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Wrexham's Championship play-off hopes have been dented after suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time since the opening two games of the 2025-26 campaign.
Phil Parkinson's side sit four points adrift of sixth place, with four games to play. It's still possible to finish in the top six, though their play-off destiny is no longer in their own hands.
But has the record-breaking back-to-back nature of Wrexham's promotions through the English Football League set unrealistic expectations of them?
BBC Sport examines whether it matters if Wrexham don't seal promotion to the Premier League this season at the first time of asking.
Pre-season ambitions
Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (who recently changed his name from Rob McElhenney) have made their ambitions clear ever since their first interview as owners in 2021.
A member of the media asked the actors what their perfect ending would be? Reynolds responded: "We'd be lying if it wasn't the Premier League.
So far, so good for the north Wales outfit. They're one promotion away from the top flight and their latest accounts reveal a record turnover of £33.3m in the process. But was it ever really the aim to make it four promotions in a row?
At the start of their first season back in the second tier of English football since 1982, Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson told the Telegraph that his aims for the season were Championship survival, a mid-table finish and to be competitive.
He proposed this to Reynolds and Mac, who immediately responded by asking what it would take to reach the top two.
Williamson went on to say that after discussions between the club's hierarchy, they landed on: "Let's be competitive and see where we end up."
"If we can find ourselves in that position towards the back end of the season, I give us a very good shot of being in the play-offs. And then, ultimately, if we're in the play-offs, I give us a very good shot of getting promoted just because of who we are and what we are and the DNA, the resilience and what it means to this town and for the squad," explained Williamson.
The CEO also said that should promotion not be achieved this time, then that was OK too.
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Stadium development
Modernising the historic Stok Racecourse, notably the Kop end, has been an ongoing project.
The Red Dragons have been getting themselves 'Premier League ready' for some time.
They are future-proofing the club in all aspects, from the infrastructure to the number of people employed by the club.
Before their Championship debut, Wrexham added new TV gantries, moved the dugouts and spent £2m on adding under-soil heating to the pitch.
Wrexham's Hollywood co-owners say their long-term ambition is to increase the club's stadium capacity to as much as 55,000.
The original standing Kop terrace was abandoned in 2007 and was unused until its demolition in January 2023. The work on a new 7,500-7,750 capacity stand only began in December 2025, so to fast-track its opening for a Premier League debut season in 2026 just wouldn't have been possible. Instead, the club are working towards an April 2027 target.
Once the work is completed, the stadium will be able to host competitive Wales national team fixtures and Uefa-recognised matches, which in turn will further boost their revenue.
Not sealing promotion this season would at least allow their redevelopment plans to remain on track without the added pressure of fast-tracking an upgrade for Premier League requirements.
Player recruitment
A third successive promotion came at a financial cost. Bolstering Parkinson's ranks by bringing in 13 players in the summer of 2025 cost the club around £30m – the highest net spend in the Championship.
The business they've done thus far has given the club a solid foundation beyond the end of this season.
Just four players are out of contract this summer – Issa Kabore, Jay Rodriguez, Reuben Egan and Aaron James. Of them, Kabore will be the biggest loss when he returns to Manchester City at the end of his loan – he ranks 10th in the most minutes played by a Wrexham player in the league this season.
Rodriguez, who is injured, has only played 16 minutes of football in all competitions. Egan and James are not in the current squad.
If Wrexham remain in the Championship, they will head into next season knowing the biggest part of their business has already been done – the main members of their playing squad have contracts beyond next season. They won't need to spend as much as they did before the 2025-26 campaign to compete again in the second tier.
Of course, if they did get promoted to the Premier League, then their needs may be different.
But as it is estimated Wrexham will report a turnover of between £46m and £50m for the year ending June 2026, they will be able to afford to bring in new additions if they wish, regardless of promotion.
Parkinson's future
If Wrexham don't get promoted this season, will Parkinson's future be in doubt?
The 58-year-old has delivered immense success at the club. Appointed under the new ownership in 2021, his achievements have been unprecedented – masterminding three consecutive promotions while navigating a Hollywood takeover, global spotlight and increasing pressure.
Reynolds and Mac have always expressed an immense gratitude for Parkinson – even declaring that he has a "job for life".
The former Bradford, Bolton and Sunderland manager is on a 12-month rolling contract.
In an interview with The Athletic, Mac said: “I don’t know [if] I have the words to fully describe how integral Phil has been to the story and success of Wrexham.
"I just don't see a scenario where Phil Parkinson gets fired. It doesn't make any sense.
"He has been the architect, the creator of this. From our perspective, he's got the job for life. Unless he finds another job he wants to go off and do, he's our coach. He's our manager. He's our guy."
It's hard to overstate what Parkinson has done for Wrexham. Should they narrowly miss out on the play-off places, this season would still be deemed a huge success.
Of course, it's football and nothing is impossible – but it is hard to imagine Wrexham without Parkinson at the helm.
