STEVE PARKIN believes a lot is made of Wrexham having wealthy owners and says the players and staff deserve credit for what they have achieved at The Racecourse.

The Reds made it back-to-back promotions for the first time in the club’s history by finishing runners-up in League Two this season.

Wrexham have been backed to continue climbing the leagues under Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who became co-chairmen in February 2021.

But assistant manager Parkin insists money alone doesn’t guarantee success and says everyone at The Racecourse has been rewarded for all the hard work they’ve put in.

“People relate to Wrexham having a lot of money, rich owners and this, that and the other,” said the 58-year-old, Phil Parkinson’s trusted right-hand man.

“But we have seen many times that lots of clubs have got lots of money, and you don’t achieve something over 10 months unless you are really on it. Fair play to everybody, they have been.

“It is really nice to get to the end of the season and be promoted with two games to go which is remarkable.”

Wrexham came good following a slow start to the season and there was no let-up after securing a top-three finish, ending the season with five successive wins.

Parkin celebrated two promotions alongside Parkinson at Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers but he says going up two years in a row is special.

“It is right up there in terms of achievements, simply because of the fact that back-to-back promotions is really difficult to do as everybody has said,” he said.

“The start to the season wasn’t ideal. It tested us all - staff and players - in terms of not quite being game-ready when we started.

“But I think we have produced a season-performance which has got better and better, and resulted in us finishing really strongly.

“We gradually built through the season and the staff and players should take an enormous amount of credit - nothing should be under-estimated.”

Wrexham came out on top in a thrilling title race with Notts County to clinch the one automatic promotion in the National League 12 months ago and Parkin felt the experience of high-pressure games stood the Reds in good stead on the return to the Football League.

“We know when it got cranked up at the end of last season we produced some of our best performances and we’ve done that again,” said Parkin.

“The players can call on that from last year and have the confidence that they know when the pressure is really on, they can count on each other.

“They have stuck together right through it and so have the staff.

“The supporters have really got behind us all season and we really hit the heights over the last four or five weeks.”

Parkin is looking forward to being back in League One where he and Parkinson led Bolton to a second-placed finish in 2016–17, and promotion to the Championship.

Despite that success, he knows it won’t be easy when Wrexham make the step-up but insists they will be ready for the challenge of playing at a higher level.

“We are aware of what the division is like, we got promoted with Bolton,” added Parkin. “We know how hard that was and it took us to the last game to do it so we are under no illusions that we will have to start all over again when we come back training in July, and it will be another long, hard season, but we will be ready for it.”