There is much to enjoy as Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney mingle with League Two footballers but little suspense
Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds has overseen the club’s return to the Football League Credit: Getty Images/Matthew Ashton
The second full season for Wrexham under the ownership of RR McReynolds Company LLC was objectively special. Promotion back to the Football League at last, with a three figure points total, and a run to the fourth round of the FA Cup. All of which is great news for Wrexham and north Wales as a whole but, most importantly, producers of feelgood documentary-adjacent content.
Yes, it is time for season two of Welcome to Wrexham, starring Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and several League Two players bravely dropping down a division to help their cause. It need not matter if you did not bother with season one. Broadly: pathologically amenable Americans who happen to be movie stars buy downtrodden football club. Much money is spent, much learning occurs, many emotions are felt. Some triumphs, some disasters, team ultimately misses out on promotion from the National League, meaning whizzy TV show must still feature teams like Eastleigh.
We rejoin our heroes with both walking into shot and sitting on previously empty seats, as is the current mandated style. It is hard to identify much McElhenney and Reynolds have done wrong since assuming control of the club in November 2020 and there are no missteps in the first episode of the new season, loosely hung around King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit to Wrexham.
They duly do their royal thing, in scenes which will not interest anyone who has ever seen a line of people shaking hands. “Getting support from the king is critical” to securing levelling-up funding for a new stand, says Wrexham’s executive director Humphrey Ker, which may not stand up to constitutional scrutiny but certainly serves the narrative.
There is plenty of this exaggeration. Your patience might be tested by the section with a fella restoring former barriers from the Racecourse Ground Kop for a charity auction. A drone shot rises portentously to show the majesty of the setting, an industrial estate. “This is where people stood behind, watching the football matches,” says former player Dixie McNeil, helpfully. Later tragic piano music accompanies highlights of a 2-0 defeat at Chesterfield. It is still August.
There is little to fault in the way Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have run Wrexham since taking charge Credit: AP/Patrick McElhenney
But there is plenty to enjoy too, McElhenney and Reynolds gently ribbing an etiquette coach they engage to prepare for the royal visit, the palpable delight a team on the up can bring to its community and the return of the “Phil’s Enthusiasm” counter which tots up each of the manager’s team-talk swears as they occur.
Still, this remains an odd TV property. You rarely see mega-famous Hollywood sorts and lower league football mainstays mixing in this way and the oceanic charisma gaps can be jarring. Unsurprisingly former Phil Parkinson and some physiotherapists lack the screen appeal of an actual superhero.
Despite that, nothing can disturb the serene pleasantness of the entire operation. The beats are familiar, the peril is mild, the laughs are gentle. We all know how this season will end for Wrexham, but if televisual wallpaper like this is your thing that will not matter. It is a remarkable story, just stretched a touch too thinly in this format.
