Wrexham

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Wrexham may need to consolidate in the Championship for a few seasons before they're ready to push for the Premier League, says former Wales captain Kevin Ratcliffe.

Having just achieved an historic third successive promotion, Wrexham are hoping to complete an extraordinary journey from National League to Premier League backed by the financial clout of film star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

The Hollywood pair are expected to provide boss Phil Parkinson with more funds to make them a force in the Championship, but Ratcliffe says it is unrealistic to think Wrexham could go up for a fourth year in a row.

"I think it's going to take a few seasons," said Ratcliffe, who has seen a lot of the Red Dragons this season in his role as a BBC Radio Wales Sport pundit, including their 2-0 win at Lincoln City on the final day.

"Because you're going to need a whole new squad maybe in that time.

"I think there'll be a whole squad difference in the next two years. There will be fragments of this (current) squad playing."

Parkinson has already shown a ruthless edge in his attempts to upgrade the squad, leaving out fan favourites Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer altogether on matchdays following the January arrival of strikers Sam Smith and Jay Rodriguez.

The Wrexham boss says those two out-of-favour "legends" will be involved in the club's pre-season, but it is hard to envisage either playing a big role in 2025-26 given their recent exclusion.

"If Wrexham want to get into the Premier League they've got to get better players in," said Ratcliffe.

"That's what they have done every season. Even if they're like-for-like they've been better players than the ones who've been left out.

"It's hard to think you're going to get anyone better than Paul Mullin, but then in comes Smith and you see that extra bit of fizz.

"They're definitely going to have to find a 20-goal-a-year man to play at Championship level. Is Smith that man? I'm not quite sure yet.

"Fletcher's been there and done it, but is he going to be there next year? I'm not quite sure how that one works.

"They've got the nucleus of a squad there, but what they need now is that extra little bit of quality that's going to give you that next push."

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Phil Parkinson has been nominated for April's League One Manager of the Month award.

Wrexham were unbeaten across their six league matches last month, earning key wins against Burton Albion, Blackpool and Charlton Athletic en route to securing a third successive promotion.

Victory over Charlton in their final fixture of the month also saw Parkinson earn the sixth promotion of his managerial career.

The English Football League wrote: "The Wrexham manager's post comes with expectations and intense pressure, yet Parkinson's calmness in the public eye has created the culture that secured Wrexham a third successive promotion with 12 points from six unbeaten games."

Parkinson, 57, is up against Birmingham City boss Chris Davies, Leyton Orient's Richie Wellens and Burton's Gary Bowyer for the award.

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Ryan Longman says he is certain that Wrexham can compete in the Championship next season.

Phil Parkinson's side are preparing to play in the second tier for the first time in 43 years having secured a third successive promotion.

Longman has Championship experience with Hull City and Millwall and is "100%" sure Wrexham have the quality to cope with the step up.

"We keep in games, that's what you need to do in the Championship. If you keep in the game, anyone can go and win it," he said.

"We're just going to embrace that challenge and enjoy it. We've just got to prepare ourselves in the off-season, recover, spend time with the families and have a really good pre-season and get back to it.

"It'll be great to be playing back in the Championship, I know how tough it is. It's just going to be exciting in those stadiums, the next level is just brilliant."

Longman has been a pivotal figure under Parkinson since moving to the Stok Cae Ras from Hull in January.

He has contributed six assists across all competitions and netted his first goal for the club in the 2-0 win at Lincoln City on the final day of the campaign.

Longman also boasts the proud record of having not been on the losing side in any of his 16 starts for Wrexham.

Having helped lead the Red Dragons to second spot in League One, the 24-year-old swiftly turned his attention to the squad's celebratory Las Vegas trip.

"I've had all of the lads telling me about it," he added.

"They've said 'whatever you expect, expect 10 times more', so I'll enjoy it."

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Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has "earned the right" to manage in the Championship once again after leading his side to a third successive automatic promotion.

Parkinson says he is relishing a return to the Championship with Wrexham following the "complete and utter carnage" of his last stint in the division with Bolton Wanderers.

Having led Bolton into the Championship in 2017 and kept them in the division the following season amid turmoil at the club when players were not paid for months, Parkinson was unable to keep the Trotters in the second tier for a second successive year.

Ex-Wales international Andy Legg was a team-mate of Parkinson's at Reading and told the Radio Wales Sport Phone In:

"He's earned the right," Legg told

"He's been there with Bolton and he said he had a bad time with Bolton and wants to put that right.

