All language subtitles for Welcome.To.Wrexham.S04E01.1080p.WEB.H264-SuccessfulCrab

♪ Don't forget where
you came from ♪

♪ Don't forget what
you're made of ♪

♪ The ones who were there ♪

♪ When no one else would care ♪

♪ Don't be afraid to cry now ♪

♪ Even when the world
comes crashing in ♪

♪ Don't forget to
sing when you win ♪

♪ Don't forget to
sing when you win ♪

And there
is the final whistle.

The fans are on the pitch.

Wrexham Football Club, wow.

Drink it in. Enjoy
yourselves tonight, Wrexham fans,

because you don't see back-to-back
promotions very often.

Yes. That was the
moment we clinched promotion.

The second pitch invasion on the
Racecourse in just 12 months.

I almost feel like I don't
deserve two promotions in two years.

- Unbelievable for Wrexham.
- Oh, my fucking God.

We're so fortunate that we keep
getting really, really lucky.

- Yeah.
- Yes.

We have an incredible foundation of
people that keep putting us into positions

where we can get lucky.

But we're getting lucky.

The one thing we did do that I
think we planned for and hoped for

was that sort of symbiotic
relationship with the community.

The feeling in
Wrexham and the club,

the high tide raising all boats.

It just feels, like over
the last four years,

it's been this roller
coaster of magic.

What's the chances
then, boys, this season?

We're back in League One.

We need to be thankful that we've
just been treated to two promotions.

- We know with our brains...
- Uh-huh.

"...Mid-table. Come
on, let's be sensible."

But in our hearts, there's that sneaking
feeling of, "Go on, let's do it again."

Why can't we do it?
Let's be honest.

Has anybody ever done, uh,
back-to-back-to-back promotions?

I don't think they have. I don't
think so. But why can't we do it?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

And Rob and Ryan, they like
chasing those records, don't they?

Getting
to League One,

is back to maybe our spiritual home
where lots of us feel we do belong,

but we've got plans
to upsize once again.

- Mark my words.
- Yeah.

I think we'll win the
league. Mark my words.

Back-to-back-to-back.

Back-to-back-to-back, what do
you reckon? Are they gonna do it?

- Yes.
- There's confidence.

Back-to-back-to-back, isn't it?

That's last year. So I want one
next year, back-to-back-to-back.

- More clean sheets.
- We're gonna win the league.

We're gonna win the League.

We've won it twice.
We can win it again.

How am I
going to be celebrating?

Probably by cheering

and basically destroying the downstairs
drawing room by shouting and screaming.

- Up the town.
- We're gonna fight to the end.

No, realistically,
we will lose. But...

- Don't put that in.
- Why would you say that?

- Fucking Al. Shut up.
- Al, come on.

- It's not gonna happen.
- We're gonna win every game.

Every game this season,
we're gonna win.

- All right, Shaun?
- All right, Phil. You all right?

Yeah, good. Yeah,
give me two minutes.

Hello.

Once the euphoria of last
season's tremendous performance

sort of subsided and the reality
of what ahead of us strikes,

you know, we're in a league this season
where we're no longer the biggest fish.

You know, in the
National League,

we were able to spend more than
anybody else to get promotion.

In League Two, we were able to spend as
much as anybody else to get promotion.

But we're now in the mainstream,

and that mainstream starts
to get really expensive.

If we are to get that
third promotion on a row,

this will certainly be the biggest
and most successful of them all.

Because, you know, we are coming from
behind now, rather than being in front.

But you look
at this league now,

this has got to be one of the strongest
League Ones for the last few years.

- Definitely.
- See, we're not the favorites.

We're not the big fish anymore.

We're not the big
fish anymore, no.

When you look through the
teams, we're up against Wycombe.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, you look two years, three years
ago, they were in the Championship.

We're going to Birmingham City.
I've got a ticket to Bolton.

Like, these are stadiums
that I was hoping

that we'd get an FA Cup
draw to go to those games.

League One this year is strong.

There's three teams relegated
from the Championship

who have got ambitions
of going straight back up

to probably where they believe
is their rightful place.

One of those is
Birmingham, a massive club.

Birmingham!

Big funding behind it, and their wage
bill will be probably 50% more than ours.

Yes!

Birmingham are absolute
favorites for promotion.

