Welcome To Wrexham

[Welshman in Ca]

Promotion to the football league confirmed.

[aghst]

Well not much suspense for second seAson of the show then.

first season made the club so popular that the media were following them and giving them a lot of coverage.

might make it more difficult for them to plot the second season.  They did a lot of the fan human interest type episodes lready too.

 

[Rickster]

Hard to remain unspoiled when the national news is covering the story.

[aghst]

Season 2 premiers on September 12, 2023.

So much has happened since the end of the first season.

Not much of a secret that they've been promoted and will start their season soon in EFL League Two.

Just two promotions from the Premier League!

They have had a very high-profile tour of the US this summer, drawing huge crowds with American fans wearing Wrexham FC kit in their friendly matches vs. Chelsea and Man United from the PL.

The Men in Blazers podcast calls them the biggest little club in the world.

They must be making huge money from sales of merchandise and their matches will probably draw like crazy.

Wonder what kind of TV ratings they will get.

 

So season 2, there can't be much suspense about whether they will finally get promoted, the secret hasn't been kept because of the fame the team has now.

Will the show get meta, acknowledge how the club has become an international phenomenon because of the show and the celebrity owners?

I don't know if they will have enough material to produce as many episodes as season 1, when they dove into the club history and the football culture in general and in the town, then all the passion of some of the individual supporters.

You'd think it would get somewhat redundant if they tried to cover that ground again.

So how will they keep it interesting?  They could make it much more about football, how with the increased revenues, they might be able to outspend League Two and get another promotion.  That would be meta, the show may be one of the main forces in driving the prospects of the club rising through the divisions.

The manager said in a Men in Blazers podcast released a few days ago that they may add some significant players yet.

But if they go too much into football, I think they'd lose a lot of the people who watched the first season.  A certain portion of the large audience may have connected more with the culture and history of the club and its fans than pure football.

 

[Crs97]

34 minutes ago, aghst said:

A certain portion of the large audience may have connected more with the culture and history of the club and its fans than pure football.

I’m one.  I want an update on how everyone is doing.  Is the pub packed?  How will a pub being built in the new stadium affect him?  How’s the band member?  I like the game highlights, but the people were my draw.

[callie lee 29]

On 8/4/2023 at 8:23 PM, Crs97 said:

I’m one.  I want an update on how everyone is doing.  Is the pub packed?  How will a pub being built in the new stadium affect him?  How’s the band member?  I like the game highlights, but the people were my draw.

Me too. I think for a lot of the audience, including myself, one may have started watching because of the owners (I came here because of Rob and it's always sunny) but I stayed watching for the town and all the people they highlighted. One thing they could do is show some love to the Wrexham women's team (also owned by Rob and Ryan).

[Humbugged]

On 8/6/2023 at 1:53 AM, callie lee 29 said:

Me too. I think for a lot of the audience, including myself, one may have started watching because of the owners (I came here because of Rob and it's always sunny) but I stayed watching for the town and all the people they highlighted. One thing they could do is show some love to the Wrexham women's team (also owned by Rob and Ryan).

They are covering the womens team as well in Season 2

[callie lee 29]

I know that he was most certainly does the line but I'm going to actively choose to believe that King Charles watches It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia because the very thought of him knowing what a poop knife is fucking awesome. 

[Frost]

It's back!  It was a fun episode to watch, with the etiquette lessons and the other King and Queen related activities.  I did miss the stronger focus on the city itself.  Hopefully that will be more pronounced in future episodes.

I only know a little bit about soccer/football, but I was yelling at the keeper to get back to the net!  He had a lot of opposing players behind him when he ran out.  I couldn't believe it.

I'd also like to see more of the interactions between the high paid "celebrity" players brought from higher leagues and the regular players.  I remember one last year who still had to work a construction job to support his family.

[Crs97]

That was delightful!  The etiquette lady did not get paid enough to handle those two, though it looked like they did fine with the king and queen.  Very cool they had so many fans lined up as well to meet them.

[aghst]

The show acknowledges the influence it's had, bringing all these international tourists to Wrexham, buying the club merchandise, going to matches.

Because of the show, the club draws like crazy, like when they did a US tour in the summer before the season.

They were called the biggest little football club in the world.

But with all the money coming in, the producers may want to show that there are obstacles to the team being promoted this season.

So they have this thing about getting £20 million to expand the stadium from the UK govt. at a time when the UK was in a serious economic crunch.  I didn't think they'd just throw that kind of money just to protect one MP seat.

Then of course the photo op with King Charles was another thing, not an obstacle but something for Ryan and Rob to go through.  They prepare for it in LA but they fly in to meet the King and they don't show them interacting much with the town people.

