ADVERTISEMENT

OT: Welcome To Wrexham

mike412

Head Coach
Gold Member
Jul 1, 2001
10,378
10,547
113
Santa Monica, CA
I watched the first two episodes the other night. I guess they are showing two episodes a week.

For those who aren’t familiar with the story, Wrexham is the 3rd oldest professional soccer club in the world. It’s located in NE Wales, not far from the English border. Through a series of relegations over the years, it now plays in the National League, which is the lowest of the 5 professional leagues in England and doesn’t share in broadcasting revenues. It’s technically owned by the residents, but is operated by private owner/stewards, none of whom has been able to get it promoted to the Second Division, which is the lowest division which gets a share of the broadcasting pie.

In 2021, it’s operating rights were purchased by Ryan Reynolds, Canadian film star, and Rob McElheny, creator and star of It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. They were approved by 98% of the fans who voted, well over the required 75% threshold. Their declared goal is to get the team promoted.

The first two episodes were basically background: On the team, on the town and on the new owners. It ended with the team losing a chance to get promoted in the last game of the 2020-2021 season. It was pretty boring. The new caretaker owners had just acquired the team and had nothing to do with the 2020-21 season.

Within days after the season ended, the coach and 10 players were terminated. Presumably, in upcoming episodes we will witness the search for a new coach and 10 new players, and the 2021-22 season.

Hopefully. the pace of the show will pickup considerably, as it’s too slow and boring now. The “stars” were hardly featured at all in the first two episodes and I hope that doesn’t change. While they obviously are why this documentary got made and got a cable slot, they aren’t the show.
 
Presumably, in upcoming episodes we will witness the search for a new coach and 10 new players, and the 2021-22 season.


Spoiler alert, we know how it turned out for them.

I watched it as well, and like you I wasn't much impressed. I mean it was OK, and there is certainly the potential of a good story there, but those first two episodes weren't it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos
It does start slow, but this show is unbelievably good! It’s a true love letter to sports fans and the sense of identity and camaraderie that comes from loving a team.

Cannot more highly recommend this show. Pittsburgh sports fans in particular will see so much of themselves in the former miners and steal workers of Wrexham.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chaos and Fk_Pitt
watched a few episodes last night; they were pretty good, i thought
 
Watched the whole series over a weeks time. Thought it was mostly great. More about the fans than the team. Enough Hollywood to keep non soccer fans interested but yeah truly the show really shows the passion of a fan base.

The funniest moment for me was when Wrexham appeared to tie it up in the FA trophy match and it showed Caitlin Olsen turning around wanting to hug her husband Rob McElhanney and instead Rob hugged Ryan Reynolds It was truly a Dee moment from Always Sunny. Then the next show was a filler show about the bromance between Rob and Ryan and when Rob guest hosted Kimmel, Caitlin was a guest and showed that clip. Lol.

But right now Wrexham is out of FA trophy run after they fielded a second team and nearly advanced. But they seem to be concentrating on promotion and maybe the FA Cup match at end of month.

Wrexham did bring in a more experienced keeper this season. It feels like they will get promoted either winning the league dir3ctly or winning the playoff. They are in top two and the third place team seems miles behind the top two.
 
It’s a feel good story, but the one thing that gets glossed over is the fact that they have spent an enormous amount of money, by the standards of that league, to become good. The two big acquisitions in the front line, one in MF and one on defense plus the GK all have come from teams in higher leagues with the players choosing Wrexham for more money and, presumably, television exposure.

I want them to get promoted, but it’s not David vs Goliath. It’s David with a slingshot and a Smith & Wesson .45 versus a very tiny Goliath.

The danger of the playoffs is that last year not one team which finished as runner up won the playoff and was promoted. Last year, Wrexham lost in the first round to the lowest seed.
 
I want them to get promoted, but it’s not David vs Goliath. It’s David with a slingshot and a Smith & Wesson .45 versus a very tiny Goliath.


I think you could argue that it is a David v Goliath story, but most people don't understand that Wrexham is Goliath.
 
It’s a feel good story, but the one thing that gets glossed over is the fact that they have spent an enormous amount of money, by the standards of that league, to become good. The two big acquisitions in the front line, one in MF and one on defense plus the GK all have come from teams in higher leagues with the players choosing Wrexham for more money and, presumably, television exposure.

I want them to get promoted, but it’s not David vs Goliath. It’s David with a slingshot and a Smith & Wesson .45 versus a very tiny Goliath.

