Max Cleworth: Wrexham's last National League survivor as Hollywood watches on

While Wrexham's Hollywood era has produced three consecutive promotions and seen the departure of many "icons" to pave way for the next heroes, Max Cleworth remains one of the constants throughout.

InSaturday's game against Millwall Cleworth became the leading appearance-maker of Phil Parkinson's reign, surpassing Paul Mullin's 172 games under the English boss.

Cleworth, still only 23, is Wrexham's final on-field survivor of the National League days, though Davis Keillor-Dunn and Ryan Barnett, who has played 12 times in the league this season, have recently returned.

Since his debut while a 17-year-old academy player in the Scottish Challenge Cup in 2019, the Chester-born defender has made 175 appearances in red.

Cleworth, who featured 29 times during the National League Campaign, has now reached this same number of appearances in the Championship campaign. In the meantime as Wrexham climbed the divisions, Cleworth's influence has only grown.

An increasingly prominent figure for Parkinson, he has helped Wrexham keep eight clean sheets, and according to FotMob, no player in the squad registers more blocks per 90 minutes.

Cleworth's influence has grown at the other end too, with four goals this season, including the dramatic stoppage time equaliser at Blackburn in November 2025.

Cleworth signed his first professional contract in 2020 before a loan to Caernarfon Town for regular games.

He returned to start in Parkinson's first ever match as Wrexham manager, a 2-2 draw at Solihull Moors in August 2021.

From Solihull trips to away days at St Mary's and the King Power, Cleworth has grown enormously and promotion would mean the prospect of trips to huge historic clubs such as Manchester United are on the horizon.

Parkinson is full of praise for his fellow Englishmen, saying: "I just think Max has got a unique story in football, not just here at Wrexham, because I don't think there's another player who's gone from National League so quickly into the Championship.

"To watch him adapt each season has been enjoyable. He's a very professional lad. He works really hard at his game.

"Quite often he will be the last person on the training pitch. He's worked hard with the sports science guys and all aspects of his game. And you've got to when you step up through the divisions and he's done that. And he deserves now to be a Championship player."

During Wrexham's rise from non-league to the Championship many early pillars of the squad fell by the wayside, but not Cleworth.

Sam Vokes reflected on the Feast of Football podcast: "I think those players that got them to the Championship level and now pushing for the Premier League, they've almost become icons of the football club.

"And they've been part of those promotions and when you're part of a promotion, you're all in it together, you're fighting, and you achieve that together.

"And then you want to go and play together at that next level. But look, the demands of the next level mean they've had to bring new people in, regenerate the squad and they've gone from strength to strength.

"So, I don't want to say those boys that got them there have been left behind, but it's always going to be hard to keep playing up a level and up a level and up a level.

"I think it's kind of caught a few of them up and it's felt like the right time for them to move on."

For Mullin, Elliot Lee and former captain James McClean, that regeneration meant moving on in the January transfer window.

Yet amid the squad's evolution, Cleworth has endured.

"I think he's great. He's a top guy. I don't think there is a ceiling he can't break through," said his team-mate Lewis O'Brien.

He remains one of only two players, alongside Barnett, to have played for Wrexham in all of the divisions from National League to the Championship and another promotion would complete a historic rise.

Cleworth is the final link to the "bad old days in the National League" as Feast of Football Host Carl Roberts called it.

Cleworth has missed only three matches in all competitions this season and has played an important role in key moments such as scoring Wrexham's first League One goal, 19 years on from the last time they played at that level.

While "icons" have come and gone, Cleworth has become the quiet heartbeat of the club's defensive evolution.

That process continued in the January transfer window with the arrival of Zak Vyner, 28, from Bristol City, an experienced defender with more than 260 Championship appearances, highlighting the level Wrexham now operate at – a far-cry from playing alongside semi-professionals on away days at Solihull.

Iwan Roberts spoke highly of new recruit Vyner: "I've seen plenty of him. He's big, he's strong. He's a fantastic professional. Great to work with, great attitude. Wants to learn, wants to improve on a daily basis. Trains like he plays."

While Vokes added: "I think it actually surprised me his age when I saw it because I've played against him a number of times. I've played against him both at Burnley and Stoke when he was at Bristol City and Rotherham.

"He was always a centre-half that stood out for me to be very good at Championship level. It felt like he's been around for years. He's been playing at Bristol City since he was a young lad. And those amount of appearances at that level are amazing for a player of only 28."

Vyner's arrival provides competition, but also a measure of Cleworth's progress. Once the young deputy, he is now the one setting the standards newcomers must reach.

As Vokes noted, even in the National League the club "always bought players of the level above".

Should promotion follow again, another "very busy summer" awaits, with Premier League readiness the target.

And Parkinson was of the same opinion, saying: "Max is like the team in general. If you stand still, someone steps in and takes your place.

"So he knows that and that added bit of pressure for everybody in the group is important. And, you know, Max is the type of lad who'll keep driving himself on."

Cleworth does continue to "drive on" and his durability is remarkable. Having signed a new long-term deal in January, it appears he has definitely not "been left behind".

He may be the last survivor of the pre-Hollywood era, but he is no relic of these times, more a core part of what Wrexham are becoming.

As they push for a fourth consecutive promotion, Cleworth stands as the bridge between eras: from Solihull Moors, to St Mary's, to the brink of the Premier League.

His story is woven into Wrexham's rise and it seems far from being over as the cameras of Hollywood watch on at this star's continuing rise.

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