Study finds Wrexham took 16 domestic flights in the National League last season

A study has found that Wrexham's promotion-winning National League campaign in 2022/23 featured a total of 16 short-haul flights, including a 29-minute journey from Newcastle to Manchester.

The Red Dragons secured a fairytale return to the Football League in April when they achieved automatic promotion with a dramatic 3-1 win over title contenders Boreham Wood.

After a 15-year hiatus, Phil Parkinson's side will once again play in English football's fourth tier when the new season rolls around.

And ahead of their eagerly-anticipated return to League Two, the Welsh club have been putting in some serious air miles on their pre-season tour of America.

In fact, if last season is anything to go by, then Wrexham will continue to catch domestic flights throughout the upcoming campaign, despite their 'ecologically-sustainable' mission statement.

The BBC have conducted a study highlighting Wrexham's travels during the 2022/23 National League season.

According to the report, they took eight domestic return flights to non-league opposition including Gateshead, Bromley and Eastleigh, with fourteen of those 16 journeys departing from and returning to Manchester Airport.

The shortest flight was just 29 minutes [Newcastle to Manchester] and the average flight time was 43.5 minutes.

Other journeys include London Oxford to Manchester [32 minutes] when they played against Maidenhead on March 4, and Luton to Manchester [37 minutes] after a 0-0 draw against Barnet on April 15.

Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney pledged their "commitment to a more ecologically-sustainable version of the club and stadium" when writing their mission statement on the club website.

Frank Huisingh, who works for campaign group Fossil Free Football, has called on Wrexham to stop advertising air travel.

"Football has a clear interest in stopping the climate crisis from escalating further," he said. "It is therefore sad to see that so many young world-class players are asked to promote a very polluting activity like flying.

"Wrexham AFC shouldn't have followed their [Premier League clubs] lead. They should do what is best for fans around the world and stop advertising air travel."

The Welsh club recently signed a sponsorship deal with United Airlines, the world's largest airline, as the topic of environmental damage caused by short-haul flights continues to spark debate.

Back in March,the BBC published eye-opening evidence when it comes to short-haul flights in England's top division.

They analysed 100 games over a two-month period and found Premier League clubs flew to 81 domestic matches in that time, with an average journey time taking 42 minutes.

Wrexham will welcome MK Dons to The Racecourse Ground on August 5 for their League Two opener.