Birmingham on the rise!

Now, if Wrexham wanna get promoted to
Championship or eventually to Prem,

they're miles off it.

You've got eight ex-Premier
League teams in this league.

Wrexham are coming to a
league and a playing field

where teams have got
more money than Wrexham

without all the added
bonuses that Wrexham have got

through documentary and all
these sponsorship of TV deals.

Other teams have
just got that anyway.

And it's in!

More importantly, these
teams know how to win.

Unbelievable.

And we all know you
can't buy that part.

What does the club need to do as a whole
to make itself a Premier League entity

in however long that takes?

Sometimes you don't want to go
back-to-back-to-back. That sounds weird.

You need to settle in for a while,
figure out what you need to do

to get to the next level,

because relegation is always
looming, let me tell you.

You always have to worry about the
negative financial elements of that

before you lick your lips with
the prospect of promotion.

Before you get to
the Premier League,

you go through the Championship, one
of the toughest leagues in the world.

So, you know, you've got
to build infrastructure.

The stadium is gonna
have to be bigger.

There's no way that
the match day revenues

will fund anything that will
get you out of the Championship

as it currently stands.

You've got to build the
right people at the top.

Building out an academy
is absolutely crucial.

From "under six" all the way
up to "under 21s," "under 23s,"

the system-bringing
conveyor belt of talent

that can get you through tough
seasons as all of the great clubs do.

I think we are all dreaming of another
promotion, you know, back-to-back-to-back.

But you could be,
you know, there

without a proper training ground,
without the Kop stand renovated.

So, sometimes things
can come too quickly,

and I think infrastructure should be
top priority over another promotion.

Welcome back
to Lunchtime Live.

We've got some big news
concerning League One Burton.

The club have appointed Fleur
Robinson as their new chief executive.

That follows three years in
the same role at Wrexham.

Chief Executive Fleur
Robinson is set to leave the club.

You ask how
successful she's been.

Well, we've been promoted twice.

So overall, her legacy will be,

"Thank you for bringing us the club to
this point." She did the hard yards.

Understand that the area
of biggest growth for the club

is going to be in North America.

The teams around Rob and Ryan began
the search to bring a new CEO in

who understood the American
market, understood football,

and eventually identified
the American candidate.

News away from the pitch.

New CEO, Mike Williamson, on
board is very exciting, isn't it?

You've got someone who was chief
financial officer at Inter Milan.

Now that is not a job
for the faint-hearted.

Miami as well. D.C. United.
This is one of the big guys.

You know, you've worked
at soccer at every level,

worked over in Italy for
a while at Inter Milan.

- They're drawing enormous crowds.
- Wow.

The philosophy, you talk about some of
these global brands, European football...

Sure, they've been around
for 100, 110 years,

but they started as
community organizations.

That skill set, relevant experience
both in the US and in Europe.

He's been involved in
stadium development,

which is obviously a big part of what
the club needs to do going forward.

You know, so they felt he was
the best person for the job.

Michael's very innovative
and understands

how to, you know, create
the infrastructure

to match the
feeling in the town,

but more so in the global scene.

We knew that the competition
was going to increase

as it always does as
you go up a league.

And we knew we had to expand and bring
in the right team that can help us grow.

I want to start by giving,
you know, some compliments

for what you guys
have accomplished.

I would say that he
comes with a word of warning.

There have been some grumbles
on it. He's from America.

I get what you mean. Some
guy who, living half the world away,

is giving me instructions,
tell me how to do my job.

And I will never use the word
"soccer," just so you guys know.

For me, it's football.

And the thing that shocked me most
about him is that, you know, 6'2" face.

But I don't know.
What, 5'7 "? 5'7".

'Cause I only saw him on Zoom

until, you know, weeks into
his tenure, and it's just...

I like to collect people
who are shorter than me...

Yeah.

...just because there's
not that many in the club.

So what's the name of
the club that Daddy works for now?

A dragon.

A dragon. That's
right. And the name of him?

Remember? Wrexham.

Wrexham.

My name is Michael Williamson.
I am the CEO of Wrexham AFC.

I'm actually an
accountant by trade,

but ultimately have been in
football for over 20-some years now.

I went from US Soccer Foundation

to become the CFO of DC
United, a team in MLS,

and then eventually ended
up somehow in Inter Milan.