Then a bad game in their second match, against one of their biggest competitors

I don't think Ryan and Rob really counted on that govt. money.  Would have been nice but it would have allowed them to sell more tickets.  Still they paid for better players and already paid to take down the old section in preparation for refurbishment.

Something tells me they're going to find money elsewhere.

I don't know what kind of money they make from the TV show.  IF they own part of it, it could be a lot because apparently it's been distributed all over the world.

[Shrek]

I think the main thing that made the first season so successful was the people and I hope they don't get away from that too much this season.

Ryan has hundreds of millions so it's not like he's scraping around for a few dollars but they do say in the UK that the way to becoming a millionaire is to start as a billionaire & buy a football club. May not be as true now as it was higher up the leagues but there are only a few really successful clubs being bought for stupid money.

[Frost]

They did say that the plan is to make the club sustainable so at some point when Ryan and Rob are no longer in the picture, Wrexham can still thrive.  I'm not saying R & R are planning to dump the club, but they will age out at some point and I don't think they can or should count on their children taking over.  So having Ryan just dump in $20M doesn't show that Wrexham is a sustainable club. 

And if I was Ryan, I don't care if I have $100M, I don't want to have to single handedly fund the club to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

[Shrek]

5 minutes ago, Frost said:

They did say that the plan is to make the club sustainable so at some point when Ryan and Rob are no longer in the picture, Wrexham can still thrive.  I'm not saying R & R are planning to dump the club, but they will age out at some point and I don't think they can or should count on their children taking over.  So having Ryan just dump in $20M doesn't show that Wrexham is a sustainable club. 

And if I was Ryan, I don't care if I have $100M, I don't want to have to single handedly fund the club to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

In that case don't buy a football club.

They have always been vanity projects for the very rich and unlike the NFL the football league is not a closed shop where nobody else can join in, promotion & relegation can make and break clubs and does so every year.

$20M out of $100M is a big chunk but he has at least $300M from his sale of Aviation gin never mind the rest of the pies he has fingers in so not too bad of a loss and he does have a track record of selling companies for a huge profit.

I hope he's successful in this endeavor & wish him well as he seems like a nice guy and is trying to do the right thing.

[aghst]

I think the plan was to flip the club if they could raise the value through their celebrity.

It’s true, once the club has risen enough, it becomes the domain of billionaires and sovereign wealth funds.

They seem willing to increase payroll for a season or two to get the club promoted.  They may do that for a couple of promotions and a couple of seasons of the show.  Then probably look for an exit.

 

 

[aghst]

Good story about Mullin's son being autistic and an autistic Wrexham club fan, particularly how her whole mood and life changed once she became a fan of the club.

 

Other episode, the interviews with fans of rival clubs was interesting, of course there will be resentment but also they grudgingly are happy for the town and the supporters -- at least some of them are.

But Rob argued with them on social media?  Not a good idea.

 

 

 

[Crs97]

Episode 2 made me cry.  Albi is adorable and Millie (?) is so lucky to have such a loving community.  I loved her big heart.  I think I could have a whole episode of Kerry because she is awesome!

 

[KittenPokerCheater]

So do we ever find out how RR reacted to Rob's Birthday Prank Blimp?

[callie lee 29]

2 hours ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

So do we ever find out how RR reacted to Rob's Birthday Prank Blimp?

I don't think so. I was wondering the same thing so I even researched it at the 11pm hour too and never heard anything.

[Frost]

Rob is an ass.  I honestly can't imagine Ryan pulling that shit.  Poor Sean and his wife can't enjoy their vacation because Rob won't behave like an adult. 

[Humbugged]

21 minutes ago, Frost said:

Rob is an ass.  I honestly can't imagine Ryan pulling that shit.  Poor Sean and his wife can't enjoy their vacation because Rob won't behave like an adult. 

We'll Ryan set him up with his wife when Rob was hosting one of the Talk Shows for a week with the video of him ignoring her a Wembley with  a fake Rob and then made a snarky song for his birhday

they live in a series of snark posts. The back drop  of him in the toilet was you could aim and piss on Rob's face which was the point

[Crs97]

To be fair, Ryan started it with the memorial urinal.  Rob just didn’t think of the aviation regulations when devising his revenge.

If the Instagram post had happened before the grant was denied, I would have had questions.

Poor Nicola.

[Humbugged]

2 hours ago, Crs97 said:

To be fair, Ryan started it with the memorial urinal.  Rob just didn’t think of the aviation regulations when devising his revenge.

If the Instagram post had happened before the grant was denied, I would have had questions.

Poor Nicola.

