Wrexham have made football league history with a remarkable third straight promotion, and manager Phil Parkinson is at the heart of it all. We discussed with Wrexham expert Rich Fay about the scale of Wrexham’s achievement and what comes next.
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00:00Now, Wrexham have made Football League history with a remarkable third straight promotion and manager Phil Parkinson is at the heart of it all.
00:11Since taking charge, Parkinson has mastermised a meteoric rise, guiding the club from the National League to the Championship in just three seasons.
00:21His steady leadership, tactical mouse and ability to handle the Hollywood glare has been instrumental to Wrexham's resurgence.
00:30Whilst the spotlight often shines on the club's ownership, it's Parkinson's calm authority that's built a winning culture.
00:37With momentum now on their side, Wrexham now face their toughest test yet, competing in the Championship.
00:44But under Parkinson, few would bet against them continuing this extraordinary journey.
00:50We discussed it all with Wrexham expert Rich Faye and about the scale of Wrexham's achievement and what's to come in the future.
01:00Yeah, a moment for Parkinson. I mean, obviously, he's done an incredible job coming into the side.
01:08And as you say, with all the noise and this global reach, it absolutely came out of nowhere, really.
01:13Wrexham just completely spiralled into the world of football and they're so now well-known across America, etc.
01:20How good has he been in terms of, you know, getting the best out of some players as well?
01:25Because we have mentioned before, it is a bit of an ageing squad.
01:28But then you have to look at that League One table.
01:31Anyone could really still, you know, go up until the last couple of weeks.
01:34It's an amazingly competitive division, like most of them are in England every year.
01:39He's managed to take the pressure off them every single season so far.
01:43He's been at the club and he's achieved the very, very best with the group of players he's got.
01:49Absolutely. He is that constant, really, in the club.
01:52The players have changed. There's been squad overhaul.
01:55He's the one who's been there since the very start.
01:57And he's managed to adapt the squad to rebuild the squad as well as he's gone along.
02:01He's recruited players well.
02:02He doesn't just sign good players.
02:04He signs good personalities and good professionals as well.
02:07I think that was what was so key at Blackpool on Monday.
02:10You know, Stephen Fletcher came off the bench.
02:12McLean was brilliant.
02:13Matty James has been promoted before.
02:15A very experienced midfielder was excellent.
02:17Dan Scar, who led Plymouth to the Championship as well.
02:20These are the players who shone really.
02:22And it will be that level of expertise and experience that Wrexham will have to call upon
02:26if they're going to get over the line in the last two matches.
02:29And yeah, Parkey deserves so much credit.
02:31Like I said, he won't ever get the credit he fully deserves.
02:33He's almost Pep Guardiola-esque that because he's had money to spend, it almost undermines
02:38the work that he's done.
02:39But to stay that level-headed, not to be self-indulgent, not to think it's about him, to almost ignore
02:45all the celebrity and status and just to build a very good football club.
02:49That's what he does.
02:50The football is not always glamorous.
02:52It's not always attractive.
02:53There's always moans and complaints about the 3-5-2 and the long balls that Wrexham
02:57have perceived to play.
02:58But Phil Parkinson's job is not to entertain.
03:00There might be seats.
03:01There might be people there who want to come on the weekend and be entertained.
03:05But his job is to win football matches.
03:06And he does that more often than not.
03:08He's a very effective, very successful manager.
03:11And he does what his job is.
03:12He makes the tough decisions that fans don't always agree with.
03:16But he always acts in the best interest of the club.
03:18So whatever happens this season, Wrexham are probably going to record what is going to be
03:23within their top seven ever finishes in the 161-year history of the club.
03:29The seventh best ever finish, whatever happens now.
03:32And, you know, he deserves so much credit for that.
03:35Because to get promoted from the National League was one thing.
03:38That felt like something unachievable at the time.
03:41And now dreaming of the championship.
03:43And if they can get to the championship, why would they not dream of getting to the Premier League?
03:47It sounds ludicrous.
03:48But we've seen what's happened in the last three years.
03:50Why can that not be the goal for next season, even?
03:53But for the last half an hour, 40 minutes, they were on top of Birmingham.
03:56They should have won that game.
03:58And it was the fact that, you know, Wrexham had been comfortably beaten when they went to St. Andrews.
04:02But on their home turf, they were more than a match for them.
04:05And that did feel like a monumental point, really.
04:08You know, it felt like a performance that really proved that Wrexham aren't just these plucky underdogs.
04:12They're not that far off the top team in the league who have spent a hell of a lot more money than them.
04:17So I think that was one of the performances where you really did believe that they've got something about them as Wrexham team.
04:22It was a week after they'd lost the derby to Shrewsbury as well, fierce rivals.
04:27And they responded in style.
04:29I think from that moment, there was then that inner belief that they can still produce those big performances against the better teams in the division.
04:36And for me, that probably was the turning point where you felt, OK, if they can do that against Birmingham at home, they can beat anyone.