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Mary McCarthy
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Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in Disney+ documentary series 'Welcome to Wrexham'. Image: Patrick McElhenney/FX.
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September 23 2022 02:30 AM
Football bores me senseless, so it was with reluctance I tried out documentary series Welcome to Wrexham, but halfway through, I’m loving it.
It’s not just about football; it’s about the absurdity, beauty and unfairness of life. My husband and I wanted something to watch and I agreed to try two episodes of the Disney+ show about Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney taking over Wales’s oldest football club.
The first episode didn’t inspire. Wrexham seemed depressing; a working-class city in north Wales, population 65,000. The club has been around for 158 years, and although it has been stuck in the National League for 13 years, the fans are ever-hopeful. The faux naivety of Deadpool star Reynolds and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s McElhenney at first annoyed me. Taking ownership of the club felt like a marketing stunt.
But despite myself, I started feeling indignant on behalf of Wrexham FC. It draws you in that way.
It’s a classic underdog tale. The club has had a run of bad luck, but these two shiny investors arrive who want to wrestle Wrexham up from the lower divisions. Halfway through, a comeback seems impossible, but then again, with fleet-of-foot players such as Paul Mullin, there is hope; it is there also because many fans reminisce about the glory days when their team was in the second division.
The characters are extremely likeable. The players, the long-term employees at the club, the dedicated volunteers, lifelong fans, the guy who owns the pub that sits at the entrance to the stadium – all in all, a decent bunch. We hear their stories – the break-ups and bereavements, how they want to create a nice world for their kids. When you get to know people, you warm to them.
New manager Phil Parkinson is a pleasure to observe. He has a terrifying smile that lights up the face but departs the eyes quicker than the other features. He’s polite in the boardroom, properly scary in the locker room and out-of-control when screaming at the ref.
The gossip mill is constantly in motion. Fans and employees discuss what went wrong, what management is doing wrong, what they would do better. The drama is constant. The squad gets changed around, the team narrowly fails to make the play-offs. The devastation and passion feel absurd and understandable.
Some parts are silly, like Reynolds and McElhenney hamming up the Welsh connection. But I start to like them. And their Hollywood glitz is just a sideshow. This series is about the power of volunteering and community, about how getting out of your house and getting together with others makes life better.
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The Hollywood pals eventually sweep into town in their baseball hats and manicured beards to attend two matches that go badly. “This is heartbreaking. How do people do it?” Reynolds asks. At the end of episode nine, everyone is grumbling. And I’m hooked: I must watch the remaining nine, like a fan with no choice but to support their team through thick
and thin.
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