Wrexham thrashed Charlton Athletic 3-0 to seal a historic third successive promotion and secure a return to the second tier of English football for the first time in 43 years.
Following Wycombe Wanderers’ 1-0 loss to Leyton Orient earlier in the day, Phil Parkinson’s side knew they would clinch the runner-up spot in League One with victory over the Addicks.
The hosts scored twice in quick succession in the first half, with Ollie Rathbone’s sweet strike putting Wrexham ahead at the Stok Cae Ras.
Sam Smith then netted his sixth goal for the club since joining from Reading in January only three minutes later.
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Striker Smith completed his double late on as Wrexham kept a 23rd league clean sheet of the season to take second place in style – and with a game to spare – in front of Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The defeat ended Charlton’s hopes of automatic promotion, with Nathan Jones’ side – who are fifth – now turning their attention to the play-offs.
Parkinson went with the same starting XI and substitutes from Monday’s crucial 2-1 triumph over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.
But following a run of 15 wins from their past 20 league games, Charlton’s supporters were in fine fettle themselves as their side also went into the game still in the mix to finish second behind champions Birmingham City.
And the opening stages typified a contest between two evenly-matched teams with a huge amount at stake – with no noteworthy goalmouth action for either side.
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That was until a pivotal three-minute period in which Wrexham took a firm stronghold in the contest.
Charlton survived a major scare on 15 minutes as – having hoped for an offside flag to come to their rescue – Macaulay Gillesphey put in a last-ditch challenge to prevent Smith from getting a shot on goal.
Wrexham scored from the resulting corner as the ball was fed to Rathbone whose low drilled effort flew beyond Will Mannion from just outside the 18-yard box.
It was the 28-year-old’s second goal in as many matches and eighth of the campaign on what was his 350th career appearance.
