As we host Macclesfield Town this month in the 1st Round of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy, I thought I’d take a look at a member of the Macc squad who’s only Wrexham first-team appearance came in this competition.
Jimmy McNulty is the name of the Detective in the cult hit American TV drama ‘The Wire’. However the name is also that of a tall, young left-sided centre-half who joined Wrexham as a scholar in the summer of 2001 and so nearly made it at the Racecourse.
Jimmy, from Runcorn, had won Scotland Under-17 caps against Wales. He joined Wrexham at a time when the club had an Academy and were being beaten week in week out by Premiership opposition.
Despite those heavy defeats, when the club returned to having a Centre of Excellence, the results of the youth-team during 2002-03 were much improved. In Jimmy’s second year as a YTS the team finished the season winning their regional division of the Youth Alliance. This was under the guidance of current first-team assistant manager Steve Weaver.
The side included future Welsh internationals Craig Morgan and Mark Jones, as well as Simon Spender and Levi Mackin. The likes of Mike Williams, Jamie Reed and Matty Done also made frequent appearances. While the first-team were busy winning promotion Jimmy and his contemporaries were starting to push on in the reserves led by Joey Jones
By pre-season 2003-04 it seemed that manager Denis Smith had taken a shine to Jimmy, the reserves new captain. He was involved in pre-season games and was given a first-team squad number. He was then promoted to the subs bench for an early home game against Bournemouth. However, he had to wait a few more months for his debut.
It came on Bonfire night at Edgeley Park, home to Stockport County, in an LDV Trophy 2nd Round tie. Jimmy and Simon Spender had been included on the subs bench. It was Jimmy who made it on to the pitch that night as a substitute for Steve Roberts. When he entered the action with 17 minutes to go Stockport had just pulled the game back to 4-3 still in Wrexham’s favour. However we ended up losing the game 5-4 on the short-lived ‘silver-goal rule’ (first team to score in the first-half of extra-time wins), with Jimmy also getting booked! That was to be his only senior Wrexham appearance.
The next month he featured on the bench against Peterborough, then again in the New Year against Sheffield Wednesday. When Shaun Pejic went off injured in that game, it was midfielder Steve Thomas who replaced him and not natural defender Jimmy.
That he was overlooked didn’t bode well for his future. With his YTS near to expiry he was sent on loan to Bangor City in the Welsh Premier with young goalkeeper Danny Evans for more senior experience. Despite playing well, injury curtailed the rest of his season during which time the younger Simon Spender was establishing himself in the first-team squad.
Unsurprisingly Jimmy was released that summer. This was at the time that Hamilton was taking charge of the club. Perhaps Denis would have given Jimmy more time and further chances to develop had finances not been so tight. Maybe Denis thought he hadn’t progressed enough. Either way it seemed his dreams of a league career were over.
Former Wrexham player Waynne Phillips was quick to sign Jimmy for Welsh Premier side Caernarfon Town. He became a regular alongside a host of other youngsters released by Wrexham, and former Wrexham stalwarts Martyn Chalk, Steve Watkin and Lee Jones. By 2005-06, still only 20 he was captain, picked up a Welsh Premier ‘Player of the Month’ award and started to catch the eye of other clubs.
In the summer of 2006 he had a trial at League 2 side Macclesfield Town. He played well in a friendly against a Manchester United side featuring Wayne Rooney and was given an initial one-month contract which was then extended to a year. Jimmy was finally playing league football but Macc made a disastrous start to the season which led to Brian Horton being sacked.
Rooted to the bottom of the table they gambled on Paul Ince, a legendary player, but an inexperienced manager. Their first win of the season came in an FA Cup 1st Round replay televised live on SKY. Away at leading League 2 side Walsall Macc’s winner came with seven minutes to go, courtesy of: Jimmy McNulty!
The win signalled a turnaround in Macc’s fortunes but, unfortunately, just weeks after his moment of glory Jimmy became the third Macclesfield player within a week to break a leg. The injury kept him out for most of the season as Macc made an incredible fightback to retain their league status. He has since recovered and started playing again having signed a new contract.
Though he missed Macc’s glamorous FA Cup 3rd Round visit to Chelsea, it was Jimmy who set them on their way and he has the distinction of his goal gaining Paul Ince’s first managerial victory.
Jimmy McNulty’s story is an inspiration to thousands of youngsters released by lower league clubs in their teens. Not many fight their way back into professional football and not many players released by Wrexham have gone into the Welsh Premier and made it back again.
Ironically when Macclesfield visited Wrexham last November Jimmy put in an accomplished performance, while his former team-mate Craig Morgan sat on the bench for Wrexham. Though I still believe Morgan will play at a higher level, that his former team-mate Jimmy has fought back from a crushing setback to compete at the same level as Morgan says a lot. In fact it speaks volumes for the character of Jimmy McNulty the footballer.
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