Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has spoken about one player who has improved massively since he first took over at the club.
Wrexham have achieved promotion to the Championship with one game to spare in the 2024/25 League One season.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have penned a message to Phil Parkinson for the incredible achievement he has overseen. The back-to-back-to-back promotions have led to Wrexham fans wanting a Parkinson statue to be built, and you can’t blame them when looking at the fairytale rise of the club through the leagues.
Whilst Wrexham have notably brought in several big names in the past two seasons to help them guide through the lower EFL leagues, with the likes of Steven Fletcher, Ollie Rathbone, and Sam Smith to name few of a huge group, Parkinson has also kept some players from the early Wrexham days, including one that has completed something that ‘doesn’t happen often’.
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Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson praises Max Cleworth for huge improvement
When Parkinson took control of the National League Wrexham side, in that team was a young Max Cleworth, sitting in the heart of defence in Parkinson’s first games at just 19 years old.
Cleworth was in-and-out of Wrexham’s side, but has more recently shone, and showed an incredible improvement in the current team. This is something that has been noted by Parkinson recently.
“I just love Max’s story with us.” said Parkinson, per Leader Live, when reflecting on the defender’s career so far. “My first ever Wrexham game away at Solihull, I threw him in the deep end and four years later, he is getting in the League One Team of the Season.
“That is some story and it doesn’t happen often.
“I have to stress this for any young players, that hasn’t just happened for Max.
“It has been a lot of hard work on the training pitch, in the gym and doing all the work required so he has been able to step-up with us.”
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Max Cleworth offers far more than reliable defensive ability
Unlike previous years, Cleworth has shown incredible ability in front of goal, notching a total of seven goals in the current League One season, a brilliant achievement from the youngster, who has tied down his role as the go-to central defender to sit in the middle of Parkinson’s back three.
Cleworth has gone from being a semi-reliable defensive option to a shoo-in in Parkinson’s side, and there is no doubt plenty more to come for the centre-back.
At just 22 years old, but playing like a matureed 30-year-old defender, Cleworth certainly has a high ceiling that he can still grow into, and he will no doubt continue to be a key player for Wrexham, even at Championship level.