I was there
for six or seven years

and ended up finding my wife there,
having my daughter born in Milan.

Goal!

- Yay, Benny!
- High five.

My next role I was looking for was
something where I was building something.

That it wasn't just about
a quick flip of an asset,

but actually trying to build
something for the club,

for the communities
and for my family.

Hey, I see you.

I visited Wrexham during the
final game of last season

just to get a sense
of what it's like.

No one knew me. I walked
around in the club shop.

I went around. I just watched everyone
and the excitement and the buzz.

And you can see their passion.

But the best part... The best
part was after the match,

everyone kind of went, you
know, to different things

to celebrate the promotion.

I just walked down into the town center,
and I saw how alive that town center was.

I've been at all levels of
football. That doesn't exist.

That just helped me
understand and appreciate

that this is for them
and for the community.

Yeah!

Moving the entire
family here, having a five-year-old,

you know, having a wife who,
English is her second language.

It has really been difficult.

It was not easy, but on the other hand,
I think it was the right decision.

- Definitely, yep, we're in.
- Yes.

There's a lot of expectations.

There's a lot of pressure
and just a lot to do here.

We've had some amazing momentum

We've gone from being a non-league
club to now being in League One.

What we also have to do is
support the growth that we've had

due to the success on the pitch.

So for that reason, we need
to invest in different areas.

Our performance on the
pitch is remarkable,

but off the pitch, we need
to grow as an organization.

We can arrive in Championship.
We deserve to be there.

But it takes just as much work off the
pitch to be able to reach Championship

as it does the 11
players on the pitch.

We need a training facility for the
first team and the women's first team.

Players come to the stadium, get changed,
get in their cars, drive to Colliers,

train, get back in their cars to
come back here to shower and change.

You know, we need
employees, staff.

People who were with us when
we were in National League

are now having to try to take
on five, six different jobs.

That's just in League One.

Imagine as we go
to Championship.

Imagine as we go
to Premier League.

I think Man U, Arsenal, I think
they're around 1,000 employees.

If we're getting up in
Premier League in three years,

that's probably my worst
nightmare in some ways.

Because I think we have a lot to
do before we're ready for that.

When we're in Premier League,

we're gonna have
football players

looking to drive
their Lamborghinis

and their Ferraris
down Crispin Lane.

And that is a departure from
what Wrexham community is about.

How do we address that?

Are we going to say, "Okay, yes,
we want the best footballers,"

or do we try to create a philosophy
consistent with the community around us?

And that's gonna be a balance
that's gonna be challenging

because the community's expecting
us, once we get to Premier League,

to be competitive.

The football club part's easy.

Building a city is
the challenging part.

How do we continue to develop
and help grow this community?

That is the biggest pressure

because I know that's
what Rob and Ryan expect.

This is a difficult
industry because,

you know, it is a
lot based on results,

and it's not gonna be easy, and
it's going to take some time.

Candidly, with my daughter
about to turn five,

you know, I don't
wanna be moving around.

So I'm hoping for my
family side of things,

for my professional
side of things,

I will be able to
stay with the club,

but, at the same time,

anything can happen.

I want to
talk about transfers.

There's been nothing.
No activity whatsoever.

If there is, you know, the possibility
of doing three promotions in a row,

you're gonna need a
statement signing.

We're going into a
really tough division.

We've got players who've never
played at this level consistently.

We've got other players who've
played at this level a few years ago.

We wanna maintain the core
of what we've created,

but the challenge is,
can we add to that?

Come on, then. Get
it going. Punch it in. Good. Good.

We've got a lot of
decisions to make in terms of

continuing to bring the
right people into the club.

I can't see us being able to get near
the likes of Birmingham, Rotherham,

who've spent millions
of pounds on players.

Our previous transfer
record was 300,000.

They're spending that
on a backup goalkeeper.

If we look at the
goalkeeper, that is a pertinent issue.

You know, Arthur
Okonkwo's loan has ended,

and it doesn't sound like
he will be coming back.

I said to Rob and Ryan
that the one player

who would be a huge investment
for the club going forward

is Arthur.

Of course, you know, there's gonna be a
number of clubs vying for his signature.

Is Big Arthur
gonna stay, do you think?

