Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds buy a football club in Welcome To Wrexham
Hollywood descends upon a working-class Welsh town in this FX docuseries

In November 2020, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia creator and star Rob McElhenney formed a company with Ryan Reynolds and bought a small professional football club in the U.K. (We’ll give those of you who hadn’t heard about it time to Google it and confirm this is a real thing. And yes, also, we’ll be calling it football for the duration of this review.)
Despite obvious (and dull) comparisons to Ted Lasso from many corners, once the docuseries Welcome To Wrexham wraps its second episode, it’s clear this isn’t the real-life equivalent of the hyper-optimistic Apple TV+ hit. Not because it’s dour, but because, from top to bottom, there’s a sense of competency and jeopardy amongst the people behind this lovably wacky narrative.
And it is wacky. Welcome To Wrexham addresses the elephant in the room early on: Why these two guys? Why this club? Why … any of this? A single, concrete answer remains elusive, but the pair are clearly having a good time. There are reports McElhenney got the seed of the idea after watching the modest Netflix success Sunderland ’Til I Die. “I wanted to do this but I needed more than just TV money to do it” McElhenney says in an early talking-head segment about why he approached Reynolds. “I needed someone with movie money. Superhero movie money. Gin baron money … How many more companies does this bitch have?” The how and why of the two settling on Wrexham is vague, but it makes sense: While Wrexham is nowhere near the lofty heights of the Premier League and regularly televised matches, it’s a proud club and mainstay in U.K. football. In fact, it’s the third-oldest professional football team in the world.