IT'S been 10 years of hurt for Wrexham fans as a decade starved of success comes to an end.

Relegated to non-league for the first time in the club's history in 2008, Wrexham are spending a 12th season playing in the fifth tier and are no nearer to making a return to the Football League.

In fact, the Reds are in the midst of a relegation battle and in danger of lining up in National League North next term if Dean Keates' side don't improve their points tally in the second half of the campaign.

Failure to avoid the drop doesn't bear thinking about and just shows how low the once mighty Wrexham have fallen.

The last 10 years have been littered with constant failings, although Wrexham haven't really been under any real threat of relegation until now.

Now the current longest club in the National League, it is no surprise that the highlight of Wrexham's decade was in a cup competition on March 24, 2013.

Andy Morrell guided the Reds to the FA Trophy final and the wintry weather wasn't going to stop 20,000 fans making their way down south for the club's first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium.

Although Grimsby took the lead, Kevin Thornton equalised and after a goalless extra-time, a shoot-out ensured with Johnny Hunt scoring the winning penalty and captain Keates proudly held aloft the trophy.

Just six weeks later and another match at Wembley could have trumped the Trophy feat.

Morrell's men had managed to juggle the demands of the cup with a promotion challenge and although the Reds fell away in the race for the title, they weren't going to denied a play-off spot.

Wrexham finished fifth and then upset the odds to beat much-fancied Kidderminster Harriers 5-2 on aggregate to reach the final against Newport County.

But there was nothing to celebrate on this occasion as two late goals meant it was the team from south Wales that clinched a return to the Football League.

That was the third year in a row that Wrexham qualified for the play-offs, but they came agonisingly close to winning automatic promotion 12 months earlier.

The 2011-12 season will go down as one of Wrexham's best ever seasons, even if it didn't end with a place in League Two.

Dean Saunders left to take charge of Doncaster early in the campaign and after a successful spell as caretaker manager, Morrell got the job on a permanent basis.

Combining playing and managing didn't phase Morrell or his players as Wrexham just kept winning.

The Reds were challenging big-spending Fleetwood Town for the title but it was the money-men from Lancashire who came out on top.

Despite amassing a club record 98 points, it was still five short of top spot and runners-up Wrexham ran out of steam in the play-offs, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Luton.

The Hatters also put an end to Wrexham's promotion dream in the 2010-11 season when the Reds reached the Conference play-offs for the first time.

Wrexham had struggled to adjust to the demands of non-league football in their first two seasons, ending 10th and 11th, but Saunders finally compiled a competitive squad that finished a respectable fourth.

But the semi-final showdown was practically over before it began as Luton led 3-0 after just 35 minutes of the first leg at The Racecourse and triumphed 5-1 on aggregate.

Wrexham's third Wembley appearance of the decade didn't end well.

Another run to the Trophy final in 2015 looked like ending with more silverware as Kevin Wilkin's Reds built up a 2-0 lead against North Ferriby United.

But the part-timers levelled before taking the lead in extra-time and although Louis Moult rescued Wrexham with a late equaliser, this time they lost a penalty shoot-out and Wilkin was sacked the following day.

On the league front, Wrexham endured five barren seasons since standing on the brink of the Football League going into the winner-takes-all encounter with Newport.

The Reds finished 17th, 11th, 8th, 13th and 10th before Sam Ricketts became the latest manager to take over The Racecourse hotseat ahead of the 2018-19 campaign.

It proved to be yet another turbulent season for the club as Ricketts left to take over as Shrewsbury boss, his assistant Graham Barrow didn't last long in the job and Bryan Hughes became the third manager of the campaign in February.

But Wrexham still challenged for the title and although they fell away, Hughes guided his side to fourth place and a play-off spot for the first time in six seasons.

Three wins would have booked Wrexham's place in the League but the Reds fell at the first hurdle, losing 1-0 at home to Eastleigh in the eliminator, and Hughes was soon relieved of his duties following the poor start to the current campaign.

While the Trophy-winning team made history, Wrexham also had their moments over the course of the decade in the FA Cup.

In the 2011-12 season, Wrexham's reward for beating League One outfit Brentford in the famous competition was a third round date with Brighton and Hove Albion.

The Seagulls, then playing in the Championship, were big favourites at The Amex Stadium but despite going ahead, they were denied victory as Adrian Cieslewicz equalised for Morrell's side.

Morrell gave Wrexham the lead in the replay at a packed Racecourse but Brighton took the game to a penalty shoot-out where they prevailed to prevent the Reds adding to their list of famous scalps.

Premier League Stoke City were almost on the end of an major upset too in January 2015.

Mark Carrington gave Wrexham a 73rd minute lead in front of nearly 5,000 travelling supporters at The Brittania Stadium.

Mark Hughes then brought on his big guns and relieved Stoke scored three late goals to avoid an upset.

Cup ties are one-off games and there have been some memorable league matches over the last 10 years.

The 5-1 hammering of title-rivals Salford last Christmas will rank among the best.

Barrow's men were ruthless in front of goal and more than 8,200 supporters had the pleasure of Wrexham inflicting a heavy defeat on the big-spenders.

There are a lot of league games than won't live long in the memory and fans will never forget the day Gateshead arrived in town back in February 2011.

Wrexham were among the leading pack and on course to secure a play-off spot for the first time in the Conference era so the 7-2 defeat against the Heed at The Racecourse came as a complete surprise!

It has been a turbulent 10 years and Wrexham head into a new decade with a huge challenge in front of them.

Getting back into the Football League has always been the aim but now Keates and his players have to make sure that the unthinkable doesn't happen and Wrexham drop down to the sixth tier which would be catastrophic for the club.

The period of 2010-19 certainly won't go down as Wrexham's most successful on the pitch but hopefully avoiding relegation will pave the way to a fresh start next summer when the Reds get back to challenging for promotion because the fans deserve much, much better.