Wrexham promotion: Humphrey Ker's verdict on Phil Parkinson
When Dean Keates left his position at the end of the 2020-21 campaign, the club was looking to appoint the first new manager of the Ryan Reynolds/Rob McElhenney regime.
Parkinson was available and he was sounded out about the possibility of taking the Racecourse hotseat - and the rest is history!
The Reds finished runners-up in League One this season, securing an historic third successive promotion under Parkinson.
The 57-year-old, who now has six promotions on his CV as manager, has taken Wrexham from non-league football to the Championship, and community director Ker is so glad the club got their man back in the summer of 2021.
"When we knew that Phil was available and with his pedigree, everyone was very excited and very interested to see whether he would really come here and do X, Y and Z," said Ker, who played a key role in Hollywood stars Reynolds and McElhenney becoming co-owners at the north Wales club.
"Thank God he did. We looked around and talked to various people, some very good managers, but the feedback we got from particularly Les Reed and Shaun Harvey, who knew Phil and knew him as a person, they just spoke so highly of him as a person.
"One of the things I'm most proud of is talking to Jack Marriott, Ryan Longman and various players, just how much fun they have playing for Wrexham.
"They look forward to coming into work and how that has not always been the case in their careers that they have played at lots of clubs where they have not looked forward to going into work.
"That is something we're very proud of, that they enjoy it here playing for Phil."
Wrexham were among the League One leaders all season and eventually secured automatic promotion to the second tier with a game to go.
The competition for a top-two finish was fierce but Ker had faith in Parkinson.
"Phil was always confident. He is a serial winner," said Ker, a comedy writer and actor, who first gave McElhenney the idea of investing in a football club.
"He takes the rough with the smooth, doesn't get too high after a win, doesn't get too deflated after a defeat.
"He just keeps coming back and doing what we need to do to be promoted, and he has done it again."
Wrexham's fate was back in their hands after beating Blackpool 2-1 on Easter Monday, with closest rivals Wycombe Wanderers losing 4-0 at home to Charlton Athletic.
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With the Chairboys losing their next match at Leyton Orient, Wrexham knew they would be seal second spot behind champions Birmingham City with victory over Charlton in the later kick-off and the Reds triumphed 3-0 to go straight up.
Ker says what the players and staff deserve all the credit they get for what has been achieved.
"It takes no small amount of character to do what they've done over the last three years and there are so many members of that dressing room and background staff who've been around for the whole thing," he added.
"After the game against Blackpool, I tweeted for everyone to get behind them and know that if you do, they will deliver for you as they have done time and time again before.
"That's the reality of it. All the staff and all the players are an extraordinary group of people.
"I don't think we at the top of the tree can claim that much credit other than we picked the right people to do what needed to be done, and they've absolutely delivered."
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