I hope he signs. At
the moment, I just don't know.

Phil Parkinson said
Wrexham would, quote,

"Give everything that
we've got to get you back."

James McClean, under one
of your Instagrams, wrote,

"Sign the contract, big boy."

Ordinarily, for a player

of that potential and that
age, you'd probably have to pay

one, maybe two million pounds.

I feel like we've
seen the last of him, you know,

just 'cause he's got
that amount of interest

from Premier League
and Championship.

It goes back to what does
Arthur want as a 22-year-old keeper?

Does he want to play, or is he happy
to be on the bench for a little bit?

He'll walk into our team, but he
won't walk into a Championship team.

Maybe. Maybe.

Anyway, that's just
me being a dreamer.

Hi, Wrexham fans, I'm back.

Can't wait to see you all in League
One next season. Up the town.

Okonkwo!

♪ Arthur, Arthur Okonkwo ♪

It was a long
negotiation process.

I did have other
clubs higher up.

I wanted to come
back to Wrexham,

and I think the fans
are a huge part in that.

Okonkwo!

The confidence they gave me, that can
bring out the most out of a player.

That was a huge factor for me.

- Hold on.
- Well, isn't this fortuitous?

I swear my next
call was to Arthur.

You right, Rob?

I'm just so glad that you're as
invested in Wrexham as we are in you.

Been invested since I joined,

so hopefully bring some
success this season.

I swear to God this
happened to me.

I was in Los Angeles, and I
was walking down the street,

and someone turned to me
and said, "Up the town."

I said, "Hey, up the town." He
goes, "You better sign Arthur."

This a guy in Los Angeles.

I was like, "I'm trying,
man. Like, I'm trying."

So congratulations.
Welcome to Wrexham.

All right, Mulls,
so just an annual catch-up,

if that's all right with you.

Just to go through background.
You're not asthmatic?

- No.
- No. Any other chest problems?

- Any...
- You had the injury last year, didn't you?

Chest. Yeah, my
ribs, last year.

But there's no
ongoing issues with that?

Nothing before that, no.

We know about the back problem at
the moment. Any previous back issues?

- Before the last three years? No. No.
- Yeah.

The last three years, I've
always had this issue with my back.

Herniated disc,
slipped disc, whatever.

And the cartilage was basically
pressing on the nerve every time,

so it was constant shooting pains
down my legs and stuff, and...

I couldn't really...

Well, I could sprint,
but it always hurt.

So I had to find a way to get on
with it and just play with the pain.

Basically coping with it fine,

and then going into summer, it
was hurting more than usual.

Take some deep
breaths in there if you can.

I got it scanned
at the end of May.

The surgeon, he told me it
had obviously doubled in size

and I was at risk of losing
all feeling in my left leg

if I carried on.

You know, a big
decision needed to be made.

And, obviously, the
medical professionals

decided that he needed
an operation on his back.

Obviously, the downside
of that was gonna be that

he's gonna miss the whole preseason
and the start of the season as well.

Wanna lie back on it and
I'll move it back slowly?

Getting there easier... a lot
easier if I just do it myself.

There is no time frame
on Paul Mullin's return.

It means, Nate, that for
the second season in a row,

Wrexham will most likely
go into the League campaign

without Paul Mullin
starting up front.

Wrexham are heading
over to North America again.

This time for the Wrex
Coast preseason tour.

California is up first, Andy.

Yeah,
excited about this.

Women's side will be joining
the men for the first time.

I don't think they've ever
played a match on US soil.

Yeah,
they deserve it.

The women's side have
been building steadily,

and it'll be great to
build their profile too.

- What's up, Wrex?
- Of course the team

being here in the United
States, we just wanted to

show you the love that this
country has for you all.

We're here at Andy Cannon's
housewarming party...

Very soon into us arriving to
LA, we had a red carpet event.

We all were suited and booted.

It's getting real
now we're out here.

The excitement is
starting to kick in now.

We have really,
really high ambitions.

We need to take advantage
of what we have built.

Build on that success,

And that means building
our large, global fanbase.

Going from non-league to League
One is much less of a gap

than it is going from League One

to the Championship
to the Premier League.

And
there's the final whistle

and exactly what we hoped
that this match would be.

Sixty-three places
separating Chelsea and Wrexham.

