Wrexham have struck gold with Phil Parkinson but he was not the only manager linked with the job back in 2021.
Wrexham’s trajectory changed forever when Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds completed their takeover of the club.
Almost overnight, Wrexham went from a sleeping giant in non-league football to headline news across the world.
The off-field profile of the club has shot through the roof, especially with the success of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
On the pitch, Wrexham have enjoyed outstanding success, winning back-to-back promotions to reach League One in rapid fashion.
Boss Phil Parkinson has masterminded the rise, making Wrexham very difficult to beat and a winning machine at home.
Shaun Harvey has praised Parkinson whilst noting that Wrexham wanted experience when conducting the managerial search in 2021.
A number of other options were linked after the decision to axe Dean Keates, so let’s take a look at some of them now…
Mark Hudson
One of the names in the mix was Mark Hudson.
Hudson was on the coaching staff at Huddersfield Town at the time but wanted to take a first step into management.
The former Premier League defender was interested in the Wrexham job according to Rich Fay, but it just wasn’t to be for him.
Hudson ended up becoming a first-team coach at Cardiff City just months later and became their manager in September 2022.
After just four wins in 18 games, Hudson was axed in January 2023 and is now serving as a defensive coach for Sheffield United in the Championship.
Casey Stoney
The most surprising rumour at the time surrounded Casey Stoney.
Then coaching Manchester United’s women, Stoney was a legend in her playing days, racking up 130 caps for England’s women.
Stoney was thought to be in contention and she sadly suffered online abuse as a result of the speculation, as noted by Sky Sports.
Stoney left Manchester United in 2021 and headed off to the United States, managing San Diego Wave in the NWSL.
Now available once again, Stoney has been mentioned as a potential successor to Jonas Eidevall as boss of the Arsenal women.
Keith Hill
The Wrexham job was certainly appealing with McElheneny and Reynolds taking over.
Keith Hill threw his hat into the ring, telling The Leader that he would ‘of course’ be interested in managing a ‘special club’ to him.
Hill joined Wrexham in his playing days, arriving on loan from Cheltenham Town in 2001, becoming Denis Smith’s first signing.
The 55-year-old had just been axed by Tranmere Rovers but missed out on the Wrexham job, ending up at Scunthorpe United in 2021.
Hill lost his job in August 2022 with the Iron struggling in the National League relegation zone.
Yet to return to management since that job, Hill impressed with Rochdale but couldn’t quite find the same success elsewhere.
Given how the last few years have gone for those candidates, it’s hard to argue against Parkinson being the right choice.
Parkinson won’t be going anywhere any time soon either with Wrexham seemingly finding their long-term manager with that appointment back in 2021; what an inspired move McElhenney, Reynolds and co made with their first big managerial decision.