Welsh Slang Is Better Than American Slang, And 22 Things I Learned While Watching "Welcome To Wrexham"
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Welcome to Wrexham has a little something for everyone.
The FX documentary series following Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds' decision to purchase the semi-professional Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C. has taught me so much...but mostly has taught me to think twice before buying a sports team. Here's a list of the top things I've learned from the series so far:
1.Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds had never even been to Wrexham before beginning the process of purchasing the team.
Wrexham is the largest city in north Wales, but that doesn’t quite make it a tourist destination. Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds became so immersed in the idea of buying the struggling club, that it must have slipped their minds that they had never actually been anywhere near the city in the Welsh mountains.
2.McElhenney and Reynolds had never even met in person before going in on the team together.
Another thing that must have slipped their minds was that the two had never actually met face-to-face before. They had fostered an online friendship after Reynolds had DM’d McElhenney to fangirl over a dance sequence on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. After that, the two stayed in touch and became good friends. The first time they ever met IRL was captured on camera for Welcome to Wrexham — where Reynolds poked fun at McElhenney’s “non-Disney-princess-filtered” appearance.
3.McElhenney was drawn to Wrexham because of the working-class roots.
As someone who grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the 1980s, Rob McElhenney understands what being from a city of hard work and grit is like. Within the first episode, McElhenney gives a tour of his childhood home — a peak into his humble beginnings. The spirit of a working-class community like Wrexham resonated with him and was something he could deeply identity with.
4.McElhenney and Reynolds received 98% approval from the Wrexham Supporters' Trust to take over the team.
After ending up in the wrong hands, a collective of fans had temporary ownership of the club (more on that later). So, in order to actually go forth and purchase the team, Rob and Ryan had to win over their support. When the final votes had been tallied — they had an overwhelming 98% approval for the sale. It was full steam ahead!
5.Even though the Trust voted overwhelmingly for the takeover, the Wrexham community had mixed feelings initially.
With 98% support, you’d think that everyone would be jumping for joy over the takeover — and many were. But many locals also believed that the attempt would be pointless, with one man responding, “Fuck off! It’s never going to happen.”
6.Wrexham Football Club is the third oldest professional club in the world and the oldest in Wales.
There are literally thousands of professional football clubs worldwide (211 of those teams are members of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) alone), and Wrexham A.F.C. is the third oldest out of the whole lot. In 1864, members of the Wrexham Cricket Club wanted an activity for the winter months — and thus, over a pint or two, Wrexham A.F.C. was born.
7.The Club was founded in the pub outside their stadium, the Turf, in 1864 — and still operates 365 days a year.
Speaking of pints, yes — the club was founded inside the Turf Hotel, a pub that was founded “sometime between 1840 and 1844.” The Turf’s building records are unclear, but it has been through 150+ years of footballers and fans. In the mid-2000s, the pub was threatened for demolition, but the First Prime Minister of Wales at the time stepped in to save the historic public house. The Turf is still in operation today and is open 365 days a year (yes, even Christmas).
8.Wrexham A.F.C. plays out of the Racecourse Ground, which is named for its original purpose: horse racing.
The Racecourse Ground is the world’s oldest international football stadium that is still currently holding matches. In its early days, the stadium was used for horse racing and cricket matches — until the cricket players crossed over into football; thus, the Racecourse Ground (also known as Y Cae Ras in Welsh) football stadium was born.
9.Once upon a time, Wrexham A.F.C. was one of the best clubs in Wales.
Back in the early to mid-1900s, Wrexham A.F.C. had their glory days. In the 1932-1933 season, Wrexham played some of their best games ever played still to this day. Winning 18 out of their 21 home games, Wrexham solidified themselves as a Welsh favorite. Later, in 1957, the club won the Welsh Cup for the first time in 26 years. As of 2016, Wrexham A.F.C. has won the cup the most times with 23 victories.
10.Wales is NOT a part of England and is its own country with an extremely interesting history and their own language: Welsh.
There is a running joke within the docuseries that Wales is located in “rest of world,” a description created to make it clear that it is not a part of England. This is a common misconception derived by how confusing the whole United Kingdom vs. England vs. Ireland vs. the Royal Family, etc. can be. But do not get it twisted: Wales it entirely its own country and has a riveting history filled with revolutions, riots, castles, and a lot of imperialism forced upon the Welsh by multiple other nations! And yes, Rob and Ryan brought on author John Green to explain this during the show.
11.Wrexham was once a prosperous mining, ironworking, and beer-brewing town.
After the Industrial Revolution, the city Wrexham found major success in the mining of coal and lead, ironworking and steel working, and brewing lager beer! Because of these bustling industries, Wrexham was the most popular settlement in Wales at one point. Fun fact: Wrexham Lager Brewery was the first place in the United Kingdom to brew lager beer. That’s groundbreaking!
12.The economic downturn and unemployment of the 1980s was the beginning of Wrexham's fall from grace.
As de-industrialization unfolded worldwide, Wrexham’s industry and economy took a hit. The United Kingdom witnessed a deep recession in the early 1980s, followed by unemployment by the millions. This greatly took a toll on areas like Wrexham, who had been struggling to keep up in a post-industrialized world. This downturn spilled over into everything, including football and fan morale.
13.Clubs like Wrexham A.F.C. are major pillars of their communities.
