Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Bought a Soccer Team and Made a Show—Here’s the Trailer for ‘Welcome to Wrexham’
People love underdog stories in sports. Whether it be Remember the Titans or Miracle, real-life sports stories always manage to bring hope and inspiration to viewers. The first trailer for Welcome to Wrexham promises a new underdog story about a football team owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham football team in 2020
Wrexham is a Welsh football club playing in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. While the team may not be as well-known as others, the team was founded in 1864, making it the third oldest professional football team in the world.
In Nov. 2020, Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, Free Guy) and American actor Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) bought the football team with the deal being completed in Feb. 2021. Despite not having met each other in person beforehand, Reynolds and McElhenney have managed to turn this team around somewhat. Since purchasing the club, Wrexham managed to reach the 2022 FA trophy final where they lost to Bromley 1-0.
‘Welcome to Wrexham’ trailer previews a documentary about this team under new management
The first trailer for Welcome to Wrexham was released by FX and showcases an inspiring documentary about the town of Wrexham and the passion the people have for the football club. Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney appear as outsiders to fans of the football team, but they appear to be welcoming the actors with open arms.
The trailer shows how important the team is to the community. Both the team and the community have their struggles, but they continue to beat the odds. Reynolds calls it an “underdog story” and it seems to be just that. Here is the official synopsis:
“In 2020, Rob and Ryan teamed up to purchase the 5th tier Red Dragons in the hopes of turning the club into an underdog story the whole world could root for. The worry? Rob and Ryan have no experience in football or working with each other. From Hollywood to Wales, from the pitch to the locker room, the front office to the pub, Welcome to Wrexham will track Rob and Ryan’s crash course in football club ownership and the inextricably connected fates of a team and a town counting on two actors to bring some serious hope and change to a community that could use it.”
‘Welcome to Wrexham’ is a real-life ‘Ted Lasso’
Many are comparing the trailer for Welcome to Wrexham to a real-life version of Ted Lasso. In Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis arrives to AFC Richmond as an inexperienced head coach who manages to bring hope and perseverance to a team and to a community. It’s an incredibly optimistic series that still deals with real struggles like mental health.
Welcome to Wrexham similarly sees Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney coming to this new town in the hopes to make the team great once more. The two have little experience dealing with football, but the town puts its faith in its hands. Welcome to Wrexham might not be as funny as Ted Lasso but it could be just as inspiring.
Welcome to Wrexham premieres on FX on August 24.
