Wrexham AFC have appointed ex-Sunderland and Bolton Wanderers boss Phil Parkinson as manager on a 12-month rolling contract.
Parkinson was chosen ahead of over 60 applicants following a month-long recruitment process and is joined by Steve Parkin as assistant manager.
The 53-year-old replaces Dean Keates, who departed at the end of his contract last month as Wrexham missed out on the reaching the National League play-offs.
Parkinson was at Sunderland most recently having left in November last year after a three-year stint at Bolton.
During his management career, Parkinson – who also played more than 500 league games in an 18-year playing career – has won promotion on three occasions.
“Once the plans of the chairmen were explained to me, the decision to join Wrexham was very easy,” said Parkinson. “Wrexham are an EFL club in all but the one thing that matters, league status, and we have a very clear objective with the work starting immediately.
“The club didn’t need selling to me, it sold itself and I wanted to be part of the journey this club is about to embark upon.
“We have a lot to do to be ready for August 21 and in the next seven weeks the aim is to add quality players to the existing squad, and create an environment and culture which gives us the best possible chance of promotion.”
Wrexham co-chairmen, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds said: “The process put in place by Les Reed, Shaun Harvey, Humphrey Ker and Fleur Robinson was thorough, and we were presented with any number of good options, all of whom would have been very credible managers for the Club.
“We’d like to thank all those that applied for the role but once we knew Phil was interested, he was our man and we got him.
“Phil has an immediate objective of gaining promotion but is conscious of our ambitions for the Club and embraced each element of our vision.”
As a player, Parkinson came through the youth ranks at Southampton, before making his Football League debut with Bury and then spending more than a decade with Reading.
His first managerial job was at Colchester United, who he led to promotion to the Football League Championship in 2006.
He moved to Hull City and then Charlton Athletic – joining the latter as first an assistant, before replacing Alan Pardew as manager.
In his next managerial job, at Bradford City, Parkinson earned national recognition after leading the fourth-tier Bantams to the 2012/13 League Cup Final.
They earned promotion to League One at the end of the same season, before enjoying more cup giant-killing exploits when they beat Chelsea in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge in the following campaign.
Parkinson earned the third promotion of his career, with Bolton Wanderers, to the Championship in 2016/17.
Picture: Alamy
