Can a soccer team revive hope in a Welsh city? Welcome to Wrexham.
| Wrexham, Wales
Wrexham has long been the “Bad News Bears” of soccer. It wasn’t always so. During the 1970s, it was the pride of this rural, working-class town. But when Wrexham’s economy waned, so did the team.
In 2011, over 2,000 faithful fans formed the Wrexham Supporters Trust and bought the struggling team in a crowdfunding effort. In 2021, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney were inspired by that devotion and bought the team. Call it an act of business philanthropy. Sports can play a fundamental role in sustaining social connections.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onCan a soccer team in Wales boost the morale and prospects not only of fans, but of a whole city too? At a time when people are hungering for community, Wrexham offers hope not only for sports fans but also for anyone looking for connection.
“We said from the very beginning that we wanted to be drawn into Wrexham’s story and not the other way around,” Mr. McElhenney says. “And that means that we should and want to be a part of the community. ... That’s something that’s really important to us.”
On Saturday, Wrexham clinched its victory in the National League.
Mark Taylor and his sons stuck with the football club during its lean years. Mr. Taylor recalls that when he first bought a season ticket, he didn’t know the people around him. These days, when he makes his way to his seat up in the stands, he’s greeted by name.
“It’s just like one big family,” he says. “They’re hugging, shaking hands, and they love my 8-year-old son.”
Update: On Saturday, Wrexham picked up the win it needed for its National League Victory. Our story has been updated with news of their promotion to the Football League after 15 years.
Inside a packed Welsh soccer stadium, two Hollywood actors watch as a player lines up a kick at goal. The celebrities arrived from the United States this morning. Like the almost 10,000 spectators here, they’re riveted by this clash between host team Wrexham and visiting Notts County.
In the 49th minute of the game, Notts County player John Bostock strikes the ball he’s lined up. It curves with the parabolic arc of a boomerang. The “bend it like Bostock” kick sends the ball into the top right corner of Wrexham’s goal.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onCan a soccer team in Wales boost the morale and prospects not only of fans, but of a whole city too? At a time when people are hungering for community, Wrexham offers hope not only for sports fans but also for anyone looking for connection.
The two actors swap worried expressions. A whistle blows for halftime. It’s the first of many dramatic moments in an early April match that will be hailed as a classic.
Wrexham has long been the “Bad News Bears” of soccer. It wasn’t always so. During the 1970s, Wrexham Association Football Club was the pride of this rural, working-class town. But when Wrexham’s economy waned, so did the team. Fifteen years ago, the club was demoted to Britain’s most lowly soccer league – four tiers below world-famous teams such as Manchester United. It’s languished there ever since.
In February 2021, Wrexham AFC was sold to two new owners: Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. When they introduced themselves to Wrexham supporters in a Zoom call, some fans laughed in disbelief. The actors’ gambit – chronicled in the hit streaming series “Welcome to Wrexham” – is to propel the team to the next tier by winning the National League. Call it an act of business philanthropy. Sports can play a fundamental role in sustaining social connections. The more successful the team becomes, the more it buoys the spirit of the hometown.
“Any time where a community is under stress, whatever kind of stress it is, sports is always going to be some sort of a framework that they can hang their emotional wellbeing on,” says Larry Olmsted, author of “Fans: How Watching Sports Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Understanding.”
While viewers may not be aware of the impact that the documentary series has had on Wrexham, residents definitely are.
“We’ve got something more now to look forward to,” says Kelly Pritchard, who’s enjoying a night out with friend and fellow mother Cerys Stevens. “There’s more of an atmosphere now, you know, where all the Wrexham people can kind of, like, get together.”
This month, Wrexham AFC’s season hangs in the balance. Wrexham and rival Notts County are neck-and-neck in the points tally that will determine which team gets promoted. The April 10 clash between the two is billed as the most important game in the history of the National League. Even before play started, the city hummed with anticipation.
“All season long I always knew it was going to come to this,” sighs season ticket holder Darren Griffiths, on the eve of the match. “People are begging me for a ticket for tomorrow.”
Mr. Griffiths, a plumbing engineer, isn’t accustomed to seeing his team winning. But his semi-retired father, Dave, recalls halcyon days when football was the Saturday afternoon pastime for workers in the coal mining and steelworks industries.
“It declined when the heavy industries closed,” says Dave Griffiths, who spent a year working at Brymbo Steelworks. “Really badly, because the support only comes through success.”
Wrexham’s last coal mine closed in 1986. Five years later, the blast furnaces at Brymbo Steelworks were extinguished forever. Some manufacturing companies remain, but Wrexham’s near-stagnant population growth is now among the lowest in Wales. By contrast, the cathedral city of Chester, England, 11 miles to the north, has grown by about 28,000 people over the past 20 years.
“A lot of people are going from Wrexham to Chester to eat and drink – there’s a better quality there,” says Neil Manuel, walking through the town with his wife, Donna, after an early dinner. Their two boys, who grew up here, now live in Chester. “They need to regenerate Wrexham. You walk up and down the street, there’s a lot of shops empty.”
“It’s dead,” agrees Donna Manuel, pointing out the “For Sale” and “To Let” signs plastered on the pallid windows of empty storefronts. “Wrexham is charity shops and hairdressers.”
Wrexham’s stadium, dubbed the Racecourse, is the world’s oldest international football stadium. It was once regularly attended by more than 15,000 people. By 2019, it had plummeted to a little over 4,000. But to call the remnant “loyal” is an understatement. In 2011, over 2,000 faithful fans formed the Wrexham Supporters Trust and bought the struggling team in a crowdfunding effort. Mr. Reynolds, best known as Marvel superhero Deadpool, and Mr. McElhenney, star of the sitcom “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia,” were inspired by their devotion.
