Wrexham face Liverpool with Premier League still in their sights despite setback

The Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds called it a “punch-me moment” – his club playing Liverpool in a pre-season friendly at Yankee Stadium just five years after he and Rob McElhenney (now simply Rob Mac) completed their takeover of a club languishing in the National League. The knockout blow would be playing Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League in 2027-28 and the manager, Phil Parkinson, accepts there is expectation on Wrexham to complete their remarkable rise through the divisions next season.

Parkinson’s team face Liverpool with confidence in the Bronx on Wednesday having defeated Manchester United and Leeds in pre-season so far and moved on from the anguish of missing out on the Championship playoffs on the final day of last season. The near-miss was undoubtedly a setback to an ambitious club’s grand vision but finishing seventh in the Championship at the first time of asking, Parkinson insists, was an accomplishment that should not be dismissed lightly.

The Wrexham manager said: “If we’re honest, to say five years down the line we’d have finished seventh in the Championship we would have said that was going to take some going. To get three promotions back-to-back-to-back is unheralded. Even though there’s always been ambition within the club and we’ve had resources, to take the club from the National League to seventh in the Championship is a lot of big steps and particularly the one last year. League One to the Championship is a huge step.

“Of course we would have loved to have got in the playoffs but I think the staff and the players should be really very proud of their achievements because that was a tough ask, especially with making so many changes.”

Wrexham are among the favourites for promotion next season but are the only Championship club not to make a signing – though a deal for Crystal Palace full-back Danny Imray is close – and will not be the only well-funded team with that aim, given the parachute payments available to relegated West Ham, Burnley and Wolves.

“I think the division is going to be stronger this season with the teams coming down,” Parkinson says. “We’ve got work to do within the squad to make us competitive again. We’re close to one signing but we need several more before the window closes. We have to be patient and we will be, but the squad’s not where we want it to be, to be competitive to meet the demands of a Championship season.

“It is going to be a tough second season, we know that, but we feel there is more to come from the existing group. It was difficult last season with a lot of players coming in later and having to relocate to the area and settle as the season started, but they were great for us and I feel there is more to come this season.”