Wrexham confirmed on Friday evening the signing of defender Dan Scarr from Plymouth Argyle for an undisclosed fee.
The 29 year old has signed a three year deal with the ambitious North Wales side until the end of the 2026-27 season having spent the past three seasons in Devon with Plymouth.
Experienced EFL defender – Dan Scarr’s journey so far
Dan Scarr started his career in non-league with the likes of Causeway United, Redditch United and Stourbridge which is where he was noticed by EFL clubs. Having reached the third round of the FA Cup with Stourbridge in 2016-17, Scarr was rewarded with a move to Birmingham City.
The defender made one appearance for The Blues and after a loan spell at Wycombe Wanderers he signed for Walsall in January 2019. After making 96 appearances for the Saddlers, he turned down a new offer with the Black Country side and joined Plymouth Argyle.
The defender had a successful spell in Devon and was a key member of the side that won the League One title and promotion to the Championship in 2022-23. After making 109 appearances for Argyle, Scarr has dropped back into League One with the North Wales side ahead of their first season back in the third tier.
The missing cog in Wrexham’s defence?
After signing for the club, Scarr was confident on what he could bring to the North Wales side ahead of the new season:
ve had good experiences that put me in good stead to go and help the team and help the players around me. I got promoted out of League One with Plymouth, and those sort of experiences I hope will help me have a good season here too.”
Experience at the level is exactly what Scarr has been purchased for. Having seen the likes of Ben Tozer and Aaron Hayden depart in the summer, Wrexham were in need of adding League One experience to their defence and they have done so with a former promotion winner.
Having played predominantly at the centre of a back three for Plymouth last season, he will fit straight into the same formation deployed by Phil Parkinson’s side. His presence in the defence will be a good fit for his likely defensive partner Max Cleworth who, at 21 years old, will benefit from playing alongside an experienced promotion winner.
Scarr is a no nonsense defender and provides a great deal of physicality against opposition forwards. During his 28 appearances last season, the centre back won 71.4% of tackles at the centre of Plymouth’s back three.
Coupled with his tackling success, Scarr won 64% of his duels at an average of 4.26 per 90 minutes along with 68.3% of aerial duels won with 2.88 won per 90 minutes on average.
After winning promotion to the Championship with Plymouth, then manager Steven Schumacher described his defender as:
“A big, strong defender and is equally good with the ball at his feet which is so important to the way we like to play football”.
His ability with the ball at his feet is shown by a 81.8% passing accuracy last season, which despite Wrexham not being known as a possession based outfit, offers the Red Dragons another option to get the ball up the field to their attacking talent.
With the likes of Tozer and Hayden departing, Wrexham needed to add another experienced character in the defence alongside Will Boyle. Signing an individual in Scarr who, despite his age, brings experience of a League One title winning campaign is a good move from the Welsh side who will be looking to gain a historic third consecutive promotion this coming season.
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