Wrexham thumped Charlton Athletic 3-0 to seal a historic third successive promotion and secure a return to the second tier for the first time in 43 years.

Following Wycombe Wanderers' 1-0 loss to Leyton Orient earlier in the day, Phil Parkinson's side knew they would clinch the runner-up spot in League One with victory over the Addicks.

The hosts scored twice in quick succession in the first half, with Ollie Rathbone's sweet strike putting Wrexham ahead at the Stok Cae Ras.

Sam Smith then netted his sixth goal for the club since joining from Reading in January only three minutes later.

Striker Smith completed his double late on as Wrexham kept a 23rd league clean sheet of the season to take second place in style - and with a game to spare - in front of Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Defeat ended Charlton's hopes of automatic promotion, with Nathan Jones' side - who are fifth - now turning their attention to the play-offs.

Parkinson went with the same starting XI and substitutes from Monday's crucial 2-1 triumph over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

His opposite number Jones, who labelled Wrexham a "circus" in the build-up to the fixture, made two changes from his team's 4-0 demolition of Wycombe as Tennai Watson and Karoy Anderson replaced Thierry Small and Luke Berry.

Wycombe's slip-up played a key role in ensuring the home faithful lifted the noise levels well before kick-off in north Wales.

But following a run of 15 wins from their past 20 league games, Charlton's supporters were in fine fettle themselves as their side also went into the game still in the mix to finish second behind champions Birmingham City.

And the opening stages typified a contest between two evenly-matched teams with a huge amount at stake - with no noteworthy goalmouth action for either side.

That was until a pivotal three-minute period in which Wrexham took a firm stronghold in the contest.

Charlton survived a major scare on 15 minutes as - having hoped for an offside flag to come to their rescue - Macaulay Gillesphey put in a last-ditch challenge to prevent Smith from getting a shot on goal.

But Wrexham scored from the resulting corner as the ball was fed to Rathbone whose low drilled effort flew beyond Will Mannion from just outside the 18-yard box.

It was the 28-year-old's second goal in as many matches and eighth of the campaign on what was his 350th career appearance.

And the home side were in dreamland moments later as Matty James' floated ball over the top of the Charlton defence fell to Smith who stretched to volley into the net.

It prompted wild scenes of celebration, and subsequent chants of 'Doo doo doo, football in a circus' to the tune of Black Lace's Do The Conga from the Wrexham faithful in response to Jones' pre-match comments.

Charlton looked shell-shocked, but as Wrexham grew more content to sit deeper and stay compact having established a two-goal cushion, the visitors enjoyed more possession and territory.

Matty Godden's goal-bound flick was well blocked by Dan Scarr before Arthur Okonkwo superbly denied Watson with his legs from a one-on-one position just after the half-hour mark.

Tyreece Campbell then had a shot blocked as Wrexham's defensive effort typified why they have kept more clean sheets than any other side in the third tier this season.

Charlton needed at least three second-half goals to keep their top-two hopes alive, a task that appeared all the more daunting given Wrexham had lost just twice in 22 home league matches this season.

As was the case from the beginning of the first 45 minutes, neither side created any openings in the early stages of the second half.

Jones sent on Micah Mbick and Daniel Kanu in place of Lloyd Jones and Karoy Anderson as his side looked for a route back in the contest.

Parkinson responded by replacing Jay Rodriguez with Steven Fletcher as Wrexham looked to see out the final 20 minutes.

Charlton continued to push in the final stages without overly troubling Okonkwo.

And Wrexham put the icing on the promotion cake as Smith headed Max Cleworth's cross into the net in the 81st minute to seal a 16th and final home league victory of the campaign and a return to the second tier for the first time since the 1981-82 season.

Charlton sign off the regular season at home against Burton Albion as they prepare for the play-offs.

Wrexham - who were in non-league in 2022-23 - travel to Lincoln City on the same day as they bid to round off yet another memorable campaign in style.

Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson:

"It's amazing. The key for me today is how we've done it.

"The performance today was really controlled and, at times, high quality and I'm so pleased with that because getting over the line in football is hard.

"Having the control and mentality to produce a performance of that standard in such a pressure game is an enormous credit to everybody."

Charlton Athletic boss Nathan Jones:

"It's a tough one. Congratulations to Wrexham, they were excellent today.

"They did the basics far better than us, they were more clinical than us, and they probably outworked us.

"We came up against a good side today that were at the top of their game. It's been a difficult one to take today.

"But we've been on a fantastic run and we've managed to secure the play-offs which we did a few weeks ago."