Phil Parkinson and his Wrexham players can enjoy a relatively stress-free weekend for the final gameweek of the League One season, but it’s not been an easy ride over the last few weeks.
After the resounding 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic last weekend, Wrexham now have an unassailable lead in second place and Phil Parkinson’s men are heading for the Championship next season.
It’s been an intense battle in League One, though, with Wycombe Wanderers holding the advantage for much of the campaign, while the likes of Charlton and Stockport County have pushed hard to keep up with the leading pack.
The historic third-successive promotion is an incredible feat for Wrexham, and an EFL first, but Parkinson always knew it was going to be a challenge to get over the line, having called it months ago.
What Phil Parkinson said about League One promotion months ago
Way back in December, with Wrexham sitting in third place and just one point behind eventual champions Birmingham City at the time, Parkinson refused to accept it was a three-horse race for promotion.
| Pos | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wycombe | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 43 |
| 2 | Birmingham | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
| 3 | Wrexham | 20 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 41 |
| 4 | Huddersfield | 19 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 36 |
| 5 | Stockport | 20 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 33 |
| 6 | Reading | 19 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 31 |
At the time, he said: “We’re in a very good position. Someone said to me that it looks like three teams. I wish it was a three-horse race but I really don’t see it like that.
“The minute you hear managers start dismissing other teams, it’s a great motivational factor for the teams below. We’re not really concentrating on anyone else, we are just concentrating on ourselves and focussing on this Christmas period.”
Of course, from there onwards, Birmingham began to run away with the league, while Wycombe and Wrexham tussled for the runner-up spot.
But, as we can see now, with Stockport County in third place heading into the final weekend, there was always potential for other teams to enter the fray and cause trouble for Wrexham in the hunt for promotion, just as Parkinson anticipated.
Wrexham can watch their rivals fight it out in the play-offs now
In the end, Wrexham were ultimately involved in a four-horse race, and that’s even discounting Birmingham from the equation, given their dominance at the top of the table.
Now, though, with Parkinson guiding Wrexham to the Championship, he and his players have avoided a very stressful and potentially catastrophic final day in the league.
Speaking to The Leader about the situation, Parkinson said: “To do it in front of our supporters is very special and to do it with a week to go is great for us because last day drama, so many things can happen.
“If it had come to that we’d obviously have been prepared but it is nice to have that bit of breathing space and get the job done.”
Discussing the teams around them, the Wrexham manager added: “We knew Charlton were a dangerous team because they beat Wycombe 4-0 over Easter which was a great favour for us.
“But equally, Charlton knew if they got a result against us that they were at home to Burton, who are practically safe, on the last day of the season and they would start to really fancy themselves. I’ve said all along that when people kept talking about us or Wycombe, we’ve taken until the penultimate game to shake Charlton and Stockport off, and that’s the reality of it.
“The top teams around us kept winning – Stockport won at lunchtime to go two points behind us – so it was always in my mindset to not start dismissing teams. You can’t because football has got a history of teams having incredible runs at the end of the season.
“Charlton and Stockport were very difficult to shake off, Wycombe have obviously been there all season, but it’s very satisfying for everybody at the club to win promotion.”
Wrexham can enjoy the final game vs Lincoln City now, and watch their rivals battle it out in the play-offs to join them in the Championship.
It will be fun to see it all play out, and now we’re just waiting for news of the Wrexham promotion parade so we can really celebrate in style.