sequence of eight victories that took Wrexham into the third automatic promotion place with four matches to go. They held on to the position to secure promotion from the Third Division at the first attempt. Wrexham also beat Newport County 6–1 in the final of the FAW Premier Cup to secure an important £100,000 in prize money. Smith was named as the Manager of the Month for April and 2003, before winning the League Managers Association's Third Division Manager of the Season award. Smith lost Morrell and Trundle on free transfers, and replaced them with Chris Armstrong and Chris Llewellyn. The club's financial problems meant that players went unpaid at the start of 2003–04, although they remained in the play-off places in December 2003. However, a hairline fracture to Shaun Pejic left Smith short of defenders and the promotion challenge ebbed away to a mid-table finish. Wrexham retained the FAW Premier Cup though with a 4–1 victory over Rhyl. However, Smith made himself unpopular with supporters after refusing to endorse their campaign to oust controversial chairman Alex Hamilton. Writing in his autobiography, Smith described 2004–05 "the most harrowing, distressing footballing time of my life" as the club entered administration with debts of £2.6 million. Wrexham became the first club to be deducted 10 points for entering administration and were subsequently relegated from League One, eight points short of safety despite new signing Juan Ugarte scoring 23 goals. Despite the financial trouble Wrexham managed to win the Football League Trophy, knocking out Notts County, Stockport County, Chester City, Hereford United and Oldham Athletic en route to the final against Southend United at the Millennium Stadium. The final was settled in extra time, with Ugarte and Darren Ferguson securing a 2–0 victory. The club earned £250,000 in prize money and the first national trophy in Wrexham's history. Smith turned down the managerial role at Blackpool to remain in place at Wrexham for 2005–06. He signed goalkeeper Michael Ingham, defenders David Bayliss and Lee Roche, and strikers Lee McEvilly and Jonathan Walters, whilst blooding brothers Marc and Mike Williams. However, Wrexham struggled in the league, despite on loan striker Matt Derbyshire scoring 10 goals in 16 appearances. They finished the season 13th in League Two, having won only one of their last nine matches. The last match of the season was a 1–1 draw with former club Oxford, which hastened Oxford's relegation out