"He's that type of person – he's very determined, strong-minded in what he does.

"He doesn't take second best and he'll make sure everybody will work hard and you can see that with his players on the pitch.

"I do hope that, if they do have a sticky patch, stick with him but I think Wrexham will stick with him."

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Wrexham found final weekend motivation by showing they were not distracted by parties and were very much still focused on points.

Phil Parkinson's side beat Lincoln City on the final day, finishing the season as League One promotion-winners in second behind champions Birmingham City.

Blues stormed to the title earning a stunning 111 points, the best total ever in an EFL season and equalling the English system's professional record set by Parkinson's side when they jumped from the National League in 2023.

Wrexham were 19 points behind Chris Davies' side in the final table, but set themselves apart in history by earning an unprecedented third straight promotion with a 3-0 win over Charlton last week.

However, they were still keen to finish on a high by reaching 92 points - an average two per game - with defender Ryan Longman saying: "We finished the season ten games unbeaten and to get through the 90-point barrier.

"All the lads wanted it because it's just a nice achievement."

Manager Parkinson added: "We wanted to finish in a professional manner; the perception of the group celebrating last week, jetting out to Vegas this week, but in between that we wanted to finish the season well and 92 points in 46 games, I'm really pleased with that."

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Thousands of Wrexham football supporters joined players and club officials at an end-of-season promotion celebration at Stok Cae Ras on Sunday.

Long queues formed outside the ground as the crowd waited for the gates to open before the event to mark promotion to the Championship.

The event featured musical acts as well as the club's annual end of season awards.

Midfielder Ollie Rathbone was named the player of the season with defender Max Cleworth winning the young player award and the player's player of the season.

Paul Mullin won the goal of the season award for his volley in the win over Blackpool on Boxing Day with Elliott Lee the top goalscorer.

Long serving club secretary Geraint Parry was recognised for his contribution with a lifetime achievement award.

Wrexham won promotion with a 3–0 victory over Charlton Athletic last weekend, sparking huge celebrations with fans thronging the pitch at the end of the game.

They were joined after the game by co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds, who said Wrexham had made "history" despite people doubting their ambitions were realistic.

Wrexham will compete in the second tier next season for the first time in 43 years with eyes on reach the Premier League after three successive promotions.

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Wrexham curing their away day blues was an "outstanding" factor in their latest promotion.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney's Red Dragons had picked up just 13 points from their first 12 away games of the League One campaign.

But Saturday's 2-0 win at Lincoln City in their final game made it 26 points from the final 11 fixtures on the road – meaning they improved their return more than twice over.

Wrexham's season hit a worrying point in February when they lost at struggling rivals Shrewsbury, who went on to be relegated.

They had managed just four wins on their travels, with their away record worse than any side that had got promoted to the Championship over the past two decades.

But Phil Parkinson's side went on to collect seven further wins, losing just once to leave the six-times promotion winner delighted.

"It's an outstanding return at any level of football, so I'm really pleased with that," said Parkinson after goals from Eliot Lee and Ryan Longman at the LNER Stadium wrapped up their second-pace finish to earn the club a place in the second tier for the first time in 43 years.

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Phil Parkinson joked he would switch off his phone while his Wrexham players celebrate a third successive promotion in Las Vegas later this month.

Wrexham finished their League One campaign with a 2-0 win at Lincoln City on Saturday.

Having sent players to the United States following promotion from the National League and then League Two, co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney promised the squad a third visit to the famous 'Strip' should they secure their place in the Championship for next season.

"We will be going to Vegas. I can't wait. That's the main thing this week," defender Max Cleworth told BBC Radio Wales after his side's 3-0 victory over Charlton Athletic last weekend.

"The lads love it, I can't wait. I don't think I'll sleep until we go."

And manager Parkinson says the carrot of a trip to Nevada's 'Sin City' has given his players an added incentive to achieve success under the ownership of Hollywood duo Reynolds and McElhenney.

"They deserve the trip," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"To create history, and the owners said at the start of the season that they'd go again.

"That's a good target as well during the season, not just getting promotion and what it means to everybody.

"Having that group together next week [in Vegas] will be amazing.

"I'll be turning my phone off. I just want a message when they're all back in the country in one piece and that's all I need to know."

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Phil Parkinson admits it is "fantastic" that Wrexham's final game of the 2024-25 season at Lincoln City is not a high-pressure fixture.