With being one of the oldest clubs in the world, a football club like Wrexham A.F.C. has been somewhat of a staple that the people can rely on. Similarly to American football franchises like the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals, these smaller metropolitan areas eat, sleep, and breathe their teams. This creates a camaraderie amongst fans that is akin to having a large extended family. The devotion and passion that the people of these cities feel is palatable — because times of prosper may come and go, but the clubs are forever. ...
14.Which is why when a real estate developer wanted to strip down the Club and sell it for parts, the people of Wrexham retaliated.
Nothing brings people together like a shared mutual hate for landlords. In 2002, long-term and beloved chairman Pryce Griffiths sold a majority of the club to property developed by Alexander Hamilton (no relation to the American founding father). After the club was in his control, he also purchased the Racecourse and canceled the club's 100+-year lease. Fans protested and rallied against Hamilton for years, attempted to raise funds to buy back the club, and supported legal proceedings against Hamilton’s mismanagement and exploitation of the club and stadium.
15.Upon preparing the Racecourse Stadium for sale, Wrexham supporters ran Alexander Hamilton out of his ownership of the club.
Toward the end of his time as owner of Wrexham A.F.C., Hamilton was so viscerally hated that he was warned not to appear at any matches for the club. Facing mob mentality from locals coupled with surmounting legal problems, Hamilton gave in and resigned in 2004, but still remained a majority shareholder until a car salesman and former Wrexham director Neville Dickens purchased the club that same year. Unfortunately, Dickens was not what the doctor ordered, and Wrexham A.F.C. and the Racecourse continued to struggle, until…
16.Enter the Wrexham Supporters' Trust. ... Yes, the fans bought the football club.
After a lot of fundraising and hard work, the Wrexham Supporters’ Trust bought Wrexham A.F.C. in 2011 — Wrexham became completely owned by its supporters. By the 2019-2020 season, the club had been in its lowest position in the league in 150 years. That’s when talks of the McElhenney-Reynolds takeover had begun.
17.The club continued to struggle under Trust ownership.
The club being 100% owned by the fans was definitely a morale-booster for the community, but it did not do much for the league standings of Wrexham A.F.C. The English football league system is quite different than anything we have in the states, with clubs operating in different tiers with the ability to get relegated down or promoted up through the ranks. The system consists of a pyramid of leagues: the Premier League, the Championship League, League One, League Two, the National League, National League North and South, Northern & Southern Premier Division, Southern Premier Central, and Isthmian League. The National League is the lowest division in the system, which is where Wrexham currently stands.
18.Being a lifelong Philadelphia Eagles fan, McElhenney loves an underdog story — inspiring his idea for Wrexham A.F.C.
When the Eagles won their first ever Super Bowl in 2018, it shocked the world. The team had never pulled off a victory before and had only made it to the game a handful of other times. Being a native Philadelphian, McElhenney took this spirit of hope and ran with it — seeing Wrexham as a team that deserves more and deserves to win for the city’s devoted sports community.
19.The new owners had to undertake a huge rebuild from the jump, from management to players.
From the beginning, Rob and Ryan did not have an easy job at running Wrexham A.F.C. Set on getting the club promoted, the two knew they had to completely rebuild and in a major way. From CEO/football-rockstar-legend Fleur Robinson to new manager Phil Parkinson, they had their work cut out for them. Next was acquiring a star player in Paul Mullin, which allowed Mullin to still play while being closer to his family. But with stellar management and new expensive players, cuts had to be made, and eight players lost their jobs with Wrexham A.F.C. under new ownership.
20.McElhenney received advice from the Eagles' coach and owner when he was struggling with the club.
Later in the series, we see McElhenney at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Eagles. Under immense pressure for Wrexham A.F.C. to deliver on his investments, he mulls over his situation with Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, and then, Eagles CEO/chairman/owner Jeffrey Lurie. Lurie told McElhenney, “Don’t shy away from tough decisions.”
21.Football community is like no other community.
One thing is clear throughout Welcome to Wrexham, and it’s that the football community is like no other community. The love and friendship that oozes out of every segment throughout the series is unmatched anywhere else. From home games to away games, the culture is unique in its allegiance to the game. McElhenney says it himself that “away game culture [in the United Kingdom] is unlike anything we have in American sports,” and that’s because of the culture and community surrounding football. Another example of the outpouring of support and unconditional love is when one of the player’s wives suffered a miscarriage during the season, with management, teammates, and fans coming out of the woodwork to rally behind and raise funds for the grieving family.
22.The dark side of football is no joke.
Unfortunately, with all the warm and fuzzies, there is an ugly side of football fanaticism. Hooliganism in football overseas has become such a problem that countries have instilled laws against the concept (such as the Football Spectators Act of 1989 in the United Kingdom). Also known as “The English Disease,” severe acts hooliganism have caused mass hysteria and even death. One instance — the Heysel Stadium disaster — saw the deaths of many fans and the injury of hundreds due to things like violence and rioting. Another instance — the Hillsborough disaster — is now known as a case of negligence and police mishandling at no fault of the fans, but at the time caused concerns over fan behavior.
23.BONUS: Slang in the United Kingdom > American slang any day, and it's not even close.
Let me just say, we are doing slang all wrong in America. There hasn’t been a moment since I started watching Welcome to Wrexham (and Ted Lasso) that I wasn’t wishing that I could go around saying words like rubbish, gutted, gaffer, bloke, quid, and of course, wanker. I don’t know what it is about these words, but they just sound so bloody good in any sentence. I’m obsessed.
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