Parkinson marks five years at Wrexham but warns of ‘more work to do’

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has reflected on five years in charge of the club, describing the period as “great” while insisting there remains a “lot more work” to be done. Parkinson was appointed by Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in July 2021, replacing Dean Keates, and has since overseen a remarkable rise from the National League to the Championship.

Speaking to BBC Sport Wales, the 58-year-old, who is now the Championship’s longest-serving manager, said: “It’s an amazing stat when you look at that and it shows the nature of the industry and the job. It’s been a great five years and I’ve really enjoyed it.”

Three promotions and a near miss

Under Parkinson’s stewardship, Wrexham secured three successive promotions to reach the second tier of English football, a rise that has captured global attention thanks to the club’s ownership and an accompanying documentary series. Last season, the Welsh side finished seventh in the Championship, narrowly missing out on a play-off place in what was their first campaign back at that level in more than four decades.

Ahead of the new season, Wrexham’s squad returned to pre-season training this week at the Carden Park resort near Chester, the same location Parkinson used when he first took charge. “This is where we started,” he said. “When I first came in five years ago, we were training on the same pitch. Me and Steve have been talking about how the squad’s evolved over the years, the group we inherited in that pre-season and the staff.”

He added: “You look around now, we’ve built a really strong medical team, sports science department and where we were in that period and how things have progressed. And of course, there’s still a lot more work to be done.”

Infrastructure catching up with progress on the pitch

Wrexham’s on-field rise has been accompanied by significant investment off it, including the construction of a new Kop Stand at the Racecourse Ground and a new pavilion at Colliers Park, the club’s former training base which is now owned by the Football Association of Wales and Wrexham University.

“What is great for us, people can see the stands coming up and the module at Colliers taking shape as well,” Parkinson said. “As the club’s progressed on the pitch, the training facilities in particular, it’s been difficult to keep pace. Even though Colliers are great with us and the pitches are good, to have our own base there now is going to be a huge advantage because we’re up against teams with state-of-the-art training grounds.”

He continued: “Even in League One, a lot of teams have got really top-class facilities and we need that to attract players. It’s progress we needed to make and when we come back from America, that should be ready to go into.”

Busy pre-season schedule ahead

Wrexham face a demanding pre-season programme before the new campaign gets under way. They travel to Poland to take on Wisla Krakow this Saturday in their opening friendly, before a fixture against Manchester United in Helsinki a week later. The club will then head to the United States, where they are due to face Sunderland, Liverpool and Leeds United on tour.

“In terms of going to Krakow and Helsinki, that helps generate the revenue which we need to put into the budget to help us going forward,” Parkinson explained. “And obviously, the America trip is important. So, as we’ve always done, we’ve embraced those trips and I think it’s a very exciting pre-season for us.”

Wrexham begin their Championship season against Cardiff City in an all-Welsh derby, with Parkinson’s side aiming to build on last term’s near miss and push for a top-six finish.