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Wrexham striker Paul Mullin has credited US pop megastar Katy Perry with saving his career.
The 29-year-old has been a sensation in North Wales since arriving on a three-year contract in 2021. He became a hero by scoring the goals that took the team to a return to the Football League last season.
But it wasn’t always that way for the Liverpool-born striker, who contemplated retirement during a bleak period half a decade ago when he failed to find the net regularly and saw his playing time limited at Tranmere Rovers.
Mullin opened up about some of his struggles in his new autobiography My Wrexham Story and revealed how Perry’s song Firework sparked a career revival.
‘One morning I actually said no [my wife] Mollie: “I don’t want to go [to training with Tranmere]. I’m not going to play anyway. I can’t be fooled anymore. I just want to stay home,” he wrote.
Paul Mullin has opened up about the problems in his career that ultimately led to his incredible spell at Wrexham
The striker cited the unlikely source of Katy Perry as an inspiration for his career revival
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Mullin’s 38 league goals saw Wrexham promoted to League Two last season
‘Mollie discussed it with me and in the end I went on the road. On the way, Mom called. “I just listened to a song,” she told me, “and it’s definitely about you.” “Okay,” I said doubtfully. “What is it?” “Katy Perry,” she replied. “Fireworks”.
‘I put it on in the car and actually listened to the lyrics for the first time. What I heard were great words about believing in yourself, unleashing your true potential and finding that spark.
‘It made me very emotional thinking about why my mother told me to listen. I know everyone in my family loves me, just as I love them, but in that moment it was something very special: ‘Someone actually thinks that about me.’
Mullin got back into his groove after an initial move to Cambridge, which he later made permanent in the summer of 2020.
He won the 2020/21 League Two Golden Boot after scoring 32 goals in 46 appearances. He then continued his good form at Wrexham, scoring 26 times and being named National League Player of the Season in his debut campaign.
Before scoring 46 goals in all competitions last season, the Welsh side returned to the fourth tier for the first time since 2008.
‘It was very important to me when I was feeling so down.’ Mullin added. ‘After the mental drain of Tranmere I felt like I had gotten a whole new injection of energy [after joining Cambridge].
“I did everything I could to keep that feeling going, including playing ‘Firework’ as I drove to the ground before every game. At the end of the 2020-2021 season, when Cambridge were promoted, mum put it up in her garden to celebrate.”