Wrexham v Bolton Wanderers. Or, to give the League One showdown its proper title . . . the Phil Parkinson Derby.

The 57-year-old made a dream start to life with the Trotters in 2016 - winning League One's August Manager of the Month award, having overseen Bolton's best start to a season in 82 years.

He scooped the monthly prize again in October and March as Bolton finished second on 86 points to gain automatic promotion into the Championship.

Little more than an hour's drive south west, Wrexham concluded a ninth consecutive season in the National League in 13th place.

It saw Dean Keates' outfit finish below the likes of Boreham Wood, Gateshead, Aldershot Town and Dagenham & Redbridge, clubs that all remain in the mire of non-league.

Fast forward to the present day, just shy of eight years to be precise, and the fortunes of the two clubs that meet at Stok Racecourse on Saturday lunchtime, have altered drastically.

The Trotters desperately struggled in the Championship under Parkinson, failing to win any of their opening 11 league matches of the 2017-18 campaign - losing nine in all.

They pulled off a remarkable Great Escape on the final day of the 2017-18 season as they came from behind to beat Nottingham Forest - with defeats for Burton Albion and Barnsley ensuring Parkinson's side remained in the second tier.

But they failed to repeat that achievement in the 2018-19 season as Bolton were relegated back to League One, with Parkinson resigning from his post in August 2019 after the club had been docked 12 points for being placed into administration.

Another relegation followed for the Greater Manchester club, although promotion back into the third tier represented the start of a rebuild for a club that had spent 11 consecutive seasons in the Premier League between 2001 and 2012.

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All the while, Wrexham meandered in the cruel and brutal business that is the National League, flirting with both ends of the fifth tier table.

Along came Parkinson - following a stint at Sunderland - who was installed as manager in July 2021, just months after Hollywood duo Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds' takeover of the north Wales side.

Having felt he had little option but to move on as turmoil swept through the corridors of the then-named University of Bolton Stadium in the later stages of his three-year tenure at the club, Parkinson arrived at the Racecourse to discover a club brimming with renewed optimism, hope, and, of course, the eyes of the world on them thanks to McElhenney and Reynolds.

"Once the plans of the chairmen were explained to me, the decision to join Wrexham was very easy. Wrexham are an EFL club in all but the one thing that matters, league status," Parkinson said after being appointed as boss. 

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Despite an enthralling but ultimately gut-wrenching 5-4 play-off semi-final defeat to Grimsby Town at the end of his first season in the hot seat, little by little, Wrexham were piecing together a monster of a machine that would go on to destroy virtually everything in its path in the National League - clinching the 2022-23 title with a record-breaking 111 points.

Now, seeking a third successive promotion, having finished second in League Two last term, the Wrexham train is showing no signs of stopping, even after their penalty shoot-out defeat to Peterborough United in the semi-finals of the EFL Trophy in midweek.

The Red Dragons sit just three points adrift of the top two, while Bolton are only outside the play-off spots on goal difference following a recent resurgence under Steven Schumacher since the sacking of Ian Evatt. 

Parkinson got one over his former employers as recently as February 11 when Andy Cannon's goal earned his side victory in the quarter-finals of the EFL Trophy, and the two sides could feasibly collide again in the play-offs in May.

For Parkinson, he will forever be fondly remembered by both Wrexham and Bolton, regardless of how the remainder of his tenure with the Welsh club pans out.

But the coming months could potentially further cement Parkinson's legendary status at the Racecourse, leaving Bolton to wonder what could have been as they continue to watch their former manager's quest to put more distance between the clubs - only this time, those in red are the ones on top.

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