Wrexham have enjoyed unprecedented success since the arrival of Phil Parkinson in the summer of 2021.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney put their faith in the experienced manager following successful spells in gaining promotions with Bolton Wanderers and Colchester United.
Since that appointment, Wrexham have achieved three successive promotions and are about to embark upon their first season in the Championship for 43 years.
However, things could have been so different as Humphrey Ker once revealed that Parkinson turned the Wrexham job down over one big fear of the Hollywood owners.
Phil Parkinson thought Wrexham’s owners would get ‘bored’ after a while
Speaking on season one episode three of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series, Ker revealed how it took more than one attempt to lure Parkinson to the Racecourse Ground.
Parkinson initially had fears that the new owners would ‘disappear’ if the club failed to get promotion during his first season.
Ker stated: “All of us were very keen on Phil Parkinson and we made what we felt was a very appropriate approach and he said no.”
The club’s community director then had to explain the situation to McElhenney and revealed to the owner the reasons behind Parkinson’s rejection.
Ker explained to McElhenney: “We are looking for someone who has gravitas, inspires, leads, directs in all the ways that you want from a football manager/head coach but you know I talked about Phil Parkinson and he’s won back to back promotions,
“He’s done it at multiple clubs, like he is a top top coach and we basically said what do you want? We will give it to you and he was just like ‘well is it a real thing or is it going to be 18 months and they get bored? If they don’t get promoted at the end of the season are they just going to disappear?”
Thankfully, McElhenney persuaded Parkinson to join Wrexham during a 90 minute phone call and the rest as they say, is history.
Wrexham’s owners could have a test of loyalty approaching them
Parkinson’s Championship record is not the greatest and the Red Dragons may not pick up positive results as frequently as they have during his managerial reign so far.
Since Parkinson took over in 2021, there have been very limited runs of poor form from his side, perhaps the only time came in his very first season in the National League.
| Phil Parkinson’s Championship record | Matches | Wins | Draws | Defeats | Points |
| Parkinson | 141 | 26 | 37 | 78 | 115 |
Winless runs are likely to occur this season and with the club’s ambition to reach the Premier League, Reynolds and McElhenney’s loyalty could be tested.
Parkinson deserves his shot at surviving the Championship and progressing the club as far as he can take them, but outside noise could prove decisive.