Phil Parkinson’s 200th league match as Wrexham manager, played against Blackburn Rovers on Saturday, marks a significant milestone in one of the most impressive managerial spells in the club’s history.

The headline achievements alone show the scale of his work. Across more than a thousand matches in management, his Wrexham teams have delivered two records unmatched in senior English football: the club is the only side to secure three consecutive promotions, and his National League champions set a record points total, one so strong that even when older seasons are recalculated to three points per win, only Birmingham City managed to equal it last season.

Parkinson’s impact is astonishing. Just as Tommy Bamford once became the benchmark for Wrexham excellence, Parkinson’s numbers are now carving a legacy of their own. He becomes only the sixth manager to reach 200 league games with the club, joining Ernie Blackburn, John Neal, Dixie McNeil, Brian Flynn and Denis Smith. He’s also just the eighth to manage Wrexham for over four years, alongside figures like Peter Jackson and Tom Williams, the latter of whom guided the team through the wartime years without official matches.

Throwback to the original announcement back on 1st July 2021:

In terms of league victories, Parkinson already sits third behind Neal and Flynn. That’s remarkable considering the head start those managers had. His position is driven by a stunning win rate of 59.8%. Only Andy Morrell (51.3%) and Sam Ricketts (54.5%) ever topped 50%, and Ricketts’ brief tenure makes his figure less meaningful.

Only two permanent managers spent less time in charge than Parkinson: his former assistant Graham Barrow and Arthur Cowell, who quit seven games into his spell in 1938 for the opportunity to run a chain of newsagents, a reminder of how different football once was.

Parkinson also boasts an exceptional points-per-game return, collecting 67.7% of all available points. Morrell is again closest at 58.7%. His loss percentage (16.6%) is just as impressive, with Morrell still 10% worse off.

His 2022-23 team set the all-time club record for most league wins in a season. Morrell’s 2011-12 side is next best, and Parkinson’s other three completed seasons occupy third, fourth and joint-fifth along with John Neal’s 1970 promotion team.

Losing only three league matches in 2022-23 also stands out. Since joining the Football League, no Wrexham team has come close, Morrell’s side lost five more. Even more remarkably, it’s the fifth-fewest defeats in any Wrexham season ever, and all the other top-ten seasons happened before the club entered the EFL. Those teams played far fewer games; only in 1920-21 did they play more than 24.

As Wrexham climb the divisions, maintaining these extraordinary standards becomes more difficult. But that’s a small price to pay, considering how far Parkinson has taken the club and the heights they are now reaching.

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Andrew Pargh

Known for his ability to uncover exclusive stories and conduct in-depth interviews, Andrew provides the Wrexham Reds community with essential, well-researched match analysis, player features, and coverage of developments both on and off the pitch. His goal is to deliver the kind of passionate, dedicated, and high-quality journalism that keeps Wrexham fans reading and returning for more.

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