The Red Dragons head to the LNER Stadium on Saturday (15:00 BST) having already secured automatic promotion into the Championship.

The 57-year-old hopes his side can end another memorable season on a high note as they go in search of a third successive victory to end the campaign on a 10-game unbeaten run.

"It's been incredible. The occasion of finishing the job off at the weekend in front of our fans with the atmosphere," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"I said to the lads that it may take a few weeks to be away from it all in the summer for it to actually sink in.

"The lads have really enjoyed a bit of time away, they came back in on Tuesday and they're looking forward to going to Lincoln to finish the season off.

"There's a lot of big pressure games this weekend across the divisions and it's fantastic for us that we're not involved in one.

"We can say that that's a success whilst looking to put in a good performance at Lincoln."

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Mickey Thomas says he has never seen football club owners boasting a better relationship with fans than Wrexham's Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

Wrexham will play in English football's second tier next season for the first time in 43 years after clinching second spot in League One last weekend.

The Dragons have become the first club in the history of England's top five divisions to secure three straight promotions.

Their spectacular run has come following the takeover of the club by Reynolds and McElhenney in 2021, when they were a non-league side.

"What they have done is unique - it's incredible," Wrexham legend Thomas told this week's Feast of Football podcast.

"The transformation from the National League to where they are now is massive and they have done it in the right way.

"I have never seen owners of a football club have the association they have with the players but more so with the fans. The connection is unreal."

Former Manchester United player Thomas, 70, made his name at Wrexham in the 1970s before returning to the club at the back-end of his career, when he famously scored a spectacular free-kick in a shock FA Cup victory over Arsenal.

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The ex-Wales international (above) had not met Reynolds and McElhenney until last Saturday's promotion-clinching win over Charlton, when he was invited to the owners' box and then asked to celebrate on the pitch alongside them afterwards.

"I don't think anyone can really believe what's happened to the football club," Thomas added.

"Everyone wants to go and watch Wrexham. You can't get a ticket these days.

"It's not just Wrexham, it's globally. They have captured the whole universe haven't they? I am sure if you go to the moon, there'd be someone there asking 'how are Wrexham doing?'.

"I didn't see this happening. But what they have done is they have got the right man in charge in Phil Parkinson and the recruitment has been second to none."

As Wrexham prepare to compete with some heavyweight clubs in the Championship next season, Thomas says another promotion is not inconceivable.

"We know they will do well to finish halfway in the Championship or whatever, but you wouldn't put it past them, that they could get automatic promotion next year," he said.

"You might laugh at that, but you never know with these two guys, everything they touch turns to gold."

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Wrexham will hold a promotion party at the Stok Cae Ras on Sunday, 4 May, 24 hours after their final League One game at Lincoln City.

The event will feature live music and Wrexham's end-of-season awards.

The Macron Stand, Wrexham Lager Stand and Stok Cold Brew Coffee Stand will be open for the event, which starts at 13:30 BST, with supporters having to pay £5 to attend.

A stage will be set up on the pitch for Wrexham to present their player-of-the-season prize, along with other men's first-team awards, with players and staff then expected to perform a lap of honour.

Wrexham will compete in the second tier next season for the first time in 43 years.

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Former Wrexham midfielder Waynne Phillips is in no doubt that the club will be active in the transfer market again this summer as they look to challenge for a top-six place in the Championship next season.

Phil Parkinson's team secured promotion to the second tier of English football with a 3-0 win against Charlton Athletic last Saturday.

Wrexham are the first team in the history of English football's top five divisions to claim three successive promotions - but Phillips is not ruling out a fourth.

"The team that played on Saturday, only three of them were in the Wrexham team at the end of last season," Phillips told this week's Coridor Ansicrwydd podcast.

"They've strengthened every summer, and that's what I see them doing again. If you stand still you won't go anywhere.

"There's a good nucleus there, but they need another six to nine new players. And that's what I expect to happen."

Phillips also expects outgoings over the next few weeks, with Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer among the players he thinks will depart.

Neither forward has played since February, with the duo not even featuring in matchday squads during the League One run-in.

"It will cost them to get rid of a few. I can't see Paul Mullin and Ollie Palmer at the club next season," Phillips added.

"James McClean, Steven Fletcher, Jay Rodriguez and Matty James - can they do it in the Championship again? And will they offer enough to make Wrexham competitive?

"I've said for a long time that Max Cleworth is good enough for the Championship, so are Dan Scarr, Lewis Brunt and Arthur Okonkwo."