There’s an unhappy symmetry to Anthony Forde and James Jones leaving Wrexham in the same week. Not only were they both excellent servants of the club: their combination on the right flank was one of the most important factors of our record-breaking National League success.

The intuitive way Forde and Jones opened up the right flank in combination was beautiful to watch. Jones could go inside or outside, Forde could cross with either foot, drive into the box or find Jones. He tended to have a better handle on where he’d got to than the opposing defenders did.

I’m being disingenuous. Obviously there was a chemistry between them, but Forde and Jones’ combination play was far from down to off-the-cuff improvisation. Hours of hard work on the training ground, underpinned by the structure Phil Parkinson drummed into the players, with all its variations and possibilities, is what allowed Forde and Jones to look like they were extemporising on match day.

Like Jones, Forde’s only problem was the rapid progress he played such a great role in achieving. Our swift ascent meant Parkinson had to keep adding quality to his squad, and players who had shown such class for us ended up competing with impressive new signings. Few clubs outside the top two tiers could contemplate not selecting Ryan Barnett week-in, week-out; that’s a shame, because the same could be said of Forde.

Most clubs would be delighted to have a player with Forde’s all-round qualities at their disposal. Clearly a model professional, his technique, passing and crossing are impressive and he can beat a full back through guile or pace. Furthermore, it was rare that a winger would get the better of him: he excels in one-on-one combat, skilfully reducing the space between him and the man with the ball, syphoning him down the outside and usually either dispossessing him when he runs out of pitch or making it impossible for a dangerous cross to come in.

Forde arrived in the Summer of 2022 and, after playing in the first two games of the season. He was rotated out for our third match, at Chesterfield, as Parkinson tried something different. We lost 2-0, and he didn’t try it again: Forde returned for the next game and started every league game he was available for until February.

Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer relished his service, Aaron Hayden enjoyed the extra security of Forde defending the flank in front of him, so he didn’t have to get drawn away from the rest of the back three. Forde’s run in the team was, of course, curtailed by off-field matters which were covered sensitively on “Welcome to Wrexham” and reminded us all that football is a trivial affair.

He returned for the antepenultimate game of the season, when injuries and suspension cost us all our available left-backs for a must-win home game against Yeovil. Surely rusty, his only time on the pitch in the last 5 weeks being a 4-minute stint as a sub at Barnet the previous weekend, he not only put in a fine performance on the wrong side of the pitch, but even chipped in with a superb goal. The goal opened the scoring after an hour, ending Yeovil’s sturdy resistance, and we went on to win 3-0, relegating The Glovers and leaving ourselves one win short of the title.

Forde marked our first match back in the EFL by coming off the bench to score, and was in the first team picture until he picked up an injury in September. He returned, broke down, had another short run in the team, and then picked up an injury which ended his season in January. In his absence, Barnett established himself as one of League Two’s most exciting talents, and it was clear Forde would have a scrap on his hands to usurp him the following season.

We know what happened next. Barnett kicked on in the higher division, and ultimately Forde wasn’t registered for the league when the transfer window closed. That wasn’t the end for him: he reminded us of his quality and flexibility with some pleasing performances in cup games, often in the centre of midfield. Ryan Longman’s arrival ended any hope of him being registered for the second half of the season and he agreed to depart.

He leaves with our gratitude. He never let us down, and added genuine EFL quality to a side which blew the National League away. He will always be part of the side which won more points than any other in British league history, a fitted way to remember a player who embellished the reputation of a venerable football club.