The danger of the playoffs is that last year not one team which finished as runner up won the playoff and was promoted. Last year, Wrexham lost in the first round to the lowest seed.

They are absolutely the goliath of the National League as they have a payroll that is probably higher than a lot of teams in the Football League. But they are still a David in the FA Cup for sure.

What I think would be cool and interesting and make for really good TV for their show is if they signed a retired or ready to retire star. NBC Sports Network did a similar type show about 10-15 years ago where they took an Wembley FC, an amateur team (had to be like the 9th or 10th division) and brought in a retired Brian McBride and several other former Premier League players to see how far they could get in the FA Cup. I wonder if they could get a player like that and how productive they'd be in the National League.
 
FA Cup is a nice distraction and the money is a big thing for clubs at the fifth tier and lower. That said their primary focus is getting out of the National league this year and quickly moving through L2 in a few years. The National league is the hardest league to escape with only one club getting promotion automatically and a second club winning the playoff.

The club doesn't want to bring in a few washed up premier level blokes for a short sighted FA cup run. The January transfer window will likely bring a player or two in from L1 or L2 level but in order to continue to build up the roster for long term success.
 
FA Cup is a nice distraction and the money is a big thing for clubs at the fifth tier and lower. That said their primary focus is getting out of the National league this year and quickly moving through L2 in a few years. The National league is the hardest league to escape with only one club getting promotion automatically and a second club winning the playoff.

The club doesn't want to bring in a few washed up premier level blokes for a short sighted FA cup run. The January transfer window will likely bring a player or two in from L1 or L2 level but in order to continue to build up the roster for long term success.

No, what I'm saying is would a 37 or 38 year old Premier League player who is about to retire be able to help a National League squad? I would think so. And it would be good for the show. A lot of this is for TV ratings.
 
No, what I'm saying is would a 37 or 38 year old Premier League player who is about to retire be able to help a National League squad? I would think so. And it would be good for the show. A lot of this is for TV ratings.
I would disagree that this is simply for show ratings. Maybe Ryan sees this as more of an investment opportunity but Rob seems in it for the long haul to bring Wrexham up. You dont spend time to become fluent in Welsh strictly for ratings. I think top of league 1 is a realistic long term goal for this club. I expect them to add a midfielder this month.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Duneaux Harm
Heartbreak city at The Racecourse. 10 Man Sheffield United found an equalizer in the 95th minute to force a replay at their place. Watched some of the game. Teams looked pretty even despite being separated by 71 places.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fk_Pitt
I watched the entire game. The saddest part was that Wrexham conceded two goals, including the last one, on unnecessary corner kicks. On both plays, Wrexham players had time and space to clear the ball but didn't.

Wrexham had two of their 3 CBs go out with injuries inside the first 10 minutes, so they were playing with a less than optimum back 3.

Its going to be very hard for them to win the replay in Sheffield. Still, they are the only non-football league team left in the competition and they get to participate in Monday’s round of 16 draw.
 
Sheffield is my English Soccer comparison to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maybe Sheffield being a steel town is where the comparison ends, but we know Sheffield can’t seriously compete in todays football reality. So Sheffield having a difficult time with Wexham would be like the Pirates struggling against the Carolina Mudcats.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mike412
Sheffield is my English Soccer comparison to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maybe Sheffield being a steel town is where the comparison ends, but we know Sheffield can’t seriously compete in todays football reality. So Sheffield having a difficult time with Wexham would be like the Pirates struggling against the Carolina Mudcats.

They are 2nd in the Championship and will almost surely be in the EPL next season
 
Yeah that’s my point. They’re up and down. Just as the pirates probably would be if there was pro/rel in MLB.

Sheffield fans feel disrespected by your comparison to the Pirates. Also, if there was pro/rel in MLB, the Pirates would be a mid to bottom tier 2nd Division team. Teams like Charlotte, Nashville, Las Vegas, etc would easily surpass them
 
With whose players?

Assuming the system would be completely revamped so there would not be a minor league anymore, just different divisions like the English Football Pyramid and teams like Cha, Nash, LV, Norfolk, Columbus, Sacramento would spend more and be better than the Pirates.
 
