- Offences include lateness, no-shows and fashion choices
- Physios have own list of fines
- Punishments revealed in new book
WHAT HAPPENED?
In his new autobiography ‘Paul Mullin: My Wrexham Story’, the former Cambridge United man – who has racked up a remarkable 85 goals in 110 games since joining the Red Dragons in 2021 – provides details of exactly how players are punished for a variety of different casual offences.
The list includes cleaning boots in the shower, turning up late for training, and even rules about wearing flip-flops. It’s a fascinating glimpse at how a professional club is run on a day-to-day basis.
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WHAT MULLIN SAID ABOUT FINES
“Helping to enforce discipline, we have an embedded system of club fines,” writes Mullin in his new book. “The list is up on the changing-room door: Late for training, the gym, or a meeting – £20. Late on matchdays – £100. Late for the bus – £100. Late for a team night out – £100. Not showing up for a team night out – £200. Not eaten breakfast by 10.10 a.m. – £20. Phone going off – £10. Not wearing flip-flops in the shower – £5. Wearing flip-flops to go to a game – £10. Cleaning boots in the shower – £10. Giving away a match shirt – £50.”
And according to the Wrexham talisman, club physios even have their own set of fines to ensure that players comply with health and fitness regulations, with small fees docked for offences like “Not wearing your GPS for training”, “Not reporting an injury prior to a day off”, “Putting your trainers on the fitness bed” or being late for treatments. There’s a lot to remember for Wrexham’s group of pros…
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WHAT MULLIN SAID ABOUT ROULETTE WHEELS AND DICE
Mullin also explained a system players have to “give the smaller fines a little something extra,” revolving around a roulette wheel. Each time players get a fine, they have to spin the wheel. “Get lucky and you don’t have to pay,” he wrote. “Unlucky, and you can end up down Tesco buying everyone a shower gel. Then there’s the dice. Each number represents a forfeit, which can be quite excruciating. You might have to do a silent disco in front of the lads or a lap of the pitch in your underpants – not too bad in May, but pretty unpleasant in the sideways sleet of January.
“If you’re really unlucky you’ll have to create a boy band for a day with the team-mates either side of you in the squad numbers. In my case, that’s Ollie Palmer and Liam McAlinden – and not many people want to hear that! Alternatively, you’ll have to buy those same players dinner. A bit simpler, but no less painful, is the requirement that you sling £50 in the players’ kitty. Sadly, I’ve done most of these, the price of repeatedly forgetting to wear my flip-flops in the shower. Before the Christmas do, we all have to spin the roulette wheel regardless of whether we’ve violated a fines rule. Last year I got stung for £50 without even having done anything – ‘What? No way! What’s going on here!’”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Clearly, that exhaustive list of fines — and the roulette wheel touch — is doing the job when it comes to keeping players disciplined while also promoting team spirit. Wrexham have made an explosive return to league football, winning 10 of their opening 20 games to rise to 2nd place in the league, on course for automatic promotion.
WHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?
Mullin’s book has offered an interesting look inside the Wrexham dressing room, and by all accounts it sounds like a pretty fun place to be. The Welsh side will be hoping that that team spirit counts in their next competitive fixture, an FA Cup Second Round clash against Yeovil this Saturday, in which they will be strong favourites.
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