How FIFA & Football Manager have made life difficult for Wrexham – with Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney seeing Phil Parkinson accused of having ‘no Plan B’

The Red Dragons have seen their stock soar on the back of welcoming Hollywood co-owners to SToK Racecourse in 2021. There are now more eyes on the Welsh outfit than ever before, which brings with it both positives and negatives.

Armchair fans are now able to offer their opinion on professional endeavours, with Wrexham’s executive director Humphrey Ker saying of the unfair criticism that can emanate from virtual worlds: “No League Two club has had more eyeballs on them as Wrexham have. And our fans and fans from other clubs had huge expectations of what we'd achieve this season. Everyone has an opinion saying 'I'd do it like this, I'd do it like that.' That's because of FIFA, Football Manager and social media where everyone thinks they are the manager. I read comments on chats about Phil Parkinson having no Plan B but he does. The formation changes in differing scenarios and I don't understand the stick Phil gets in some quarters especially after he's led us to back-to-back promotions for the first time in the club's history.”

Parkinson is, after guiding Wrexham into League One, currently piecing together plans for the summer transfer window. Comings and goings are expected over the coming weeks, with Ker adding on the potential for some promotion-winning heroes to be moved on: “There's going to be a turnover of players this summer as there's a number of players out of contract. Some players who have been part of this journey will be moving on. But the ones whose contracts are up have been pragmatic and realise that in football, things change and you don't stay at a club forever. That's life in football.”

Wrexham are back in the third tier on English football for the first time in 20 years. They have not had things entirely their own way over the last two seasons, but are aware that the bar is about to be raised again in League One as they seek to remain competitive and deliver more drama for the club’s award-winning documentary series.