One influential landowner on the island is the Bodorgan Estate, where general manager Tim Bowie also has reservations about new pylons.

BBC: National Grid's pylon plans meet opposition in north Wales

Dickens, though, said he was confident Carey would reverse Wrexham's poor start to the season, and urged sceptical Dragons supporters to put their reservations to one side and back the manager.

BBC: SPORT | Football | My Club | Wrexham | Carey job under threat - Dickens

The jinx appears to follow his every journey: "Train manager on Tannoy: "To those with reservations for coaches F, G, H, I and J, as you can see, they're not attached to this train.

BBC: I'm on a train: the Welsh secretary tweets home

Despite the FA's reservations, some aspects of the plan have won the support of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

BBC: FA concerned over top-flight plan