Championship expert predicts Wrexham 25/26 league position as Phil Parkinson problem highlighted

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Wrexham are set to line up in the second tier of English football for the first time in over forty years next week.

The Red Dragons’ rise has been sensational, winning three promotions in a row to secure a spot in the rebranded Championship for the first time ever.

Wrexham clash with Southampton in their opening-weekend fixture, kicking off at 12:30pm BST.

Ahead of stepping up to the second tier, Phil Parkinson and Co. have been very active in the transfer market.

They have signed seven new players, including Conor Coady, who arrived from Leicester City this week.

But despite the addition of many new signings, they are not being backed to perform overly well in 2025/26.

• READ MORE: ‘Immense’ player released by Wrexham amid contract error now set to clash against a former club

Wrexham 2025/26 Championship prediction

Coady has won Championship promotion in the past, and Josh Windass was one of the league’s best players last term despite playing in a poor side.

Ryan Hardie hit double figures for a Plymouth Argyle team that were relegated, Lewis O’Brien has Premier League experience, and they have signed one of League One’s better midfielders in George Thomason.

However, Championship pundits Ali Maxwell and George Elek have now predicted the league position of every team in the Championship for 2025/26.

And they agreed that Wrexham will finish 18th and no higher because of Parkinson’s style of play.

Maxwell said: “In 18th place, we’ve got Wrexham.

“I think 18th is the ceiling for now. I’ll now be really fascinated to see what Phil Parkinson’s standard starting 11 is going to be. I’m very interested to see whether his tactics will change.

“In League One, they had some of the best players in every position on the pitch and they played a fairly long-ball style that worked incredibly well.

“For years, people have been saying you can’t keep playing that way as you go up the pyramid and I do genuinely believe that at Championship level, being anywhere higher than 18th playing that way is incredibly difficult.

“Yes, the recruitment is eye-catching, but I would say there’s probably still only about half a dozen players in the squad that I think are clearly Championship quality right now, mostly the ones they’ve signed. Most of the existing squad, I think, is pushing League One quality at best. Some of them will step up fairly well; much of them are pretty experienced and are unlikely to perform terribly.

“But I don’t think the level of squad is particularly strong on paper for Championship standards.”

• READ MORE: Former Wrexham player given great honour by new club that Paul Mullin had under Phil Parkinson

Wrexham can make history in 25/26

Surviving their first season in the Championship would certainly be a positive for the Dragons.

And promotion this season is not expected from the owners, though Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac want to be in the Premier League by 2027.

But Wrexham can make club history in the coming campaign if they are able to secure a 14th-place finish.

This would be their highest-ever league position in the EFL throughout their entire history.