F-bomb fan Phil Parkinson will never ‘act’ in ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary despite amusing Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney with sweary dressing room rants

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney worked hard to lure Parkinson to North Wales when deciding to make a managerial change at SToK Racecourse in the summer of 2021 – with his Football League promotion pedigree making him of obvious appeal.

Parkinson was thrust in front of the cameras from the moment that he arrived in North Wales, as he figures prominently in a popular FX-produced series, and can often been seen dropping F-bombs in the dressing room – much to the amusement of Reynolds and McElhenney, who promote the X-rated team talks as “passion”.

Parkinson has grown accustomed to operating under such a spotlight, telling FourFourTwo of his rather unusual experiences at Wrexham: “In my first couple of weeks at Wrexham, I thought, ‘This is going to take some getting used to’. But you’ve got to accept that a lot of clubs are making documentaries now – it’s almost become part and parcel of football, even if the one at this club is much bigger than you’d normally expect given the divisions that we’ve been operating in.”

He added: “Very quickly, I built up a relationship with the show’s producers. My assistant Steve Parkin and I just carried on being ourselves – we’ve never put on an act on the touchline or in the dressing room. The documentary serves a great purpose because it’s spreading the name of Wrexham, particularly in the US, but the most important thing we can do is win football games. It determines everything, so we said we’d simply get on with our jobs, and that’s what we’ve done.”

Wrexham secured promotion back into the Football League in record-breaking style last season, as Parkinson offered Reynolds and McElhenney the return they are after on a considerable financial investment. The Red Dragons are now riding high in League Two, much to the delight of their Hollywood co-owners and an ever-growing fan base that now extends to just about every corner of the planet.