The London Stadium was just 12 miles down the road as Dagenham & Redbridge netted their third past second-placed Wrexham in May 2022, but for those travelling Red Dragons, it will have felt like a lifetime away.
Phil Parkinson’s side pitched up at The Chigwell Construction Stadium that day with a dream, and a reachable one at that.
They were three points behind Stockport County in the National League – the fifth tier of English football, which holds only one automatic promotion spot to the Football League – but with a superior goal difference. Dagenham were eighth in the league, with the Hatters up against fourth-placed Halifax Town.
Phil Parkinson has already proved he's a mood-turning master
Dave Challinor’s table-topping side were prone to a wobble; in the last game, they’d let the Welsh side right back in, losing 3-0 against Parkinson’s men, in what felt like a potential title decider, just weeks after being dumped out of the FA Trophy at the same venue. Stockport were bruised, and Wrexham were on the up.
Plenty fancied Wrexham’s chances that day, despite not starting in the driving seat. Dagenham had to release a statement leading up to it, offering 300 extra tickets to away fans while pleading with them not to attempt to get in the home end. Excitement was bubbling over. It was certainly going to be a close run-in, wasn’t it?
Er, no.
The Red Dragons were battered off the park, losing 3-0 as Stockport banked a history-making 2-0 win against Halifax. The deflation for Wrexham carried through to the FA Trophy final at Wembley (a 1-0 loss to Bromley) and the play-offs, coming off second-best in a 5-4 game of hot potato with Grimsby Town.
Just like that, their season was over, with nothing to show for the incredible fight they’d shown through the latter part of the season and the hefty investment supplied by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac.
So why are we talking about this over four years after the fact? Partly because we all know what happens next in Wrexham’s story, and it shows just how quickly things can change for the better.
Of the group that travelled down to Dagenham that day, only Max Cleworth and Parkinson himself remain at the club.
The Wrexham boss has found himself in one of the tougher moments of his five-year reign at the beginning of this season. The lowest ebb came as they realised what would have one day been a dream: instead of travelling to the capital for the likes of The Chigwell Construction Stadium, it was the London Stadium for a league game. Well, it was a dream at kick-off, which quickly descended into a nightmare as Jarrod Bowen netted the Hammers’ first, followed by five of his mates also sticking one each past summer signing Anthony Patterson.
“We can do better, and I can do better,” a forlorn Parkinson said in a post-match interview with Sky Sports. “I think the word accountability is important for myself and all individuals as well.”
He cut a figure that you have no doubt seen before: looking down at the floor, blaming himself and admitting his side simply weren’t good enough on the night. A reluctant, withdrawn acceptance that maybe, after such an incredible journey, his spell was running out of steam.
The season prior, they’d been in the play-off places with one game left to play, heading into that final day level on points with Hull City. The Red Dragons drew with Middlesbrough, as the Tigers beat Norwich City, pipping them to the last play-off spot and then going on to win the end-of-season contest. As Wrexham were mulling over this West Ham defeat, a day later, Hull were holding Chelsea to a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge. Fine margins expand quickly in football.
Looking at it through that lens, there has been an understandable deflation around the Racecourse for much of the beginning of this term, and fans travelling home from West Ham that evening were no doubt feeling it. Faith in Parkinson is high, and perhaps restoring with their most recent win against Southampton, but it’s nights like West Ham when doubts creep in and can take hold.
Those with slightly longer memories will understand the immense rallying power Parkinson possesses, though.
"A very tough night, we've got to pick ourselves up"Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson reflects on his side suffering a heavy 6-0 defeat at the hands of West Ham. pic.twitter.com/5ON5tDOqsPSeptember 11, 2026
After that crushing miss in the National League in 2022, he picked his squad up, dusted them off and blitzed the competition the following season, racking up a record-smashing 111 points.
That season for Wrexham was the catalyst. Second place in League Two (enough to go up automatically here) followed, and they repeated the trick in League One, famously marking back-to-back-to-back promotions. Yes, Parkinson has been backed financially, but so have others with much less to show for it. It still took some doing, especially from such a dispiriting 2021/22 season.
Thankfully, the two movie stars with their hands on the purse strings appear to be among those with long-term memories, and have not been afraid to double down on their support.
“Phil has shown over and over again that he can win at every level so far,” Rob Mac told The Wrexham Podcast earlier this month, “so I don’t see why he doesn’t have as much room as he can possibly have over the next few years to continue to prove it.
“Phil has earned a lot of wiggle room.
“When I look at how quickly managers are fired, not just in English football, in the sport, all of the world, every league, managers are fired so quickly.”
Firing Parkinson would by far be the biggest and most emotional call the Wrexham hierarchy have had to make since they took over, and Mac confirmed in that same podcast that he wouldn’t be afraid to do it, if the situation called for it.
It may yet come. They may feel they need a bit of Premier League experience in the dugout to take that next step, but Mac noted that situation has not been reached yet. And he’s right.
Following that loss to West Ham, the Red Dragons were just one point off where they found themselves at the same stage last season, getting back to winning ways a week later with that home win against the Saints. Yet more evidence of the manager’s bouncebackability, and a sign that things are not as bad as they’ve felt at certain stages.
Outsiders may ask how you recover a squad’s mood after that huge miss last season, and how you erase the memory of a 6-0 drubbing on what should have been a special night. Anyone who’s followed Parkinson’s career for any length of time will simply point to his record.