Then Rob was avoiding Reg 48 which ithe whole league by the end of the season were finished with  The killer thing was Mullen and his boois.

[aghst]

Makes me think of visiting Liverpool.

Second episode was just one short different segments, no unified theme.

 

[Frost]

I was blown away by Rosie Hughes and the Wrexham women's team!   The poor women, their pitch is a muddy mess and fans just lean against a hitching post.  It was cute of the two girls to change the Paul Mullin song lyrics to fit Rosie.  I hope there's more about the women players in future episodes.  And I certainly hope to see a better paying environment!

[aghst]

10 minutes ago, Frost said:

I was blown away by Rosie Hughes and the Wrexham women's team!   The poor women, their pitch is a muddy mess and fans just lean against a hitching post.  It was cute of the two girls to change the Paul Mullin song lyrics to fit Rosie.  I hope there's more about the women players in future episodes.  And I certainly hope to see a better paying environment!

Yeah it was a nice story.

Especially a couple of the players who shared their love of the men's club with their fathers, including the one who apparently committed suicide.

The other father was a former player who was captain of the team when it was relegated over 10 years ago to it's current status and he was being accosted over it by some of the fans in town.

Must have been tough, especially if he was out in public with his young daughter when those confrontations happened.

There is certainly a dark side to the avid fandom that this show has been celebrating.  Yes passionate fans can also be cruel, especially if alcohol is in the mix, and we know for instance that when the Super Bowl is played, it's one of the most busiest days for domestic abuse calls and hotlines.

 

 

 

[Shrek]

For anyone interested Wales will play a friendly game at Wrexham's Racecourse ground tonight (10/11) for the first time since 2019.

[aghst]

So many stories around the team.  The producers have done a good job of developing little segments, like the super fan who got notoriety in the first season and now gets recognized in public but he's trying to quit drinking to take care of his young sons.

Or the young player who had to leave the club because his brother has leukemia and his wife, mother of their toddler, has a brain tumor.

But they kind of go about in a haphazard way to feature the players.  They've done maybe about a half dozen of the players over the course of what now a couple dozen episodes?

They happened to feature a little of the home life of the backup goalie, who's been covering for the main guy hurt last season, only to come back and get hurt again.

So the backup guy, who's in his mid 30s and hoping to play a few more years, hopes to finish the season and help the team get promoted.

Only to have some big name goalie decide to come out of retirement and offer to play for the last 7 matches or so but he doesn't want to be backup, he wants to be the main guy.

Not only that, he signs for "peanuts" as Rob and Ryan are eager to point out.

OK, I think the guy is doing it for his Youtube channel, because he knows the club is a huge cultural phenomenon.  So he actually films with his GoPro camera after the match and on the pitch?

He is hoping to get thousands more subscribers  and more than make up the kind of money he could have made if he went to a Premier League club instead of Wrexham.

 

 

[HelloooKitty]

Yeah, I struggled with the “new guy”. I felt like he was being edited in a way that showed we were supposed to think he’s great and it so cool and nice of him to come back to play for such a low level team for such a small amount of money to “help them over the hump” and to break into the next league. But all I could think is how incredibly condescending and rude this was to the players who had been there all along. They’re doing pretty well without his help! 
 

it put a bad taste in my mouth. 

[aghst]

This show really had the great fortune to have such a competitive season when Wrexham is trying to get promoted.  Notts County is a great foil for the protagonists and both clubs break records  trying to win the league.

I thought the discussion of the finances was interesting.  So Rob and Ryan have spent almost £11 million pounds they said towards the end of their second season owning the club.

The bald guy was saying if they get promoted, they will get so many sponsorships that they'll have a huge advantage over other clubs and have a good chance to get promoted again, like 2 years in a row.

But they already have big sponsorships.  They have to be getting millions, though I guess Ryan owns Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile anyways.  His net worth has to be approaching a billion if not more.

Also it was pointed out that the club has such a huge profile already that they could sell and more than make their money back.

Imagine drawing fans from all over the world, like the top clubs in the PL do.  They probably get millions from jersey sales.

 

That Nott's County match was perfect for the show, a real Hollywood ending.

I'm not so sure though that this huge interest in the club can be sustained though.  I'm sure they'll do a US tour again next summer and draw big crowds.

But are the ratings still high?  One issue is that they have so many episodes, which is atypical these days.  They're already on episode 12 in season 2.

 

[callie lee 29]

I didn't think Ryan is at a billion. Aviation sold for around 600M and Mint for a little over 1B but I don't believe he was a full owner in either of those. I could see him at 500M. Is be curious if he and Blake are both listed as owners in her mixers & seltzer label or if it's hers only.

