Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 Review - Turning Coal Into Diamonds

Turning Coal to Diamonds

Season 1

Season 2

Episode Guide

Rob McElhenney’s idea to buy a small football club in Wales seemed at first like a random piece of news from an arguably lesser-known, rich celebrity. Then Ryan Reynolds got on board as a co-owner. Then, FX greenlit a docu-series about their attempt to elevate this under-dog team in a small town to the forefront of football. Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Wrexham.

Season 1 of this diamond in the rough-type sports show managed to charm audiences and turn some heads in the American sports community. In Wales, it may have created some waves in the League 5 community. A couple of rich, American celebrities suddenly pump a bunch of money into a League 5 team, and hope to get promoted immediately? It seemed suspect at best. However, the show itself truly managed to change the narrative into something wholesome, even beautiful.

Now that season 2 has come and gone, it’s fair to say that Wrexham A.F.C, the National League, and even British football itself owe a bit of gratitude to Rob and Ryan. Welcome to Wrexham increased attention to the league and even the sport for many Americans. It accomplished a dedicated mission to honestly and fervently portray what football is like for every day, working people. Season 2 managed to forge a piece of coal into a diamond.

Pressure forge

The pressure this year was immediately amplified for Rob and Ryan. After losing in the playoffs, expectations were as high as can be. The show did a commendable job of facing the struggles as well as the criticisms head-on. The unfairness of teams playing with very different budget levels is a valid critique. The difficult truth, though, is that money keeps the game afloat. Moreover, the extra revenue inarguably helped to rejuvenate a town that has seen its fair share of financial struggles. The show’s hype produced record turnouts and increased tourism to Wrexham.

Despite the haters, the money, and the expectations, the players decide who gets promoted at the end of the day. The glimpses given into the lives of the players were more refined, relevant, and touching than the previous season. It’s a weird compliment to give considering these are real people and the stories shared are not ‘written.’ It’s the willingness to delve into increasingly vulnerable territory that elevated this season from the last.

The pacing and editing of the episodes mostly did well to create a full-season arc that resembled a Hollywood narrative. At times, the varying length of the episodes left certain moments open to filler, repetition, or cutting short exciting sections of gameplay. Establishing Notts County as the ‘bad guys’ of the season was not only accurate to the truth, it gave a clear sense of purpose. For non-sports fans, it can be hard to feel that there’s a cogent through-line to the goals of a season. It may just feel like… “win” but it truly is bigger than that.

Insert sports metaphor

What really makes the show worthwhile is looking beyond the pitch. The sense of community that Wrexham has cultivated around football feels like something out of a bygone era. The recurrence of real people with honest lives was the undeniable heartbeat of the season. Their triumphs, struggles, and hopes for the team supplied the necessary weight to make everything feel heightened and meaningful. The outcomes of the game felt like they truly mattered, beyond the context of a football team trying to get promoted to the next league up.

One of the absolute highlights was seeing Jacqui and Julie on a regular basis. Their back and forth felt like they could host a sports talk show over coffee. They were always directly on point and summed up complex situations with elegance and weight that made every appearance a treat. The unadulterated perspectives of the hometown fans made watching the show feel like becoming a resident of Wrexham.

Behind all the jargon, point differentials, rivals, and otherwise pure sports content is an emotional core of real people all connected by a single thread. Sports games have always contained a deep well of life lessons. Whether it be a struggle against adversity, commitment, planning, resiliency, or family, there’s a sports story or metaphor ready to use. Welcome to Wrexham leans hard into that rare bit of magic. From strained family relationships to struggles with sickness and disorders to people looking for a greater sense of purpose, sports metaphors provided the bedrock for the show to get deeper than it would seem on the surface.

Fairytale

Perhaps Welcome to Wrexham’s greatest achievement this season was its ability to capture the elusive aura of sports magic. There were multiple moments throughout the show, like “The Quiet Zone,” in which Mullin scores not only for the team but for Autism acceptance. Or, look at the episodes “Ballers” and “Yn Codi,” where an even bigger underdog defies the odds and scores a victory for women’s soccer in general. “Hand of Foz ” was an absolute nail-biter. And of course, there’s the season finale, an absolutely ideal and satisfying end to a goal established in the series premiere.

The differences in episode length and the occasional uneven distribution of interview footage to game footage made for a small mixture of whiplash and repetition. Overall, though, Welcome to Wrexham captured the essence of sports fandom into a digestible, well-crafted, and thoroughly entertaining experience. With more of the show on the horizon, we wait happily for more.

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Verdict - 8.5/10

8.5/10

8.5/10

Welcome to Wrexham Season 2 Review – Turning Coal Into Diamonds