Phil Parkinson: Hollywood club Wrexham's unassuming leading man
- Published
Phil Parkinson (centre) with Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney after the club secured the National League title in 2023 and a return to the EFL
At the Hollywood club which is Wrexham, it seems every moment is captured on film.
Owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney may be super fans, but they usually watch from afar.
Yet the unquenchable needs of the hit series 'Welcome to Wrexham' mean cameras, lights and microphones are constant companions.
Despite the hype and razzmatazz, manager Phil Parkinson, though having a starring role in the drama, seems able to step back and stay focused on his field of expertise - football.
Lancashire-born Parkinson, 56, appointed following the departure of Dean Keates in the summer of 2021, is an oasis of calm amid an all-consuming media storm.
No production crew or documentary intrusion distracts him or prevents him from savouring the good moments, of which there have been many at Wrexham.
Minutes from the end of Wrexham's promotion-clinching 6-0 win over Forest Green Rovers, with fans gathered for the inevitable pitch invasion, Parkinson turned his back on the game and gazed into the grandstand.
"I was looking for my wife and daughter in the directors' box. The families live through every step of the way with us, it's great to share it with them," he said afterwards.
He was soon celebrating his fifth promotion. Successive rises with Wrexham are a first for him and the club.
But for Parkinson, the successes all started by leading Colchester United into the Championship in 2006; he led Bradford City out of League Two in 2013 and in 2017 elevated Bolton Wanderers from League One.
Former Scotland striker Chris Iwelumo scored 19 goals in Colchester's League One promotion season and is not surprised by the Parkinson success, not least his ability to stand apart from the hullabaloo.
"You have to remember he has a psychology degree," Iwelumo said.
"He knows how to handle situations and he can take himself out of it and look at it from the outside," added the player turned pundit.
"Yes there are cameras everywhere... Wrexham is a brand, but as a manager it does not change anything. You have to be able to separate that circus from what you do and what you would usually do as if it was just a normal environment. I think that is what he does well."
Striker Garry Thompson was part of the Bradford City's promotion squad and agrees the mentality of the man known as 'Parky' is a key to his success.
In 2013, Parkinson became the only manager to take an English fourth-tier club to a major cup final.
In February that year, Bradford reached the Capital One Cup final and were thrashed 5-0 by Michael Laudrup's Swansea City at Wembley.
Yet the Bantams returned to the venue in May to clinch promotion with a 3-0 play-off win over Northampton.
Thompson said: "We could have got swept up in the League Cup final. It was a massive thing for a League Two club to get there.
"To keep us level-headed and to go back six weeks later and get promoted just reflects him as a character. He didn't allow anybody to rest on their laurels. It was always on to the next game.
"It's that hunger to keep doing this at the right time with a level head.
"With the size of the off-the-field stuff, the new owners brings that Hollywood style, it would be easy to get swept away. You need someone like him to keep everything level and the players level."
After the latest Wrexham promotion, Parkinson was keen to praise his staff, notably his assistant Steve Parkin, who has been at his righthand at Bradford, Bolton and Sunderland.
Former Swansea midfielder Darren Pratley made more than 150 league appearances for Bolton and helped the Trotters to second place behind League One winners Sheffield United in 2017.
He recalled the strong relationship between Parkinson and Parkin as well as the off-field problems with which they had to deal.
"When he first came in at Bolton we were struggling. I thought his style was honest and he did not allow anyone to get away with cutting corners," Pratley said.
"He had a good relationship with Steve Parkin, they would be good cop, bad cop.
"Parky was quite distant from the players in terms of he would watch from afar how they were training and reacting. Steve would take most of the sessions.
"On the human side, with the difficulties we had at Bolton, he (Parkinson) was there for us when we were not getting paid. He was always open and honest which the boys respected more than anything.
"He would let us know when we were not getting paid, he would let us know about his conversations with the chairman. If you have that kind of relationship with your manager, that's a good starting point."
Financial problems are not something former Reading and Bury player Parkinson will have to worry about as he plans for next season in League One.
With two promotions under his belt from that level, he clearly knows how to succeed in the third tier.
And his former players have no doubt the north Wales outfit will be a force to be reckoned with next season under this promotion specialist.
"He knows how to get out of the league," Pratley added.
"He won't sign the wrong players and that is what you need, especially at a club where it looks like they have a good togetherness. You don't want people to go in there and ruin it.
Phil Parkinson (right) with assistant Steve Parkin celebrate promotion in front of Wrexham fans
"You don't want to sign the wrong type of people, who will be going in there for the wrong reasons, so I would not be surprised if they are up there again challenging to get out of League One."
Iwelumo agrees, saying: "I just think they have the right man in charge, who is not going to go out there and spend the money as if it is not his, he probably spends as if it is his.
"But he knows he has that luxury of bringing a better calibre of player than that league warrants. It will be the same next season again. It would not surprise me if they won automatic promotion again next season."
Thompson played in both League Two and League One and does not think there is a "massive difference" in quality.
Despite the presence of some heavyweight sides in the third tier, he insists Wrexham are "a big club" at that level.
"They can go into the market in the summer and say 'look at the stuff we are building off the pitch', how much it is snowballing. There is absolutely no reason why they cannot go again," he said.
The fans of Colchester, Bradford, Bolton and now Wrexham (twice) have much reason to be cheerful, Parkinson was the man at their helm.
Money does not guarantee success in football. It certainly helps, but it has to be spent wisely and brings its own pressures.
The added pressure at Wrexham is the fact every move is put under a Hollywood microscope.
Parkinson has delivered on the field - and for the cameras.
A new challenge lies ahead. Expectations will increase. Wrexham will again be a target to be felled.
But you can be sure, the Parkinson mixture of mental strength, calm and measured response when required, allied to a fiery passion for the game, will not change.
Indeed, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will have every faith in him.
After all their choice of Parkinson as leading man in this astonishing Hollywood drama was surely the best decision they have made since their transformative arrival at the Stok Racecourse.