Wrexham sealed promotion automatically from League Two and Phil Parkinson is grateful his side avoided one scenario.
Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds set out for Wrexham to achieve promotion from League Two.
The Reds achieved that aim in style, as while competition for the automatic promotion places was fierce, Phil Parkinson’s men finished the campaign with six successive wins.
Planning has immediately begun to get ready for their League One challenge, with Wrexham waving goodbye to eight of their senior players, including Ben Tozer and Luke Young.
Parkinson knows that stepping up to the third tier will be his side’s toughest test, so the former Bradford City manager is grateful for the extra time he has to prepare his squad.
Phil Parkinson is relieved Wrexham avoided the play-offs
The play-offs in League Two kicked off yesterday as high-fliers Doncaster Rovers secured a 2-0 victory over Crewe Alexandra.
It’s another route that teams can take to win promotion to League One but having finished second in the fourth tier, Wrexham avoided that scenario completely and Parkinson is grateful his side achieved their main aim.
Speaking to The Leader, Parkinson said: “The play-offs are obviously something you want to avoid when you are going for promotion.
“If you go to Wembley and win it’s a great occasion but if you go through the play-offs and you don’t win there, when you see teams at the start of next season, they have had less time to recover in the summer and it is really difficult to pick the group up after that.
“If we had been in the play-offs we’d have given it a good go but obviously the aim was to get in the top-three and we managed to achieve that.”
Achieving their aim of finishing in the top three has alleviated any stress of going up through the play-offs, especially after previous heartbreak, while also giving Wrexham extra time to prepare for the new campaign.
Wrexham will want to get business done early this summer
An extra few weeks to plan their transfer business ahead of next season could prove invaluable.
Wrexham were one of the first clubs to announce their release/retained list following promotion, which demonstrates how they’re keen to shift players on to bring talent through the door.
Reynolds has also said he’ll do whatever it takes to win promotion to the Championship, so not only does that highlight huge ambition, it signals to supporters that their Hollywood owners will throw up some surprises in the transfer market.
Executive director Humphrey Ker has already said he’d love to bring Leicester City hero Jamie Vardy to the club as he fits the age and profile they’re targeting.
It means that, while Vardy is out of their reach having just fired Leicester to the Premier League, Wrexham aren’t afraid to make a huge splash in the water and show their League One rivals they mean business.
Keep your eyes firmly peeled on Wrexham’s transfer business as it promises to be an exciting summer for the club.
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