Assuming the system would be completely revamped so there would not be a minor league anymore, just different divisions like the English Football Pyramid and teams like Cha, Nash, LV, Norfolk, Columbus, Sacramento would spend more and be better than the Pirates.
Maybe the Pirates would be more like Sheffield Wednesday, who are in League 1. From what I understand they’re traditionally the more popular club in Sheffield and have a rich history. They compete in the Steel City Cup vs Sheffield United and They have a bigger stadium than Sheffield United. Their stadium, Hillsbrough, is where the Liverpool tragedy was, and has essentially the same seating capacity as PNC Park.
 
As a soccer fan that has to endure the countless threads ripping soccer because players are diving and flopping…I find it interesting that today on the same day, there are threads about football flopping and on the pay basketball board there’s a thread about basketball players flopping.

But it’s a soccer only issue. GTFOH.
 
As a soccer fan that has to endure the countless threads ripping soccer because players are diving and flopping…I find it interesting that today on the same day, there are threads about football flopping and on the pay basketball board there’s a thread about basketball players flopping.

But it’s a soccer only issue. GTFOH.

The basketball flopping is making me lose my mind. As a fan of both sports, I can tell you its way worse in basketball.
 
Assuming the system would be completely revamped so there would not be a minor league anymore, just different divisions like the English Football Pyramid and teams like Cha, Nash, LV, Norfolk, Columbus, Sacramento would spend more and be better than the Pirates.


How many decades would it take for them to sign enough players to be competitive?
 
The sad thing is that you might actually believe that.

You know we're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates, right? They aren't that far above AAA teams now. In a whole new MLB pro/rel setup, Cha, LV, Nash, etc become extremely valuable franchises and are sold to wealthy owners who would field a better team in Year 1. Eventually those cities would have MLBish stadiums and the Pirates would be a 2nd Division team forever.
 
You know we're talking about the Pittsburgh Pirates, right? They aren't that far above AAA teams now. In a whole new MLB pro/rel setup, Cha, LV, Nash, etc become extremely valuable franchises and are sold to wealthy owners who would field a better team in Year 1. Eventually those cities would have MLBish stadiums and the Pirates would be a 2nd Division team forever.


You understand that Charlotte, Las Vegas, Nashville and literally all the other minor league teams have absolutely NO PLAYERS under contract, right? So in year one of this brave new world Nashville has a couple guys they could sign as free agents (who they will be competing with teams with a lot more money than them to sign) and the rest of their roster would be the equivalent of the Washington Wild Things. They not only wouldn't be competitive at a major league level, but if you put a team like that in the majors they would be lucky to win even 20 games.

Or are you positing that when the big shift occurs that all players currently under contract to franchises and all the players they have under team control would magically have their contracts declared null and void? Because I guess if you are making up batshit crazy scenarios you might as well go whole hog, right?
 
You understand that Charlotte, Las Vegas, Nashville and literally all the other minor league teams have absolutely NO PLAYERS under contract, right? So in year one of this brave new world Nashville has a couple guys they could sign as free agents (who they will be competing with teams with a lot more money than them to sign) and the rest of their roster would be the equivalent of the Washington Wild Things. They not only wouldn't be competitive at a major league level, but if you put a team like that in the majors they would be lucky to win even 20 games.

Or are you positing that when the big shift occurs that all players currently under contract to franchises and all the players they have under team control would magically have their contracts declared null and void? Because I guess if you are making up batshit crazy scenarios you might as well go whole hog, right?

I am saying that if tomorrow, MLB announces that in like 2025, there will be a 30 team 1st Division, 20 team 2nd divison, 20 team 3rd division, and 20 team 4th division and the minor leagues are completely gone making all players not on 40 man rosters free agents, franchises like Charlotte become very valuable and they'd be able to go out and sign enough players to be better than the Pirates in Year 1.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Allan McMurray
I watched the entire game. The saddest part was that Wrexham conceded two goals, including the last one, on unnecessary corner kicks. On both plays, Wrexham players had time and space to clear the ball but didn't.

Wrexham had two of their 3 CBs go out with injuries inside the first 10 minutes, so they were playing with a less than optimum back 3.

Its going to be very hard for them to win the replay in Sheffield. Still, they are the only non-football league team left in the competition and they get to participate in Monday’s round of 16 draw.
The game aside the funniest thing to me was the guy in the KOP end of the stadium. Wrexham finally got approval to tear the KOP down to build more seats and so in the game you could see the heavy equipment and fallen structure. But I got a kick out of seeing the dude who was dressed hard hat and high vis clothing just standing there. I presume he was there to prevent any fans entering construction site but it was quite comicall
 
The replay is Tuesday at Sheffield with the winner hosting Tottenham in the Round of 16. Can you imagine Harry Kane coming to the Racecourse?
 
