FORMER Colchester United manager Phil Parkinson has been appointed as the new manager of Wrexham.

Parkinson, who led the U's to a historic promotion to the Championship in 2006, has taken charge of the National League side on a 12-month rolling contract.

The ex-Colchester boss, who has also managed the likes of Sunderland, Bolton Wanderers and Bradford City, has been appointed to spearhead Wrexham’s bid to return to the Football League.

Parkinson told the Wrexham website: “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, and we have a very clear objective with the work starting immediately.

“The Club didn’t need selling to me, it sold itself and I wanted to be part of the journey this Club is about to embark upon.

“We have a lot to do to be ready for August 21 and in the next seven weeks the aim is to add quality players to the existing squad, and create an environment and culture which gives us the best possible chance of promotion.”

Colchester was Parkinson’s first managerial job, after he took over in the hot seat from Steve Whitton at Layer Road in 2003.

He spent more than three years at Layer Road, guiding the U's to a historic promotion to the second tier.

Parkinson boasts nearly two decades’ experience as a manager and has become highly respected in the game during a managerial career that has seen him take charge of six different clubs.

He has won promotion on three occasions and arrives at the Racecourse Ground having most recently managed at Sunderland.

Wrexham co-Chairmen, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds told the club's website: “The process put in place by Les Reed, Shaun Harvey, Humphrey Ker & Fleur Robinson was thorough, and we were presented with any number of good options, all of whom would have been very credible managers for the Club.

“We’d like to thank all those that applied for the role but once we knew Phil was interested, he was our man and we got him.

“Phil has an immediate objective of gaining promotion but is conscious of our ambitions for the Club and embraced each element of our vision.”

Parkinson's assistant manager at Wrexham will be Steve Parkin.