Will Phil Parkinson Return To The Racecourse If The Fairytale Ends?

For Wrexham AFC fans, promotion has been at the forefront of everybody’s mind since they were relegated to The National League back in 2008. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds takeover of the club in 2020 has elevated Wrexham’s promotion dreams into what is now being called “The Fairytale”. In 2021 Phil Parkinson was appointed manager of Wrexham which was seen as many as an unbelievable feat in itself. What followed was the signing of “Super” Paul Mullen and later Ollie Palmer in two major key acquisitions for the club. This bolstered roster was enough to put Wrexham in proper promotion talks only to fall short to Sutton United and then be eliminated in the semi-finals by Grimsby Town with a 5-4 final.

As part of the promotion talks, Parkinson’s future with the club has come under scrutiny in the event Wrexham doesn’t get promoted this season. Regardless of how Wrexham finishes, it will mark Parkinson’s 2nd full season with the club but one could argue he’s only truly had 1 proper season. The 2020-21 season was the beginning of Parkinson shaping the squad to his standard and vision but was riddled with expiring contracts to the detriment of the club. This is without mentioning key players like defender Aaron Hayden and goalkeeper Rob Lainton being injured in the final stretch of the season. Since then, Wrexham has only deepened their roster with key signings of Elliot Lee, Mark Howard, Andy Cannon, and Eoghan O’Connel to name a few. This much needed depth and experience from higher divisions has made them a favorite to win the division with over 100 points.

At the time of writing this, Wrexham is on par to finish the season with 107.4 points. In any other season this would make them a lock to get promoted but this isn’t any ordinary season. Notts County is leading the league in points and has been playing above par but without the same depth as Wrexham. The question being, is it sustainable? These two clubs have been going blow for blow all season, in what appears to be the most exciting promotion race in not only the English football pyramid but the entirety of the sport. If both clubs keep up this historic pace it will be the first time 2 clubs have earned over 100 points in the same season.

Wrexham has recently been struck by a spell of injuries and has been forced to dip heavily into their reserves, most of which were a result of their first run in with Sheffield United in the FA Cup. The combination of injuries and Notts county pushing for a historic season has put Phil Parkinson in an awkward situation with many fans deeming this season “promotion or bust”. In reality, Parkinson hasn’t exactly had a proper full season to see his plan come to fruition and it would be foolish to see off such an accomplished manager after only two seasons.

Wrexham would still be a profitable club if they were unable to secure promotion but ultimately promotion this season may dictate the fate of The Fairytale. Let’s not write off Wrexham or Phil Parkinson just yet. There’s still 15 matches left and a lot can happen between now and then. Will Notts county come back down to Earth and slow down before the end of the season? Can Phil Parkinson put together a strategy to survive Wrexham’s injury spell and march forward towards the ultimate goal of promotion? If both clubs continue in their current form it will ultimately come down to how the clash of the two titans plays out in April. Wrexham has the advantage given their home record but will injuries be a hurdle too far?