Phil Parkinson's First Championship Win: Wrexham's 3-0 Victory

Phil Parkinson walked into The Den under scrutiny. He walked out with his first Championship win of the season, a 3-0 statement that silenced a lot of noise.

Wrexham had stumbled into south London winless, without a clean sheet in four games in all competitions, and with questions swirling about whether the step up was biting hard. Millwall, play-off semi-finalists last season, were expected to test that theory.

Instead, they were swept aside.

Parkinson’s answer in 90 ruthless minutes

Former captain Ben Tozer, who knows this club’s recent rise better than most after 136 appearances and back-to-back promotions, did not hold back in his assessment.

“Parkinson has been questioned after their start,” he told BBC Radio Wales. The doubts had been fuelled by ex-Wales striker Iwan Roberts, who suggested the manager was “probably under pressure for the first time” since taking the job in 2021.

The response came on the pitch.

Wrexham were organised, aggressive and utterly in control. Three goals. A clean sheet. Not a single shot on target conceded. At The Den, of all places.

Tozer pointed straight at Parkinson’s selection calls as the catalyst, praising the decision to restore Max Cleworth and Josh Windass to the side. The tweaks worked. Wrexham looked balanced, secure at the back and sharp in transition, the kind of away display managers talk about all season and rarely actually get.

“The home crowd turned on their team pretty early,” Tozer noted. Wrexham made sure they stayed that way. They managed the game with a maturity that belied their early-season wobble, never letting Millwall build any real momentum, even with the score at 3-0.

Crucially, the intensity never dropped. The substitutes came on and kept the press high, the energy up, the concentration tight. No late lapse, no consolation goal, no reason to nit-pick.

Tozer summed it up in the simplest terms: “That was pretty much the perfect away performance at a really tough place to play.”

Parkinson has been here before, doubted and then vindicated. Once again, when the questions came, his team delivered the answer on the grass.