[Shrek]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

I didn't think Ryan is at a billion. Aviation sold for around 600M and Mint for a little over 1B but I don't believe he was a full owner in either of those. I could see him at 500M. Is be curious if he and Blake are both listed as owners in her mixers & seltzer label or if it's hers only.

I read a few times that he owned 30% of Mint so let's assume about the same for Aviation your $500m wouldn't be too far off.

[Frost]

Even though I knew they were promoted, the editing did a great job making that Boreham Wood game tense and exciting.  Setting a goofy goal go past Foster at 0:49 was jaw dropping.

I loved the crowd streaming onto the field at the end of the game and the 40,000 people that showed up for the parade!

I was at a must win Game 6 home game in the World Series many moons ago and the absolute euphoria when we won is impossible to describe. 

[aghst]

Yeah they weaved in the back stories of some individual players very well.

The fans were so emotionally invested in them getting promoted, several of them crying.

Even the two older women whom they've featured several times had tears of anxiety leading up to the game, like they could still be foiled again.

This episode actually would have been a good way to end the series, with most of the dreams and hopes fulfilled, happy ending for so many.

But they said they will follow the club to the EFL next season too.

So ratings must be great.  If not on FX, then probably has a huge viewership outside the US, because we've seen fans coming from India to watch matches as a result of the show.

So they have every incentive to keep going, though I guess Rob and Ryan have to be on board and they're getting good money out of the show somehow.

Because if you think about it, Ryan Reynolds is worth a fortune and doesn't need to be doing a TV show.  I don't know how demanding of his time the show is.

He must enjoy traveling to Wrexham often to watch the matches in person but he's got so many ventures that if he isn't doing the TV show, would he travel throughout the season?

Or have Rob and Ryan just gone maybe a handful of times each across the approximate 8 months of the season?

 FX show isn't going to pay him so much so maybe he gets a piece of the overseas sales, not to mention that the show helps sell all the merchandise, which could be a huge deal.  Remember they agonized over the black kit, spending 200k Pounds for something that the team will occasionally wear but there's a good chance they sell out and make a couple of million on that particular project.

 

 

[aghst]

The popular Men in Blazers podcast is now going to feature a weekly, "This week in Wrexham" episodes.

The first episode features an interview with Paul Mullin who has a memoir coming out.  Mullin talks about his youth in Liverpool and his years trying to make Liverpool.  I was half listening but it sounded like he might have been in the LFC academy.

But it contains spoilers about the current season.

[BetterButter]

‘Welcome To Wrexham’: Kickoff For Third Season Premiere Pushed Back

[Shrek]

Don't look if you don't want to know what is happening this season & the reason the show has been delayed.

Spoiler

Wrexham today secured back to back promotions & will play in L1 next season, they will play 1st placed Stockport in their final game of the season & with both teams promoted it should be a good party. Hollywood end to the season indeed.

 

[BetterButter]

 

[SoMuchTV]

I feel like I should post something so it’s clear someone is still watching. 

Some of those locker room scenes after the losing games were brutal!  

And that poor goalkeeper with the broken jaw!

I think I’ve seen spoilers for the season (if real life events are even spoilers) but I’ve tried to put them out of my mind as I watch.

 

 

[aghst]

They've done a good job so far.

Yeah it's not a big secret because news about the club is out all over the place.  A general soccer podcast that I listen to now include a weekly update on things doing to do with Wrexham FC so they've had on some of the players and also the manager.

They haven't gone back to the fans they featured so much in the first two seasons, at least not yet.

But it's clear they're selling out the stadiums and the owners are making money, if not directly from the team, all the TV rights, all the licensing (United Air Lines this season), probably tons of jerseys and other merchandise being sold all over the world.

They're going to do another tour of the US this summer, probably will make a lot from high-priced tickets.

What timing too, Ryan Reynolds is promoting a couple of new movies.

I think in last week's episodes, you had fans of the opposing team yell repeatedly to the cameras "fuck your documentary" which was funny.

But these are all fans of clubs in small towns wanting their clubs to do well, get a lot of support and attention.

 

 

[Friendly Lurker]

Binging this show and loving it. Just wondering if the lady fan from season 1 features again. She was a club volunteer, has long red hair with a fringe and in the last episode (where they miss out on promotion) they show her packing away her wrexham jerseys and saying something like 'there's always next year'. I liked her, but she seemed to disappear in season 2.

[Frost]

I just finished the episode where someone lays out the amount of money it takes to move up each "layer" in the league.  It averages $10M per jump until you get to the Championship to Premiere move.  That costs in the $150M - $200M range.  It was funny how they emphasized how paltry Rob and Ryna's wealth is next to the billionaires who own the Premiere clubs!

I do wonder if the fans are going to turn on Rob and Ryan at some point if the club fails to advance for a couple of years.  They do seem to be putting a lot of effort into promoting the city of Wrexham, not just the football club.  I'm not sure how Rob building a community park named after Ryan is a prank though.  Unless Rodney isn't his real middle name?

I teared up at the 100th birthday party for Arthur Massey.  The family has been featured in every season so it felt personal, not simply a PR piece.

[Shrek]

5 minutes ago, Frost said:

I just finished the episode where someone lays out the amount of money it takes to move up each "layer" in the league.  It averages $10M per jump until you get to the Championship to Premiere move.  That costs in the $150M - $200M range.  It was funny how they emphasized how paltry Rob and Ryna's wealth is next to the billionaires who own the Premiere clubs!

I do wonder if the fans are going to turn on Rob and Ryan at some point if the club fails to advance for a couple of years.  They do seem to be putting a lot of effort into promoting the city of Wrexham, not just the football club.  I'm not sure how Rob building a community park named after Ryan is a prank though.  Unless Rodney isn't his real middle name?

 

Wrexham were always a league 1/2 club and the fans are enjoying the ride but I'm also hoping the fans don't turn on them if they don't get much higher. As for the amount of money needed they have nowhere near enough between them to get much higher & will need to bring in bigger money which will more than likely dilute the amount of local stuff they do.

My club, Cardiff City, who I have supported for almost 50 years are a championship club who have gone up to the top tier twice in my time as a supporter and came straight back down both times. We have a billionaire owner who is disliked by the majority of the fans for what he did years ago by changing the shirt colour (it got changed back eventually) but he puts in millions every year just to keep the club running & compared to a lot of premier league clubs owners even he is a pauper. 

Eventually Ryan & Rob will need to take a pause & consolidate their position in the league rather than think they're going to get to the premier league. Even if they do get there the hardest part is going to be staying there, the leagues are littered with teams who made it & to the top only to go straight back down & into freefall obscurity. 

I wish them all the luck in the world until they are in our league. 😁

 

 

 

[aghst]

They use the show to cross promote like Ryan's Mint Mobile and the vodka brand.

Also Deadpool movie and so on.

I don't know if the ratings have held up.  Obviously now the club has a big worldwide following.  Both the men and women's clubs are going to tour the US in the summer.

And they got a United Air Lines sponsorship this year.

So they're bringing in millions compared to the few million that they said they spent to buy the club in season 1.

Of course that comes with greater costs and they have to buy better players as they get promoted.

If they get up to the Championship, that will be serious money but they will have to spend more on players just to be competitive because they're going against clubs in bigger cities who have a big fanbase to draw on.

I thought it was interesting, the regional rivalries, with the disdain on Wrexham from supporters of rival clubs -- "fuck your documentary."

That guy who ran that small bar is probably making good money, able to raise his prices.  They alluded to it a lot of people from around the world come and try to attend a game but they have to wait in long queues to buy a few tickets available.

They added that stand but there's been greater demand than supply for tickets.  And they're moving tons of jersey and other merchandise so I would think Rob and Ryan are way ahead financially by now.

And even if they aren't, they seem to be really enjoying themselves, coming to that little Welsh town whenever they can.

[Shrek]

1 minute ago, aghst said:

 

And even if they aren't, they seem to be really enjoying themselves, coming to that little Welsh town whenever they can.

It's a little Welsh city.

There are certain criteria you have to meet in the UK to become a city, you can't just call yourself a city like in the USA.

 

[aghst]

Yeah I wasn't trying to make legal distinctions.  I guess it's large enough.

They alluded to more activity for local businesses with the increased popularity of the club.

So at least on match days, the High Street should be flourishing?

[Shrek]

10 minutes ago, aghst said:

Yeah I wasn't trying to make legal distinctions.  I guess it's large enough.

They alluded to more activity for local businesses with the increased popularity of the club.

So at least on match days, the High Street should be flourishing?

It's nothing to do with size but it also hasn't been a city for long, only since 9/1/22 apparently.

Hopefully the city is much busier thanks to the success of the program, can't imagine they got many tourists before then as it's a bit of a pain to get to & off the usual touristy paths. 

Edited June 8 by Shrek

[aghst]

There are so many tourist magnets nearby, not to mention other Welsh cities which are far better known.

It's no wonder the club and city were struggling before the series started as depicted in season 1.

Ryan alluded to how it was difficult to get there, as he had to fly into London and do a long ground transit to get there.

Manchester is much closer but not too many direct flights from the US to Manchester.