Perhaps Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson summed things up best shortly before ringing the Nasdaq bell in Times Square to launch both the day’s trading on the world’s second biggest stock exchange and the club’s new home shirt.“This is a ‘Pinch me’ moment,” said the American, no doubt echoing the thoughts of those long-standing Wrexham supporters who followed their team across the Atlantic last month for a three-game tour taking in Tampa, New York and Philadelphia.It wasn’t just the glamorous kit launch in midtown Manhattan that felt surreal, either. There was also Wrexham taking on Liverpool in iconic Yankee Stadium, unveiling their latest signing at the top of the Empire State Building and beating Premier League opposition in Leeds United on American soil.All are things that could only have been dreamed of during their 15 years in the non-League wilderness until 2023, when only the devotion of those same fans kept the lights on.Over 40,000 fans flocked to Yankee Stadium to see Wrexham vs Liverpool (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)Danny Ward, their Wales international goalkeeper, appreciates this transformation more than most, having started his career at The Racecourse Ground in the early days of the Supporters Trust’s decade-long stint at the helm and then returning a year ago on a free transfer.“From where I left the club to now is chalk and cheese,” says the 33-year-old about a tour that culminated in Sunday’s narrow 1-0 defeat against top-flight Sunderland in Philadelphia. “A real journey, but there’s still more we want to do with the club.”With the squad now back in the UK and the focus switching to Friday’s televised Carabao Cup first round tie away to fellow Championship side Middlesbrough, we look at what can be gleaned from a football perspective as the dust starts to settle on Wrexham’s 2026 East Coast tour.Timing is keyEven if we take the starting point of their season as the opening Championship fixture away to Cardiff City on Monday, August 17, rather than Friday’s Carabao Cup meeting with Middlesbrough, Wrexham’s 2026 summer tour came much closer to the new campaign than its equivalent a year ago.The final match of this tour, against Sunderland on Sunday, was just 15 days before the start of their league season (six before Middlesbrough), whereas the 2025 trip to Australia and New Zealand ended 21 days before the campaign’s first official match away to Southampton.As a result, the squad were much further down the fitness road in the States, helped by playing two friendlies against Wisla Krakow and Manchester United before flying out.This was apparent in performances, with Wrexham looking much slicker and more cohesive than in pre-season a year ago, particularly in the 3-2 victory over Leeds in Tampa, with the opening goal a thing of beauty — featuring 16 passes as the ball was moved from within yards of the Wrexham goal line all the way into the opposition’s net.