenal meeting could have given the trio a perfect career redemption opportunity to show how better they have turned up since being deemed surplus to requirements in Arsenal’s academy.
READ MORE WREXHAM NEWS HERE:
- Phil Parkinson’s 3-1 claim says he missed one Wrexham starter vs Bristol City
- Wrexham predicted lineup vs Bristol City: Zak Vyner to make his debut?
- 3 Wrexham vs Bristol City player battles ahead of away Championship fixture
- Wrexham set to welcome Chelsea for FA Cup 5th round clash in March
- ‘Smooth’ – Ipswich Town boss fancies beating Wrexham despite FA Cup loss
