Welcome to Wrexham – Season 2 Episode 3 “Nott Yet” Recap & Review

Nott Yet 

The Wrexham Red Dragons are drawing attention, and not all of it is positive. The show itself has proved to be responsible for much of the club’s increased popularity, and fans of other teams in the league are getting angry. Some think the Hollywood money has tainted the purity of the club, even the whole league.

A local man explains that football is so popular in Wrexham, that the stadium had a physical radio line connected to the local hospital so patients could listen from their beds. He reiterates that Rob and Ryan’s focus has been on revitalizing a community that had lost faith in itself.

A montage of the team scoring goal after goal ensues, highlights of their 7-game win streak. They shoot to the top spot in the league, but Notts County rises with them, just a pace behind. Their closeness in points and wins breeds a bit of a healthy rivalry. Coach Phil Parkinson keeps the team sharp by watching footage of Notts County games in preparation for their upcoming match against them.

The Declan Swans return. This time, they’re working on a song dedicated to Paul Mullin, inspired by a stadium chant. They’ve been doing well locally, ever since their hit song in season one. We get to sit in on the recording session and hear a bit of the new song.

Wrexham goes on the road for Notts County, away. Ollie Palmer describes the routine a bit, reiterating the importance of focusing on the game ahead. Many fans follow on the road as well. The dedication is real. Over 2000 Wrexham fans at an away game on a weeknight was unthinkable just a couple of years ago.

Langstaff is the Notts County goal guy, and he scores early. Highlights of the game splash across the screen with field-level cameras. Drama. “Terrible first half,” sigh the Wrexham fans. They do play a better second half, but it’s just not enough. Wrexham loses 1-0. Their winning streak is over.

The rest of the National League has an absolute field day with the loss. Negative messages crowd the dejected team on the bus ride back. Rob McElhenney understands the climate of jeers and anger, but it does get under his skin when people go after the city of Wrexham itself. “They can f*** right off.” Ultimately they feel a little bad, and Ryan makes the point that it’s one thing to rally against the Hollywood elite, but to root against the town borders on useless cynicism.

A streamer and Bolton Wanderers supporter echoes Rob and Ryan’s sentiment exactly. Other fans from around the National League wish Wrexham luck, on camera. All’s fair in love and football. During the credits, Paul Mullin listens to his song by the Declan Swans in their studio.

The Episode Review

This episode is rather clever. After a full season, loads of popularity, and millions of dollars thrown into Wrexham AFC, it’s only natural to wonder if it might all be a bit unfair for other clubs. This episode dives head first into the skepticism. It’s another example of humility and self-awareness from the showrunners. However, the impact the show itself has had on the club is unmistakable.

The fact that money talks even in sports, where skill and strategy seem like they should be the only factors, is a hard pill to swallow. Therefore, dedicating an episode to the controversy is a magnanimous move on the part of the show. It also, weirdly, comes as a strange relief that there’s another team in the league that happens to be breaking records and rising to meet the challenge that Wrexham is posing to the league. It’s reminiscent of that old adage about superheroes: if you go running around in a cape fighting crime, expect a villain to show up in a cape too. If Wrexham is Deadpool, they’ve found their Ajax in Notts County.

Episodes like this start to show the limitations of the scope of the show. There’s always something happening in a community, and while it’s great to showcase, it can start to feel, perhaps, a bit repetitive. True football fans might start to hit a wall with this show in that regard. While it’s wonderful to see pieces of the games with cinematic flair, the sequences are, at best, highlights. For people who love the ebb and flow of the sport, it’s easy to come away from episodes like these with a longing for more action on the pitch.

That being said, the name of the game with this show is ‘wholesomeness.’ The draw isn’t necessarily watching old games in 4K resolution, but seeing how much football means to a community, how investing in a sport can inspire an entire city’s population, and more. It generates revenue, which benefits the league, which arguably benefits not just Wrexham, but Wales itself as well as England.

While this may come across as cynical, The Declan Swans’ ‘Mullin 10’ lacks a bit of the anthemic, folksy, all-encapsulating charm of their previous hit, ‘Always Sunny in Wrexham.’ That being said, it’s hard not to smile at the new tune when the chorus chant kicks in. It’s a near-impossible task to capture the raw energy of stadium chants, but the Declan Swans absolutely deserve credit for the effort. Hopefully, Wrexham fans will sing tunes of victory as the season of football, as well as this season of Welcome to Wrexham marches forward (try to forget that the season is already over. Wink wink).