There's
players on Chelsea

that make more than the
value of the Wrexham club.

Oh!
It's a great finish!

Playing against
the Premiership teams,

felt we acquitted
ourselves really well.

A 2-2 draw
against Premier League opposition.

We are going to compete.
Well, we're hoping to.

The Whitecaps have a friendly match
scheduled this weekend with Wrexham AFC,

the Welsh football club co-owned
by Vancouver actor Ryan Reynolds.

Wrexham playing the Vancouver Whitecaps
was one of those "pinch me" moments

that I will never, as
long as I live, forget.

BC Place is the stadium
that I went to as a kid.

I've been to BC Place maybe
a hundred times in my life,

and I've always sat way up in
the nosebleeds with my dad.

And here I am, in BC
Place with my daughter.

And I'm in the owner's box and
then, you know, spanking 'em.

That felt pretty good too.

Hits the far
post, and what a header.

...foot towards goal,
and it's a third.

Back in the middle. On
the volley. What a goal!

- Jordan Davies. Nice.
- Jordan.

This team looks pretty good.

Welcome to the first ever
Wrexham AFC Women's Wrex Coast Tour.

Let's hear it!

I just
want to say thank you

for helping us kick off this
amazing and historic tour.

Going out to the US is
just an absolute dream.

We want to challenge ourselves.

We want to see where we fare
in relation to teams in the US.

The profile of players out in the US,
they're very athletic. That shows.

Goal for SoCal FC.

They work on things
technically so much,

because they have the opportunity
and resources to do so.

More than what we do.

Tigres Femenil,
six. Wrexham AFC Women, one.

We struggled in the games, and
we weren't where we wanted to be.

I remember Rob telling us

it was looking like it was gonna
be a big attendance at Portland,

and I was like, "What
do you see as big?"

And he said, "We're
looking at 10,000."

I've got goose
bumps walking out.

To be doing this for women's sport and to
be giving little, young girls in Wrexham

something to look forward to is something
that I'm so proud of and grateful of.

But then, yeah, we were quickly
kind of humbled to the fact,

okay, these guys are here to show
us what American football is about.

Just felt like we never really
kind of got into the game.

We would be lying

if we said we weren't
disappointed with those results.

Nobody goes out to
lose, but, you know,

the lessons and how much we've learnt
from that is invaluable, really.

Visibility for Wrexham
Women is important,

and it's important for
women's football in general.

It's a rising game,

and the more supporters that
the game can get, the better.

Okay, they're of much better quality,
but we know where we need to be now.

You know, we're resilient
as Wrexham Women.

We just... honestly, we
can't wait to get going now.

We just don't want
to get beat again.

Our women's team faced some
serious challenges on the US tour,

But something that was made very
clear was the stark difference

both developmentally and economically
in Welsh women's football

versus a lot of women's
football worldwide.

We've got some
catching up to do.

Nonetheless, the women
learned a lot on this trip.

They even learned a little bit
about how to deal with controversy,

with Rosie at the center of one.

I got asked the question
of what do I think of LA?

I thought in my head, "Uh, well, I've
only flew to LA, been in the hotel.

I've not really
seen LA that much.

Right, just give
them something."

I am now stood here
in LA, like, come on.

Have you seen the
amazing looking cars,

- the buildings, the people?
- I know.

- It's beautiful. It is not like Wrexham.
- Overwhelming.

You know, I was walking down the street
and there was, like, these flowers

- and there's, like, a park of cactus.
- Yeah.

You wouldn't see that at Wrexham
'cause unfortunately it gets destroyed,

but out here, there's
so much respect,

and I've got a lot of respect for people
that respect their country, you know?

Full disclaimer,
no cactuses were harmed

in the making of
today's episode.

Yeah, I get the
joke, it's just...

You can tell by my face, it's
stone, what I thought about it.

Can say from my experiences, I've
never seen a beaten up flower bed.

It's so hard for me as a Wrexham
girl to kind of defend what she said,

and I can understand why people are
angry at her, but we all make mistakes,

and I think she recognizes
possibly she used the wrong words.

But again, none of us are prepared
for that and the aftermath was tough.

We knew the media could be a rough place,
but the scale of the reaction was scary.

I understand people wanting to be
protective of their own cities.