“We said from the very beginning that we wanted to be drawn into Wrexham’s story and not the other way around,” Mr. McElhenney tells the Monitor during an interview at the stadium. “And that means that we should and want to be a part of the community. ... That’s something that’s really important to us.”
The night before the big game, a singalong breaks out in The Turf, the pub next door to the Racecourse. “It’s Always Sunny in Wrexham,” a recent composition by local band The Declan Swans, features an upbeat chorus: “Less than a mile from the centre of town / A famous old stadium crumbling down / No-one’s invested so much as a penny / Bring on the Deadpool and Rob McElhеnney.”
The singing voices include a handful of Americans. Pub owner Wayne Jones, who installed the song on The Turf’s jukebox, says he and his wife, Michelle, spend several hours a week conversing with “dozens and dozens” of tourists visiting from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Brazil, and China.
“Every restaurant seems to be full. The hotels are full. Even little local businesses like taxi drivers and ... food delivery guys, everybody just seems to have a tiny little piece of the pie,” says Mr. Jones. The walls of his pub feature photographs, and also autographs, of the duo that locals call “Rob and Ryan.” There’s a wood-hewn sculpture of Deadpool standing in a corner next to a pool table.
“The involvement of Ryan and Rob in Wrexham has made a huge impact on tourism for not just Wrexham, but for North Wales,” says Jim Jones, chief executive of North Wales Tourism, in a phone interview. Wrexham is capitalizing on the momentum by investing in a new tourism information center.
The success of the team has elevated Wrexham’s profile in Britain. Last year, the U.K. government awarded Wrexham the status of city as part of a competition related to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. King Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, visited the Racecourse in December to meet its famous owners, staff, and players. It isn’t just the professional men’s team that’s benefited from the new attention and investment. Wrexham AFC’s women’s team just won promotion to the top tier of women’s football in Wales. Another coup for the area: Kings of Leon will play two rock shows at the stadium in May. Renovations to the Racecourse will attract more concerts and also international football games.
Many locals express hope that, in the long run, the rise in tourism will entice the kinds of businesses that will make Wrexham a more attractive place to live. But in the meantime, everyone’s feeling the buzz.
The day before the Notts County game, Mark Taylor is kicking a ball with his sons Dan and Dylan on a field nestled like a secret garden between tightly clustered rows of houses. They stuck with the football club even during its lean years.
“It was hard for some people, I suppose, to come and watch a team that wasn’t performing. But you’ll always have your diehard fans that will remain and won’t go away,” says Mr. Taylor. “The other ones just needed a bit of a push in the end.”
Mr. Taylor recalls that when he first bought a season ticket, he didn’t know the people around him. These days, when he makes his way to his seat up in the stands, he’s greeted by name by numerous fellow fans.
“It’s just like one big family,” says Mr. Taylor, watching Dylan attempt a bicycle kick. “They’re hugging, shaking hands, and they love my 8-year-old son.”
Mr. Olmsted, the author of “Fans,” says that sports have often replaced religion and other community structures as an agency for identity and belonging.
“You don’t have to be invited. It’s not a private club. You don’t have to pay dues,” says the author. “You can be any age, any sex, any race. You just have to be a fan of that team and maybe buy a jersey and you’re in. So it’s very accepting and democratic and open in that way.”
Sports fandom helps communities heal from economic woes, says Mr. Olmsted, often by boosting fundraising and volunteerism.
Even if Wrexham fans don’t have deep pockets, they’ll always empty them to help others. During a recent away game against Halifax Town in England, Wrexham supporters donated £1,186 ($1,475) in memory of a teenage Halifax fan who passed away. Last Christmas, pub owners the Joneses donated a week’s worth of profits to a food bank and encouraged other fans to join the effort. After Mr. McElhenney and Mr. Reynolds offered to double the donations, the final tally was £8,500 ($10,575) for the food bank and £3,000 ($3,730) for a homeless shelter. Residents interviewed say that Mr. McElhenney has also visited the food bank when cameras aren’t rolling.
At the big game between Wrexham and Notts County, a foam Red Dragon mascot conducts a singalong from the sidelines, its tail wagging to the rhythm. Up in the VIP box, Mr. Reynolds and Mr. McElhenney join in with gusto for “It’s Always Sunny in Wrexham.”
The singing gets louder when Wrexham rebounds by scoring two goals early in the second half. The scores seesaw between the two sides until it’s 3-2 Wrexham. In the final seconds, Notts gets an opportunity to spoil Wrexham’s victory party. The referee has awarded a penalty kick point blank in front of the goal.
Before the game, Wrexham’s goalkeeper Ben Foster studied the kicker. He tends to strike for the left side of the goal. There’s a collective sucking in of breath as the Notts player pistons his leg. Mr. Foster’s intuition tells him to dive to the right. He deflects the ball from the bottom-right corner in a dramatic save. A bedlam of celebration erupts in the stadium. Mr. McElhenney is so overcome with emotion that, later, he kisses Mr. Foster on the lips.
“I’ve been watching the team for over 70 years,” says veteran fan David Williams, voice barely audible over the cheering. “That was one the best games I’ve ever seen.”
The following day, Mr. Jones reflects on what the win means for his hometown, which at that time was on the brink of advancing to the English Football League. (On Saturday, Wrexham clinched the promotion – with a 3-1 victory over Boreham Wood.)
“We’re a small community, a close-knit community. Listen, we’ve got our problems. We know that. Every working-class town around the world, I imagine, has their problems,” says Mr. Jones, who’s helping his wife clean up their pub after a very late night. “But I think part of the reason that Rob and Ryan and their friends and their families love it so much is because they feel that bond. ... The football club now is obviously financially in a much better position. But the community will always need backing and will always need to stick together. And that will always be the case.”
