It's a long way to the top for Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, and Welcome to Wrexham latest episodes serve to show just how grueling a full season of modern football can be, even at lower levels. However, in doing so, the FX series shines a light at one of the game's ongoing debates as seasons continue getting longer each year for soccer players.
See, in order for Wrexham to gain promotion they must prove to be the National League's best team throughout 46 matches, that is without counting other competitions like the FA Cup, other cup tournaments, or the sports pre-season. At the higher levels, it's not rare for the likes of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to accumulate over 70 games played each year, without counting the matches played for their countries.
All that running surely takes a toll on players, and that's exactly what Wrexham's owners learned when the team found itself in a tricky stretch last season. That puts team captain Luke Young at the forefront of the crisis, in a moment that serves to highlight the player's own bliss and struggles in his personal life, although in a rare entry, this is about as far from the field or front office as things get this week for the series.
What Welcome to Wrexham does here is continue to treat audiences to new moments where Reynolds and McElhenney learn yet another lesson on football club ownership that they hadn't exactly accounted for, one that even Manchester City's Pep Guardiola can't quite stomach sometimes. Sure, an injury crisis is pretty standard stuff in most team sports, but having it coincide with rescheduled games due to those magical FA Cup nights and a few weather mishaps, and then things really get out of hand.
A new part of Welcome to Wrexham is the show’s celebrity guests who make the trip to Wales to visit the team or watch a proper football match at the Racecourse, with “The Grind” bringing back Will Ferrell, whose comedic chops are a hit with the squad. These inside looks also add another layer: it’s not only fans and viewers who are living the Wrexham, it’s the players themselves who get starstruck by seeing the comedy legend grace the locker room.
With the likes of David Beckham and John Green joining Ferrell, there’s no telling who could be Welcome to Wrexham’s next special cameo, as even Mario’s brother himself, actor Charlie Day, has been spotted attending matches in recent times. Despite Reynolds and McElhenney being relatively absent from this doubleheader, their presence is still felt, and it’s not just from their commentary on the club’s current affairs.
In the end, none of Wrexham’s injuries prove to be season-threatening for their players and the team does rise to the challenge of holding its ground atop the National League, along with their rival Notts County. Nevertheless, while an injury spell is very much standard stuff in all sports, a keeper crisis is not, and that’s where Wrexham goalie Rob Lainton comes in.
In its first season, Welcome to Wrexham already had to deal with the uniqueness of the goalkeeper position as Lainton went down due to a harsh knock. Since then, Rob has not had an easy time with another hand injury keeping him away from the field and the performance of his deputy Christian Dibble leaving a lot to be desired among the fan base. Thus, enter Mark Howard.
At 36 years old, Howard is another veteran like Lainton, and here fans get to see the goalie role from his perspective having to step in for the starter as he puts in some solid performances. Regardless, once Lainton comes back, Howard accepts his substitute role because such is the nature of the loneliest position in all of football, where excellence is hardly praised as much as mistakes are reprimanded.
Of course, normal isn't the Wrexham way, so when Lainton goes down again the club seizes the unique opportunity of securing its most high-profile signing yet, former England international and football YouTuber Ben Foster. Entering his forties, Foster is the perfect Wrexham player, not only experienced and far above the team’s standards and wage limits, but also passionate, popular online, and with deep ties to Wrexham as it was where he got his first break as a pro.
Foster could have signed for Premier League rich boys Newcastle, yet he chose Wrexham because of the special appeal that Reynolds and McElhenney have brought to the club, a move that continues to put the Red Dragons on the national spotlight. It’s the classic football story of the seasoned star returning to where he was happy, not for money, but for something else entirely.
Howard and Foster instantly hit it off, and Ben’s debut goes as expected as he and many of the other Wrexham players now seem one step above many of its fifth-tier rivals. Welcome to Wrexham signs this one off with a hint of mystery, suggesting Foster will be instrumental for the teams promotion run, but even more so, nailing down the point that none of this would be possible without the actual TV series that Reynolds and McElhenney brought to town.
Welcome to Wrexham
- Release Date
- August 24, 2022
- Network
- FX
- Showrunner
- Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney
- Directors
- Humphrey Ker
Cast
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Rob McElhenney -
WHERE TO WATCH
With two episodes catered to the sports fans out there, Welcome to Wrexham's most football-centric entries yet remain consistent, even if unspectacular a big part of its audience.