However, I do slightly think that it was
sort of an opportunity to bash somebody

A, who's associated with the
football club, B, who's a woman

and C, who they feel should
be taken down a peg or two

because Rosie's rarely short of
confidence in her own abilities.

What hurt me the
most, because I was hurt,

was I'd let myself down, but I felt
like I'd let the people of Wrexham down.

Like, I live in Wrexham. I
bought a house in Wrexham.

I love Wrexham and the community of
people that made me feel so supported

and so secure and so
safe that I felt like,

in 30 seconds, I had just
thrown that all away.

It gets your hackles up a
bit, you know, I won't lie,

but it's turned into
a bit of a witch hunt.

You know, daft stuff like, "She
should never wear this shirt again."

- You're talking about someone...
- Yeah.

...who has contributed more than a
hundred goals for the women's team.

All I wanna do now is be
better at my football,

show people that you can be
proud of me again, you know?

And I will go out and prove that
I'll do Wrexham right again.

Hello.

Hello,
Humphrey. How are you?

Uh, nervous.

- Nervous? Why you nervous?
- Full of trepidation,

- 'cause you're gonna test me.
- Tell us why we're here.

Thanks to the generosity
of our co-owners,

I am running a marathon in April, to
raise money for Wrexham Miners Project.

Yeah, so I'm patron of
Wrexham Miners Project,

fantastic charity in Wrexham that is
preserving Wrexham's mining heritage,

but also in the here and now is doing
amazing things in the community.

And unfortunately, at their
annual general meeting,

I said that I would make sure
the club raised £250,000,

and if we were in danger of not
doing that, I would run a marathon.

Unfortunately, the
bosses got wind of this.

Actually, Humph, we have an agenda
item that we'd like to kick off with.

Yeah, we'd really like
to discuss this, um...

The aim is £250,000.

I'm hoping we'll get there without
me having to run a marathon,

which is the elements of it that I'm a
bit nervous may have to come to pass,

but if that's what it takes,
then you heard it here first.

- We wanna help.
- We're going to donate £26,200 each

and cheer you on every step of that
marathon you pledged on camera to run.

- Right.
- Great.

I suppose you're gonna film
the marathon too? Yeah, yeah.

I think we all know
the answer to that.

You're in a documentary.

For them it's ideal. The
Venn diagram is a circle.

They get to do something
good and make me suffer.

- What marathon are you running?
- Manchester Marathon.

- Manchester Marathon. And when is it?
- April 27th.

Have you got any goals in mind?

Finishing.

- Finishing.
- Yeah.

- Without falling down dead.
- Okay.

What did you run
it in last year?

I ran 4:34.

Yeah, you ran it
hungover, I believe.

Slightly.

Okay, 4:33, that's
what I'm aiming for.

Okay.

Listen, you can walk it.

And you still get a medal, and you
still get a little pat on the back.

And then for your weight, we need
you down into your boxers please.

- No.
- Please.

I... No. I'm not doing it.
This is a very light T-shirt.

It would be good, right,
because what we can do is,

we can have a look at you now,

and then we can see your transformation
in a couple of months' time.

I hate this. Okay, fine. Fine.

If he goes under four hours,

I will, on camera, massage his
feet for 15 straight minutes.

266.6. It's the mark
of the double devil.

That is a devil, isn't it?

Bare hands, no gloves.
No washing his feet. Nothing.

I'll raw-dog his
feet. With my hands.

Test his aerobic fitness.

The
test begins in five seconds.

From the first beep you can go.

Yeah.

Drive, drive. Let's go.

Come on, come on. come on.

Jesus Christ.

Much quicker this, Humphrey, come
on. You're gonna have to go quicker.

- A little bit quicker this one.
- One.

It feels rubbish. I
hate it. I hate them.

I hate Rob and Ryan.

That's not got much to do with running
really. It's just getting to know them.

- I don't like it.
- What's the temperature?

- You're going in.
- Hey, Kevin! Get off me!

And after this I'm, like,
ready for the marathon, right?

Jesus Christ.

Forward.

Hand brake off.

I'm Rebecca. I was able to
start a small business this year

called Meet Me in the Morning.

I'm a mobile barista.
Coffee shop on wheels.

Let's get a drink, and
we'll be ready for anything.

I tow a horse box,

and I serve coffee, hot drinks,
and a selection of baked goods.

