‘Believe’ – Phil Parkinson goes Ted Lasso in Wrexham’s Premier League push as Red Dragons seek to deliver on ambitious dream of Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney

From the moment that Hollywood co-owners arrived in North Wales back in 2021, the most ambitious of targets have been drawn up. Back-to-back promotions have seen the Red Dragons soar into League One, with there no sign of backwards steps being taken in a meteoric rise.

Parkinson is the man charged with the task of delivering on expectations, with nobody making any secret of the fact that top-flight football is the ultimate goal, and he believes that anything is possible in an epic adventure that has thrilled audiences around the world.

Quizzed by Sky Sports on the Premier League target, Parkinson – taking inspiration from fictional American coach Lasso and his famous mantra – said: “You've got to believe it can happen. Other teams have come from the lower leagues to get to the Premier League in recent years. So why can't Wrexham have the same dream?

“Will it happen? Who knows. But the owners, myself and the staff are working hard to put an infrastructure in place to help build and take the club forward for many years to come. In any sport you have to aim for the top, that's what everyone is aiming to do. When those lines come out about us wanting to be a Premier League team, people think we're getting carried away. But it's not that, it's just us saying we have a dream and we know we've got a lot of work to do if we want to get there.”

Parkinson has already carried Wrexham a long way, with the help of supportive co-chairmen, and added on harnessing the power of positive thinking: “Why would you prepare to be anything other than successful? We've got to be ambitious. We've got to aim high, and we're doing that. But we're not getting carried away.

“There's been expectation on us the last couple of years and we've handled that well, but this year we do have the underdog card to a certain degree, with the size of some of the clubs in this league, and their spending power. We're enjoying playing that card because the expectations aren't on us quite as much. But we're confident, we're growing into the league and I still feel there's more to come from us.”

Wrexham have cemented a third-place standing in the League One table over recent weeks. They are two points adrift of big-spending Birmingham, and four behind leaders Wycombe, but still have 32 games in which to secure enough points that delivers a top-two finish and a third successive promotion.