New man Sam Ricketts has plenty of Shrewsbury promise

Askey, who joined the club from Macclesfield in the summer, was sacked by the club after a string of poor results that ended with a disappointing draw with non-league Salford City in the FA Cup.

Ricketts makes the jump up the divisions to Montgomery Waters Meadow, leaving Wrexham sitting fourth in the National League, just seven points adrift of league leaders Leyton Orient.

The 37-year-old’s managerial career is just eight months young, and he has only overseen 23 competitive games. He comes to Shropshire with Town on an impressive run under caretaker managers Danny Coyne and Eric Ramsay, and with hopes high for the remainder of their season.

Tasked with succeeding now Walsall boss Dean Keates at Wrexham, Ricketts got his debut season off to a successful start at the Racecourse Ground and was on track to see his side challenge for promotion back to the Football League for the first time in 11 years.

Born in Buckinghamshire, Ricketts started his playing career with Oxford Untied, making his U’s debut just shy of his 20th birthday.

With Oxford, he struggled to make an impact and, after returning from a loan spell in non-league with Nuneaton Borough, he was released by the club.

From there, Ricketts came to Shropshire to join Telford United but, after just a season with the club, saw his contract annulled with the club falling into liquidation.

Now aged 23, Ricketts was approached by former Wolves boss Kenny Jackett who offered him a return to football with Swansea City. From there, the defender played a vital role in promotion from League Two, winning a place in the PFA Team of the Year along the way, before suffering a League One play-off final defeat the following season as the club targeted a charge up the divisions.

As one of Swansea’s key stars, Championship clubs would soon come calling with Hull City winning the race for Ricketts the following summer.

Ricketts made 113 appearances for the Tigers, including playing in the Championship play-off final that saw the club promoted the Premier League for the first time, and made 29 appearances in England’s top flight.

During that time he would earn his first of a decade of Wales caps, despite representing England C two years prior.

After seeing Hull survive relegation back to the Championship on the final day, Ricketts spent four seasons with fellow Premier League side Bolton Wanderers after joining for an undisclosed fee.

In his third season, Ricketts suffered a serious Achilles injury and the club would be relegated at the end of the 2011-12 season.

Upon his release from Bolton, he rejoined his former manager Jackett at Wolves on a two-year-deal, with the club sitting in League One following back-to-back relegations.

Ricketts was a regular for Wolves during a League One promotion season that saw them finish on a record-breaking 103 points.

However, he struggled to keep his place in the Championship and, after a loan spell with Swindon and a re-occurring knee injury, he ended his career with fellow Midlanders Coventry City.

In total, Ricketts made 569 appearances at club level to add to his 52 at international.

After 18 months away, Ricketts returned to the game when he was announced as Wrexham manager in the summer.

In his first 23 games, he would win 13, with the Dragons battling the likes of Leyton Orient and Salford City at the top of the table, and was vocal about his ambitions to achieve promotion to the Football League in his first season.

But yesterday he was announced as the new manager at Town, departing Wrexham and replacing Askey with the club sitting 15th in League One.

And a home derby game against Walsall tomorrow offers the chance to get off to a dream start.