WREXHAM PROMOTION HEROES HANDED BRUTALLY HONEST TRANSFER WARNING BY PHIL PARKINSON

Phil Parkinson ceded that the need to evolve Wrexham on the pitch could see some of the club's promotion heroes cut adrift this summer.

The Red Dragons secured back-to-back promotions and a berth in League One next season following an emphatic victory over Forest Green Rovers earlier this month. A 2-1 victory over champions Stockport on Saturday afternoon confirmed a runners-up finish.

The feat marks the first time in the club's 160-year history that successive promotions have been achieved, a remarkable achievement since the club's takeover by Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney three years ago

And at the Racecourse Ground on Saturday afternoon, the air was celebratory. But the major talking points surrounding promotion have been the seismic jump from tier four to tier three and how Wrexham will be able to compete against clubs capable of matching them financially.

Boss Parkinson, who has extensive pedigree in League One having earned promotion on two occasions and reached the play-offs on another, insisted that the first port of call will have to be reshaping his side.

"Obviously improve the squad," he said after the match. "As you go up the divisions, everything improves: athleticism, quality, preparation.

"Everything we need to improve which we will do, there's a lot of hard work to be done over the summer but we'll sit down and as we've done before and take our time and make the right decisions to give us a chance to be competitive next season."

A number of familiar faces are out of contract come summer, including goalkeepers Mark Howard and Rob Lainton, defenders Callum McFadzean, Ben Tozer, Aaron Hayden and Jordan Tunnicliffe, utility men James McClean and Luke Young - the squad’s longest-serving player. And Parkinson underlined the importance players have played in this season's promotion triumph, even if their on-pitch minutes have been limited.

"There's the possibility of players moving on and that is the hard part of any manager's job but we also know that we've got to evolve as a club and we'll try and do that," he said. "But as I just said to the lads in the dressing room that one of the key elements to our success this season has been the dressing room and the lads out of the team.

"You know, Ben Tozer, who hasn't played a lot recently, Luke Young hasn't played, the professionalism has been outstanding. Outstanding, he's driven the group on. Stockport will be in the same situation.

"I'm sure decisions have got to be made and we'll just do them fairly and honestly."

Wrexham's co-owners have not been coy in their long-term plan of reaching the Premier League, with Reynolds admitting that a 10-year plan was more or less in place. And while many are predicting League One to prove a more exacting challenge for the Hollywood-owned club, their most recent accounts suggest that a competitive season could be on the horizon.

Wrexham’s most recent accounts for the year ending in June 2023 revealed that the club’s wage bill had increased from £4.05million to £6.91million, while the average wage bill in League One in 2022 was £6.8million.

Wrexham’s uncanny ability to generate revenue will benefit the club as they bid to compete in their new territory, as this season’s generation has reached beyond £20million courtesy of major brand sponsorships, their TV documentary and merchandise.

Parkinson admitted that finding new talent and conversations around transfers have already begun with director Shaun Harvey and executive director Humphrey Ker. And the manager expects to even battle it out with the day's opponents and promotion rivals Stockport for signatures this summer.

"We'll be competing with them in the summer for players, I'm sure," he said. "It's not just on the pitch. It's during the summer when we identify the players and it's happened before.

"We've got to make sure we get our number one side that's in positions but they'll be fighting hard to get those players as well."

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2024-04-27T17:47:29Z dg43tfdfdgfd