The replay is Tuesday at Sheffield with the winner hosting Tottenham in the Round of 16. Can you imagine Harry Kane coming to the Racecourse?
Man, I don’t know what the race course is like because I haven’t got around to watching the show yet. But I watched Tottenham play an FC Cup match a couple years ago that was incredible. It was on a field with a few hundred people standing around the perimeter, and there was a row of houses the whole way down the touch line. It was so quaint. People were watching from their upstairs windows. . And the team (I wish I could remember who they were) scored first. Then Harry and the boys took over. But that’s what is great about the FA Cup.

I think it was when Mourinho was there. I have to see if I can look it up. Man it was cool.
 
I am saying that if tomorrow, MLB announces that in like 2025, there will be a 30 team 1st Division, 20 team 2nd divison, 20 team 3rd division, and 20 team 4th division and the minor leagues are completely gone making all players not on 40 man rosters free agents, franchises like Charlotte become very valuable and they'd be able to go out and sign enough players to be better than the Pirates in Year 1.


Yeah, I get what you are saying. You are saying that if you take your batshit crazy idea that has no chance of ever happening, and then add on some more batshit crazy conditions that would have no chance of ever happening even if the first crazy idea did somehow come off, that things would be really different.


Yeah, right, sure.

Batshit²
 
Yeah, I get what you are saying. You are saying that if you take your batshit crazy idea that has no chance of ever happening, and then add on some more batshit crazy conditions that would have no chance of ever happening even if the first crazy idea did somehow come off, that things would be really different.


Yeah, right, sure.

Batshit²

Did you think I meant MLB would say that the AAA teams would be required to field rosters of their current players??
 
Did you think I meant MLB would say that the AAA teams would be required to field rosters of their current players??


No, I think you meant that AAA teams were going to be able to field teams of players under contract to other teams. And you basically confirmed that.

Because if you are going to go crazy, no sense going half crazy, might as well go full on nuts.
 
No, I think you meant that AAA teams were going to be able to field teams of players under contract to other teams. And you basically confirmed that.

Because if you are going to go crazy, no sense going half crazy, might as well go full on nuts.

Not under contract. Free agents. Baseball has this thing called free agency.
 
Not under contract. Free agents. Baseball has this thing called free agency.


Yeah, and Nashville is going to be competing against the Yankees and the Dodgers and the Red Sox and so on, selling a team that in the first year is playing in AAA, and then if they get lucky will get promoted in the second year with a team that is almost guaranteed to go back down the following year.

In short, NO good free agents would want to have anything to do with them. They'd literally be fielding the Washington Wild Things in year one, and probably something slightly better than that in year two. None of those teams would be competitive in the major leagues for a very long time, like a decade or two.

Batshit³
 
Man, I don’t know what the race course is like because I haven’t got around to watching the show yet. But I watched Tottenham play an FC Cup match a couple years ago that was incredible. It was on a field with a few hundred people standing around the perimeter, and there was a row of houses the whole way down the touch line. It was so quaint. People were watching from their upstairs windows. . And the team (I wish I could remember who they were) scored first. Then Harry and the boys took over. But that’s what is great about the FA Cup.

I think it was when Mourinho was there. I have to see if I can look it up. Man it was cool.
I don’t remember the name of the team, but it was a non-league team located out by Heathrow Airport. I think they said that half of the team were postal workers and the other half were baggage handlers and porters who worked at Heathrow. It’s right in the area where “Bend It Like Beckham” was set. In the movie, the father worked at Heathrow.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fk_Pitt
I don’t remember the name of the team, but it was a non-league team located out by Heathrow Airport. I think they said that half of the team were postal workers and the other half were baggage handlers and porters who worked at Heathrow. It’s right in the area where “Bend It Like Beckham” was set. In the movie, the father worked at Heathrow.
I went online to find it. But I can’t find it, which now makes me wonder if it was Spurs. I don’t even remember the year. But it had to be in the last 5, and it wouldn’t have been the covid year. Now I’m thinking it may have been Man City. But it was available on ESPN+, which is another cool reason to subscribe.

Btw, my wife and I started Wrexham last night. Better late than never. Lol. My wife asked me to compare the wrexham players to a local team, and I thought perhaps USL and the riverhounds.
 
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT