Key Takeaways
- Wrexham AFC, owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenny, has seen dramatic improvements since their takeover, including on-field success, new facilities, a major shirt sponsorship deal with TikTok, and a TV show called Welcome to Wrexham.
- Welcome to Wrexham season 2 will air on September 12, 2023, and can be watched on FX in the US or streamed on Hulu with a subscription. In the UK, it can be streamed on Disney Plus with a subscription.
- Season 2 of Welcome to Wrexham will likely focus on Wrexham's push for promotion back to the English Football League, their FA Cup run, off-field developments like the Kop end redevelopment, and personal stories of players like Jordan Davies and Ollie Palmer.
The footballing world could scarcely believe it when Deadpool star, Ryan Reynolds, and Rob McElhenny joined together to purchase Wrexham AFC (Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam in native Welsh), a football club in north Wales.
A lot has changed for the club since then. Its fortunes on the pitch have improved dramatically thanks to some much-needed investment, facilities have been improved, the club signed a major shirt sponsorship deal with one of the largest companies in the world - TikTok - and the club got its very own TV show: Welcome to Wrexham.
The first season of the show has wrapped up now, but there is a second, and it's launch is imminent.
When will season 2 air?
Welcome to Wrexham season 2 is will air on Wednesday 12 September 2023.
Where can I watch/stream Welcome to Wrexham?
In the US, you can watch the show on FX, or you can stream it on Hulu. The latter, of course, requires a subscription.
Elsewhere - in the UK - you can stream the show on Disney Plus, again, you'll need a subscription.
Welcome to Wrexham season 2 trailer
What are the likely plot points of season 2?
The good thing about predicting what will be highlighted in season two is that - if you follow Wrexham's games and results, or follow its major off-field developments - you get a pretty clear picture of what to expect from the docuseries.
From a footballing perspective, there are a couple of main threads working their way through the 2022/23 season. One of those is - of course - the club's push to get promoted back to the English Football League. It played out in dramatic style over the course of the season as Wrexham went head-to-head with Notts County at the top of the National League, before eventually triumphing with the two teams separated by just four points at the end, and both finishing the season with unbelievable three-digit points tallies and a goal difference over 70.
The other big footballing story was the team's FA Cup run. Wrexham set up a fourth-round tie with English Championship high-flyers, Sheffield Utd. A game which was as dramatic as they come; with Wrexham leading up until the final minutes, The Blades drew level and forced a replay which they duly won, again, with two very late goals to send Wrexham out of the oldest competition in world football.
Off the field, Wrexham has started work developing the 'Kop' end of the Racecourse Ground and has demolished the old Kop already. The new Kop will add around 5,500 seats to the stadium, making room for even more fans. It had intended to use funds from the government to help part-fund the redevelopment, but those finances were never approved. And so, the Kop development - for now - will go ahead without that injection of cash.
As for player stories, there's the emotional story of Jordan Davies and his partner, Kelsey Edwards, welcoming a baby in May 2023. This is particularly poignant due to the couple's previous still-birth in 2021 which made up part of the story in S1 of Welcome to Wrexham.
There's also the story of striker, Ollie Palmer, setting up his own clothing range called WXM, which launched casual clothing lines and sells them through its own online store, direct. The mission was to create a brand that made great quality clothing, with designs from local people and sold at an affordable price. Wrexham also somehow convinced former Premier League goalkeeper, Ben Foster to come out of retirement to help with their push for promotion.
What was the story in S1?
In season one we get a first glimpse of what it was like behind the scenes as McElhenny and Reynolds take over the football club. It's the pair's first forray into sports together, but they take over a club struggling in the bottom tiers of English football.
Wrexham AFC - although a Welsh club - is in the English football club system, where it's sitting just outside the bottom tier English Football League (EFL) in the Vanarama National League. It's been outside the EFL tiers since 2008, having spent the 87 years previous within the lower divisions of the Football League.
Reynolds and McElhenny's desire to buy a historic club that was down on its luck led them to Wrexham, a club formed in 1864, and one which has been dogged by financial trouble and uninspiring on-field performances for much of the 21st century so far.
In season one we see the two's focus on turning things around, both on and off the pitch, with the team making it to the play-off final and getting incredibly close to a promotion back to the EFL. The season climaxes with the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium, with the club playing in front of 25,000 of its own fans.
Cast and stars
With this being a docuseries about a football club, the number of people making an appearance in the shows is - quite frankly - huge. So we won't list them all. Here are some of the bigger names, and faces you'll see most often through the series.
- Ryan Reynolds - co-owner, Wrexham AFC
- Rob McElhenny - co-owner, Wrexham AFC
- Humphrey Ker - Executive Director, Wrexham AFC
- Phil Parkinson - Manager, Wrexham AFC
- Shaun Harvey - Advisor to Board, Wrexham AFC
- Wayne Jones - owner, The Turf
- Fleur Robinson - CEO, Wrexham AFC
- Paul Mullin - forward, Wrexham AFC
- Jordan Davies - midfielder, Wrexham AFC
What do I need to know?
Wrexham AFC plays its home games at the Racecourse Ground - one of the oldest stadiums in the world - which holds a maximum of around 10,000 fans. Since the takeover, it's almost at capacity every single week with the club becoming more popular than ever.
McElhenny and Reynold's ownership of the football club started in classic Ryan Reynolds form with some pretty hilarious ads and TV spots. The spoof Ifor Williams Trailer company ad was a particular highlight, as was a spot in which the pair first announced the Welcome to Wrexham show, with a Welsh speaker 'translating' for them.
In the first season under new ownership, Wrexham's away shirt was designed as a tribute to McElhenny in the style of the Philadelphia Eagles jersey. It was dark green and featured 'It's Always Sunny' stitched into the back of the collar as a reference to the actor's most well-known show.
For the latest season, that's been replaced by a blue shirt which has 'Ymdrech Mwyafswm' on the back which translates to 'Maximum Effort' - a tip of the hat to Ryan Reynolds' production company of that name.
McElhenny's endeared himself to the fans - and to the Welsh nation in general - by learning to speak Welsh; learning how to pronounce the longest place name in Wales and the words to the national anthem, belting it out passionately at the FA Trophy final at the end of his first season in charge and - in doing so - raising the profile of the language and the country.
In season 2 we'll see the club - yet again - attempting to gain promotion back to the EFL and, if early season form is anything to go by, it'll be more than possible.