Back of Goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo (1 Wrexham) during the Sky Bet League 1 match between Peterborough and Wrexham at London Road in Peterborough, England, on August 31, 2024. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Two Wrexham stars named in League One Team of the Season – but Arthur Okonkwo and Ollie Rathbone both miss out
Wrexham players are no doubt still celebrating promotion having beaten Charlton Athletic 3-0 on Saturday evening.
For the third year in a row, April has brought a promotion for Wrexham.
Wycombe Wanderers’ defeat at Leyton Orient set the stage for Wrexham to seal a third straight promotion.
Phil Parkinson’s side stepped up to the occasion as Wrexham beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 in a superb performance.
Two of Wrexham’s best performances of the season came at the right time; first beating Blackpool 2-1 away from home before blowing Charlton away.
Wrexham duo named in League One Team of the Season
Wrexham players were surely celebrating long into the night having made it back-to-back-to-back promotions.
Even BR was a little worse for wear this morning, but Wrexham players have been down at the EFL Awards in London.
The League One Team of the Season has now been announced – and two Wrexham players have been included.
Defender Max Cleworth joins Charlton Athletic’s Lloyd Jones and Birmingham City’s Christoph Klarer in a back three.
Cleworth has been brilliant this season and underlined exactly why he is one of the first names on Parkinson’s team sheet at Wrexham.
Ryan Barnett is also in the team at right wing back, even though he ended the season on the Wrexham bench.
Barnett was a menace in the first half of the season, racking up assists for fun in the process.
The second half of the campaign was a little trickier, with Barnett registering just two goal involvements and losing his place to January signing Ryan Longman.
Barnett’s contribution over the season was crucial to Wrexham’s promotion, though, and you would be hard-pressed to find many better right wing backs in League One on his day.
League One Team of the Season: Sam Tickle (Wigan Athletic); Max Cleworth (Wrexham), Christoph Klarer (Birmingham City), Lloyd Jones (Charlton Athletic); Ryan Barnett (Wrexham), Tomoki Iwata (Birmingham City), Lewis Bate (Stockport County), Alex Cochrane (Birmingham City); Kwame Poku (Peterborough United), Davis Keillor-Dunn (Barnsley); Richard Kone (Wycombe Wanderers).
Arthur Okonkwo and Ollie Rathbone miss out despite Wrexham excellence
There are two major surprises for us here.
Goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo has been exceptional for most of the season, barring an off-colour spell after returning from injury early in 2025.
Okonkwo has kept 18 clean sheets in 32 games for Wrexham this season, the same tally as Team of the Season stopper Tickle – despite playing 12 fewer games.
Okonkwo has conceded just 23 goals compared to Tickle’s 40 and boasts a record of 125 minutes per goal conceded, again, better than Tickle’s 99.
Tickle is a brilliant goalkeeper in his own right, but seeing him chosen ahead of Okonkwo is a surprise.
Then we come to Ollie Rathbone, who was left out of the midfield in the League One Team of the Season.
Iwata and Bate were outstanding for Birmingham and Stockport respectively, but Rathbone has been the driving force in Wrexham’s midfield.
Eight goals and two assists have made Rathbone an absolute hero at Wrexham and he certainly should have been in the mix after a sensational campaign.
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