- This is my mum at the back, Joy.
- Hi.

- And then this is my sister, Caitlin.
- Hello.

I grew up in
Wrexham, went to school here.

And to be there is wonderful.

I always dreamed of
having my own business.

I always wanted to do
something of my own.

In university, I did
hospitality business management.

I have such a passion
for genuine hospitality.

That was my dream, to open a restaurant
where people could have a good time

because then you don't
feel like you're at work.

- We do work well together, don't we?
- Yeah, we do.

We have to in a space like this.

Like everybody my age really, we all went
to Manchester or Liverpool for university.

So many of us didn't come back.

Everyone's got
jobs other places.

But that was never
gonna be home.

Like, I didn't have my people there,
and I knew I wanted to come home.

But it's always been a theme.

If people want opportunities, they need
to be somewhere else rather than Wrexham.

But that just is not
the case anymore.

To be able to do what she wants to do,
very few people get that opportunity.

This is how, Mum.
This. The support.

Well, of course we support you.

We are Wrexham fans. If
we can stand by that team

in the pouring rain on a Tuesday
night, we can support anybody.

I didn't have the
money to go and buy a shop.

So I thought if
I started mobile,

I could build up the funds to
move into a space like that.

I never imagined
that the horse box

would be going into one of the oldest
football stadiums in the world.

Ever. To be invited
in is beyond an honor.

There we go. Thank you.

Tourism in Wrexham had this huge
boom, and it's been wonderful.

How long are you here for?

We leave tomorrow.
We did Scotland...

Now you walk through town,
so many more restaurants have opened.

People are so proud now to
say, "I'm from Wrexham."

There's a hot chocolate
for you there, madam.

It has been very scary.

And I think there was a lot of times
I was thinking, "What am I doing?"

Like the day I left my job.

It's just the risk of those
cynical people being proven right.

I didn't want to fail. But touch
wood, so far, yeah, it's worked.

And I'm... I can't
recommend it enough

that if you've got something,
you just need to do it.

Definitely my heart is here,
this is where I want to be.

The community have
been behind me.

It would have never have been the success
that it has without the people of Wrexham.

There we go, sir.

I've been so pleased to
be stood in that horse box

when people come to
me and be supportive.

Why am I crying?

It's so daft. It's really
hard talking about yourself.

Oh, yes, definitely.

For a business like mine,
perhaps I've prospered more so

because of the increased
footfall in the town.

Obviously, for now,
the town has taken off.

Go on, Wrexham!

But there is a worry that
what if it just stops?

What if people move on to the
next thing and that isn't Wrexham?

- Up the town!
- Got to go in.

Okay, who's got
opening day jitters? I do.

- Wrexham!
- Same here.

We can't afford to stumble out
the gates like we did last season.

Not with what we're up
against in League One.

Hi. How are you doing, buddy?

I'm
good. How are you?

Oh, my God. The hardened
muscle. Like, what is it?

I don't work out. I just
fucking wake up and talk.

This is natural?

One of our owners, and I can't
remember which one it is, is Deadpool,

the popular comic
book character.

Ooh, what's
this we have over here?

In the most recent film,

a number of cameos were
executed by Wrexham AFC players.

Paul Mullin and Ollie
Palmer were both in it.

Ollie played Bar
Patron Number One,

- and Paul played Welshpool.
- Fuck off, cunt.

His costume's a
bit more recognizable.

Big Welsh flag emblazoned
across the Deadpool suit.

So Ryan arranged for it to be transferred
into the keeping of the football club.

- Ladies and gentlemen, Welshpool.
- Wow.

That's gonna have some fun,
drunken nights in here, I think.

- Is this the actual costume? Wow.
- That is the actual suit, yeah.

Unwashed,
of course, yeah.

Probably used it as a bathroom.

No, Paddy. No. I don't...
I don't even care. Don't care.

Don't wanna be in a Marvel film.

Uh, of course I'm disappointed.

I imagine they just felt they
couldn't get enough, like, red leather

to make a suit
big enough for me.

Hey,
it's Wrexham time.

Wrexham against
Wycombe Wanderers.

Rob and Ryan are here
today, of course.

There's a sort of increased sense of
jeopardy as we return to League One.

- League One!
- League One!

