Phil Parkinson has become the third-longest serving manager across the top four divisions of English football, a milestone he greeted with characteristic pragmatism and a public acknowledgement of the people around him rather than any personal fanfare.

The Wrexham head coach has been in post for five years and 112 days since taking charge at the Racecourse Ground in the summer of 2021. Only Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Mansfield Town's Nigel Clough have occupied their seats longer, with Parkinson trailing Clough by 237 days and Arteta by one year and 191 days. That is the company Parkinson now keeps, and it is not bad company to keep.

The landmark arrives at a pointed moment. Reports had circulated in recent weeks suggesting the Wrexham manager was under increased pressure at the club as the Championship campaign progresses. Parkinson addressed those suggestions directly when he spoke to the media ahead of Saturday's fixture at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers, and his tone was anything but rattled.

"My advice to all managers is get good people working with you, and that's key for me," he said. "Get good staff, good people who are going to support you and be together. I'm fortunate here because we've got good staff, we've got great owners, and the togetherness has taken us a long way."

The references to co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were deliberate. Parkinson's relationship with the ownership group has been central to Wrexham's extraordinary three successive promotions between 2022-23 and 2024-25, a run that carried the club from the National League to the Championship in the space of three seasons. That kind of stability at the top of a club is genuinely rare in the modern game, and the manager knows it.

"Everybody wants to beat Wrexham," Parkinson added. "We know that, and you just can't hide it, and that's going through all the divisions, everywhere we've been. We've had that strength of unity throughout the club and that's taken us to one place outside the play-offs last year and hopefully we can go one better this year."

That last point carries weight as a statement of intent. Wrexham finished just outside the play-off places in their first Championship season, and Parkinson is framing this campaign as the one in which the club pushes into the top six and beyond.

The news conference was also shaped by the departure of Andy Woodman from League One club Bromley, confirmed on Thursday. Woodman is a close friend of Parkinson, and the Wrexham manager was clearly affected. He revealed he had texted Woodman shortly before Bromley's 4-0 defeat against Leicester City on Tuesday, urging him not to underestimate the achievement of facing that level of opposition.

"Andy's a friend of mine, I'm very sorry to hear that because he's done an incredible job at Bromley," Parkinson said. "I honestly didn't know that he'd lost his job, but it's an incredible job he's done there."

The episode prompted Parkinson to reflect on the pressures facing managers across the board, a subject he understands from personal experience across a long career.

"I have empathy and sympathy with managers across the board because there's so many examples going around at the moment that the spotlight always falls on the manager," he said. "When you lose, the spotlight comes on the manager and when you win, that praise tends to get spread around everybody. Unfortunately that's never going to change."

Wrexham travel to Ewood Park on Saturday with Parkinson's position, by his own account and by the evidence of a settled, long-standing relationship with the club's ownership, looking considerably more secure than the recent noise suggested. Five years and counting in north Wales; in the context of modern football management, that is worth pausing to note.

Frequently asked

How long has Phil Parkinson been Wrexham manager?
Phil Parkinson has been in charge at Wrexham for five years and 112 days, having been appointed in the summer of 2021. That makes him the third-longest serving manager across the top four divisions of English football.
Which managers have been in post longer than Phil Parkinson?
Only Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Mansfield Town's Nigel Clough have been in their respective roles for longer than Parkinson has been at Wrexham.
How many promotions has Phil Parkinson won with Wrexham?
Parkinson guided Wrexham to three successive promotions between 2022-23 and 2024-25, taking the club from the National League up to the Championship.