The Leader:

A joint pre-season trip to Portugal for Wrexham AFC and their fans is proving a memorable occassion for all.

The Leader's Richard Williams discovers just how much it means to one father-son duo...

'YOU wouldn't get this with other teams.'

That was Greg Mawson's reaction after seeing the closeness and togetherness between supporters and players at first hand during the pre-season tour of Portugal.

Greg and his son Joe, both avid Wrexham fans, missed last season's trip but were determined to be part of the fun second time around.

The duo, along with hundreds of other Reds supporters, attended the open training session at Vale do Lobo where fans spoke with fans, signed autographs and posed for pictures after being put through their paces.

"My wife and daughter were back at the hotel while we went to the open training session," said Greg. "A bit of boys time and it has been great to see all the players.

"The players were brilliant. Joe has met them all, they were very friendly, we have chatted with them, had photographs, signatures, it was brilliant.

"You wouldn't get this with other teams."

Having missed the trip to the Algarve during pre-season 12 months ago, the duo have followed their team to Vilamoura and combined the football with a family holiday.

"We didn't come to Portugal last year," said Greg.

"It was a bit last minute, I spoke to Joe about it after the event and he was so gutted we never went, he really wanted to come.

"This year it came up again and we had a bit more time to plan it and we thought 'let's go'. How many times is it going to happen?

"We weren't going to miss it and it has been really good, we have enjoyed it and had a nice holiday."

Greg and Joe are exiled Wrexham fans as the family now live in Derby.

They still get to as many matches as possible but despite living away from north Wales, Greg was determined that his son was still going to grow up as a Wrexham fan.

"I got into supporting Wrexham when I was young, my first game was the Leyton Orient play-off game at the end of the 1980s," added Greg.

"Since then I have always supported Wrexham.

"Joe was born in Wrexham but we left when he was one to move to Derby.

"I still want him to support his hometown club so any time Wrexham are around the Derbyshire area, we go and watch them.

"We have been to places like Alfreton, Tamworth and Mansfield, this season there will be Chesterfield, and we go to a couple of home games a year."

Don't miss our exclusive coverage of Wrexham AFC in Portugal all this week, in the Leader and online.

Head to leaderlive.co.uk each day and follow Rich Williams on Twitter