League One
will be physically harder.

A lot of people say they'd be happy
with consolidation this season

because we are going to
be tested in League One.

Hi, everybody.

Thank you for gathering. It's always
fun to get an email invite to a Zoom

that says "Urgent.
Must make a decision."

That's not ominous.

- Yeah.
- What's up?

Where are we? What's going on?

Yeah, thank you guys.

I'm joined today with our
finance director, Steve Phillips.

So, listen,

the reality is League One
is really fucking difficult.

We kind of need to understand what our
goals and our strategies are going to be.

There's a couple of things that we can
do. Okay, we arrived to League One.

We could stay where we are,
stabilize, build some foundation.

I can find a balanced
budget for you as well.

But the risk is we end up
being stuck in League One.

Now, the other thing we could do is,
you know, we build on all this momentum

that you guys have
already created here.

Invest in all the areas at the same time
to give ourselves a competitive chance.

Get back-to-back-to-back
promotions.

- I think it's time to just...
- Let me, kind of

- Hey, Michael.
- Show you...

You can ripe off the
Band-Aid. We are grown men.

Yeah, I'll just go ahead
and rip off the Band-Aid

and hopefully have a
job at the end of this.

Um, in the League One
stabilize scenario,

yeah, you probably break even to lose
a million or so over a couple of years.

But you probably never
arrive to championship

for at least five, ten years
down the road, if you're lucky.

So that's basically like a marathon
approach. You're building the foundations

and then hopefully trying to arrive
to championship, in a longer period.

Now, if you wanna go for the
back-to-back-to-back promotions,

we have to sprint to
get everything together.

It only works if you're
also investing in the cup,

which is going to be
a very large number.

It also only works if you're
investing in the academy,

which is gonna be a couple million pounds
to have the facilities for the academy.

We have to replace the pitch.

I know last time I think it
was, like, £100,000 or £200,000.

Well, guess what? This time
we're looking at £1.7 million.

£1.7 million for grass. Okay.

Is the grass like human hair or something?
How is it that expensive? I don't...

It's what
they call a stitch pitch.

It's a blend of natural grass
and hybrid, so it lasts longer.

It's more durable, you can
have more matches on it.

Underground heating system
as well as improved drainage

so that you wouldn't have a situation
where you have matches canceled.

Can... Michael, can you just break it up
in the simplest terms for my actor brain?

Like, what would we be writing
a check for in League One

versus making a push to
go back-to-back-to-back?

It's at the 50 million level.

Oh.

50 million.

Bottom line,
the big question is,

do we essentially want to do
the most responsible thing,

which is build a team that's
sustainable in League One?

Or do we wanna put all of
our chips on the table,

and make a push to get promoted
and get in the championship?

Yeah, and if you get it wrong, that
becomes a very expensive wrong decision.

There's, like, two kind
of modes of thinking here.

One is spend, you know, a few
years trying to save some money.

The other one is just, like, eye-watering,
financially crushing annihilation.

Um...

You know, one is to continue, you know,
with your dream of back-to-back-to-back.

Or do you actually just
slow up a little bit?

But remember, whichever you
do, it all comes with risks.

Wrexham!
Wrexham! Wrexham!

Wrexham! Wrexham!
Wrexham! Wrexham!

Here they
are. Wrexham and Wycombe

to start off the
League One season.

I will never forget when Rob
said that our objective is

to get to the Premier League when
we were in the National League.

We're gonna take Wrexham
to the Premier League.

- That's what they're gonna lean on.
- That's the goal, isn't it?

Why not dream big?

And now we're in League One,
on our way to the championship.

And I just say let's... let's
go for it. Let's fucking do it.

Oh, my God. That is
music to my ears.

I... Honestly, I really had no
idea which way you were gonna go.

Historically, you've always
been the more practical one.

But I like it. I like this Ryan.
Let's keep betting on the town.

Yeah, we wanna fucking push.

Let's go for it.
What could go wrong?

Being this risky is a gambit,

and I think that in and of
itself is the engine to success.

Yes, it's risky, but
it's also strategic.

There is a, "Holy shit,
we have to pull this off

if we're gonna make this
kind of investment."

We are all in.
Everything is levered to the hilt.

And when you put all of
your chips on the table,

you better come to win because
we cannot afford to stumble.