Welcome to Wrexham – Season 2 Episode 6 “Ballers” Recap & Review

“Ballers” Recap

HM Prison Berwyn: Rosie Hughes starts her day as a corrections manager of the male prison. She gives a tour like it’s a camp. Despite the honest and urgent need to be aware, she says that the demands of the job allow her to be herself more than an office job would. “I feel proud every day to put the uniform on.”

Ryan Reynolds reveals the top goal scorer of anyone who plays for Wrexham is, in fact, Rosie Hughes. She plays for the women’s team, and she scores an epic breakaway goal. Wrexham’s women’s team is the clear front-runner in their league. They are up for promotion as well. As the coach and players are introduced, they explain that the goal is to join the top league in Wales.

Rosie explains the joy she feels to be cheered on by fans at her games. Mark, the radio announcer (remember him?), also remarks on Rosie’s incredible touch, even on the rougher pitch of Rhos, where the team plays. As interest in Wrexham skyrockets, the fame is spreading out beyond just the men’s league.

Rob confesses (inside Paddy’s Pub) that it was after he bought the Wrexham Red Dragons that he was made aware of the many other leagues under the Wrexham umbrella. Despite the lesser funding and the muddy as-hell pitch, the women’s team is driven not just by the desire for fame or luxury, but by the love of the game. They are dedicated, undefeated… and unpaid.

Rob visits the locker room after the game to share his goal to prioritize the women’s team, get them promoted, and start paying them for their epic performances. He sees it as a wonderful business opportunity as well as an ethical duty.

Lili Jones, the 17-year-old midfielder, gets off school at 3:30, and works at a pub Tuesdays and Thursdays. She does what she has to do because she lives and breathes football. People at her job are just waiting for her to get famous. But she has struggles people don’t see on the surface. Her father passed away in 2021 due to suicide. Lili explains that her father’s love for her and for Wrexham fuels her prowess on the pitch.

Gemma Owens is the manager of all the women’s teams, from the featured team to the youngest girl’s league. Gemma and Humphrey explain the culture around women’s football at large, going all the way back to the 1880s. Women’s football was banned in Wales until the 1970s, as it was quite literally seen as a threat to the success of men’s football. Cue a montage of women’s football soaring in popularity all over the world.

Wrexham squares off against the only other undefeated team in their league, Connah’s Quay. Wrexham wins 3-1. Mia, one of the featured players, attends a sort of Wrexham player alumni dinner with her father, Neil, who played for the Wales international league. They go through a scrapbook of a few of his seasons, not all of which were rosy memories. He was part of a team that was relegated down a league. Despite the pain, he sees his daughter’s success as a new reason to be optimistic. They hope to finish the scrapbook with both her league and the men’s league getting promoted.

In the Wrexham Women’s Adran North league-clinching game, they unequivocally dominate Rhyl, winning 11-1. However, they must still win one final game: a playoff against the winner of the Adran South league. That doesn’t stop them from wholeheartedly celebrating their league win.

The Episode Review

This is Welcome to Wrexham at its finest… and the team we’ve come to know and love isn’t even featured in the episode! The momentum of this show, of this team, of the community, marches on like an unstoppable force.

Rosie Hughes’ pride in wearing her corrections uniform is a brilliant segue into her other “job” as a star footballer. She and her team’s journey parallels the story of the Wales team that started as a community league and soared to new heights. This time, though, it’s actually a Wrexham team coming up out of the blue. The underdog-like feeling of this entire show has gone down a brand new avenue and, yet again, manages to up the ante in quality and emotional resonance.

The injection of pride for women’s soccer is joyous. In Wales, it’s glaringly obvious that female footballers have been hindered, so it doesn’t feel like the show is taking a remotely controversial stance on what is seen in America as a fairly big debate about the treatment of Women’s sports. The fact that Women’s soccer was banned for so long is jaw-dropping.

Like the best of the show, there are windows not into ‘reality TV,’ but into honest-to-god, real life. Lili Jones’s story hits home in a lot of ways. There’s the tough reality many teens face, having to work a job in addition to being a high-school student. The footage of her washing dishes and talking with coworkers about what she really loves (football) feels like a collective memory. The revelation that her Dad took his own life was a gut punch. Rather than fall into cliched depictions of depression or an empty house, they show clips of Lili and her father singing and dancing and loving football together. It was an absolutely tear-inducing segment that encapsulates everything good about the show, and about football. It shines a light on people that may otherwise be easy to overlook and brings us all closer together.

The segment with Mia and her father was a slice of reality that felt similar to the ‘second place syndrome’ discussed in a previous episode. This time, though, it feels more personal, more acute, more devastating. Neil being part of the team that got relegated, and having his whole career start to trend downwards… it could make anyone feel like the world has passed them by. But the joy he and Mia exchange more than makes up for it. Uh oh, not the tears again!

The longer length of this episode lends to the overall quality. There was plenty of actual football on display, and time to cover multiple players and games. After learning about all the hardships Wrexham has endured, it’s that much more satisfying to see them savagely oppress a slew of other teams. 11-1?! Rosie mentioned scoring THREE hat-tricks?! Come on. Wrexham’s women’s team belongs in the next league up or beyond, and Welcome to Wrexham belongs on your television screen.