Last weekend saw the EFL season end with the play-off finals, so next season’s line-up of opponents is finalised.

Sunderland and Charlton Athletic complete the list of 23 adversaries, and it’s an appetising list. After years of struggling at the lowest level in our history, even flirting with relegation to the National League North a couple of times, it’s worth taking a moment to relish the teams we will be shoulder-to-shoulder with next season.

Nine of these teams have been champions, including Leicester City just nine years ago. Plenty of them have won the FA Cup, the League Cup or better. Ipswich have won a European competition, Middlesbrough got to the UEFA Cup final.

Pretty cool, huh?

Even more remarkable than our rapid rise to this level is the fact that we’re not just along for the ride. We don’t intend to cling desperately to a place in the Championship: we intend to take it on at full tilt and see where we can take this epic ride.

On a personal level, I’m disappointed by the Championship play-off result, as it means Sunderland have slipped through my fingers.

You see, our lives are littered with the consequences of accidental scientific discoveries. Penicillin was developed after a lab accident, X-Rays were an unintended consequence of experiments with cathode rays and microwave ovens were a consequence of a carelessly-placed chocolate bar melting when left near radar equipment.

Well, I’m on the verge of an accidental achievement of sorts: the make-up of next season’s Championship should leave me close to becoming a member of the 92 Club.

The 92 Club is something I’ve heard of since I was a kid. It’s what anyone who has attended a game at all the grounds in the Premier League and EFL can claim membership of.

Plenty of people go out of their way to achieve the accolade, and then go a lot further than that. I’m not one of them, but next season should take me quite close to inadvertent membership.

When I was a kid, my dad and I would go to Wrexham’s home games and the more local away matches. When we were playing in a more distant location, we’d just find a closer game to attend, meaning I would spend plenty of time watching football in the north west. From Old Trafford to Sealand Road, we ran the full breadth of the regional stadium spectrum.

My horizons widened as I travelled more extensively to cover Wrexham matches, meaning I’ve arrived at this point.

I’ve covered the lower divisions extensively: if I attend one more game at Edgeley Park I believe I’ll qualify for residency! I’ve been to most of the top division grounds too.

My blind spot is the Championship. Plenty of clubs currently in the second tier were too distant to justify a pilgrimage with my dad, and as Wrexham descended the divisions, our paths never crossed.

Until now. All of a sudden I’m set to tick a lot of new places off, thanks to Phil Parkinson’s record-breaking squad.

They’re an intriguing list of opponents to visit too. Ipswich, Leicester, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Portsmouth, Southampton.

Traditionally bouncing between the top two divisions, we’ve never had much scope to face them. Now we get to test ourselves against them, as their equals, not potential giant-killers.

This is a wonderful side-effect of our crazy surge up the divisions. There are so many grounds we’ve never been to, opponents to face for the first time in a lifetime, new away ends to discover.

Last Summer there was a lot of excitement about travelling to Charlton and Bolton, opponents we hadn’t faced since our last stint in the second tier, in the early 1980s. Now we get to spend a good chunk of the season facing new challenges.

What a time to be a Wrexham fan! Drink in the teams we’ve left in our wake and try not to break into a smugly satisfied smile!

There’s one more step I can take this season if I want 92 Club status. I’ve never been to Swansea’s new ground either, as when we were regular visitors they played at the authentically rough and ready Vetch Field.

Likewise, I’ve not been to Cardiff’s current venue, although I’ve commentated on their women’s team against Wrexham a couple of times with it looming just across the road.

Still, the reason I don’t get to go to Cardiff is rich compensation for missing out on Sunderland. Next season, for the first time since 2001, we’re in a higher division than Cardiff City. I can do without accidentally completing the 92 Club if it means we’re better than them!