The Championship season hasn’t even started yet, but the future of Phil Parkinson at Wrexham has become a major talking point.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac appointed Phil Parkinson as manager in 2021 following the dismissal of Dean Keates.
The former Bradford City manager has since overseen three promotions, taking Wrexham back into the second tier of English football for the first time since the 1980s.
Reynolds and Mac now want Premier League promotion within the next two years, but questions are being asked about Parkinson and whether he is the man to achieve that goal.
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Phil Parkinson Wrexham future becomes key talking point
In July, EFL pundit Ryan Dilks suggested that Wrexham sacking Parkinson in 2025/26 was possible.
He said: “I think this could be Phil Parkinson’s last season at Wrexham I think the most likely scenario is they don’t do as well as expected, and then they sack him and get in a manager who’s a much bigger name and is more entertaining for a documentary. So yeah Phil Parkinson, I’m pretty sure about losing his job at some point this season.”
Another pundit, Benjamin Bloom, also discussed Parkinson leaving Wrexham this season.
Now, journalist Rich Fay, speaking on the Rob Ryan Red podcast, has mooted the possibility of their long-time manager departing.
However, Fay is of the opinion that he will keep his job for the first six months and potentially for the full season, even if Wrexham do struggle.
He said: “I think even if Wrexham start poorly, there’s not a chance they sack Phil Parkinson in the first six months of the season, maybe even the entire season. Just because you look at some of the godfathers of football, and this will sound ridiculous, and people love hearing this. You’ve got Pep Guardiola look at Fergie at United, they ran the entire football club, the footballing side of things, they run it.
“Phil Parkinson does that, and there’s not many managers in the Championship who have that much authority over their football club like Phil Parkinson does at Wrexham. I think that’s a key reason why Wrexham will upset lots of people this season, and they’ll be a good football team and hard to beat.”
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Phil Parkinson record in Championship
Before dropping down to the National League with Wrexham, Parkinson had a poor record in the Championship.
He managed Bolton Wanderers and Charlton Athletic in the second tier and won just 26 of his 141 matches.
| Statistics | Phil Parkinson in the Championship |
| Games | 141 |
| Wins | 26 |
| Draws | 37 |
| Losses | 78 |
| Points | 115 |
| PPM | 0.82 |
| Win rate | 18.44% |
Parkinson has been much more successful in other divisions, spending the bulk of his career in the third tier.
| League | Matches | W | D | L | Points | PPM |
| League One | 422 | 185 | 126 | 111 | 681 | 1.61 |
| Championship | 141 | 26 | 37 | 78 | 115 | 0.82 |
| League Two | 133 | 55 | 38 | 40 | 203 | 1.53 |
| National League | 90 | 60 | 19 | 11 | 199 | 2.21 |
| Second Division (- 03/04) | 60 | 23 | 18 | 19 | 87 | 1.45 |
| League One Play-Offs | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0.25 |
| League Two Play-Offs | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2.00 |
| National League Playoffs | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
But it’s worth pointing out that Wrexham have backed their manager heavily this summer, so if that record is ever going to change, it will probably be in 2025/26.