Phil Parkinson, the Wrexham manager, is enjoying the World Cup. The spectacle, the atmosphere, the way football brings nations together – the 58-year-old has lapped it all up from afar at a time when he was also busy preparing for this week’s return of his players to begin pre-season training in north Wales. “He was saying how World Cup fever has really hit the U.S., and that’s great. People were worried beforehand about the ticket prices and the stadiums maybe not being full.