Welcome to Wrexham

Welcome to Wrexham desperately wants to position itself as "the real 'Ted Lasso,'" but that's only part of what's going on in this FX docuseries, in which Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney buy a struggling Welsh soccer team. The resulting series is a little of this, a bit of that, and like its featured franchise, plays more like a wannabe than a true contender.

Between the thoughtfulness with which the series tells the story of Wrexham’s everyday supporters, the light touch it takes when incorporating the club’s players and staff, and the winking ribbing it weaves through all the “Ryan and Rob” bits as an exercise to keep them from coming off as too self-serious or driven by ego, Welcome to Wrexham has set itself up to turn in one of the more engaging, down-to-earth, funny sports stories in recent memory.

There are a lot of elements that make Welcome To Wrexham a fascinating watch, namely how two Hollywood superstars are going to come into a small Welsh town and try to turn around its football team without making like they’re saviors.

The show benefits from early good will but has to contend with the expectations that come after. The foundation is there for “Welcome to Wrexham” to succeed. Like the team it’s chronicling, it just has to figure out its identity first.

The beauty is, it works wonderfully. ... There’s nothing cynical about the show, but nor is this a gawpy real-life Ted Lasso with clockwork tearjerker scenes. And somehow, this direct, honest approach makes the whole production more affecting than it might otherwise be.

The resulting first season of this docuseries does not disappoint. Even if you know nothing about soccer or British club sport, if you like a good underdog story, this one will play its way right into your heart.

“Welcome to Wrexham” smartly doesn’t spend all of its time focusing on the starry duo; McElhenney and Reynolds are only part of this winning documentary series that shines brightest when the people of Wrexham take the spotlight.

The overall vibe, though, is fun, with the show doing an excellent job explaining the frustratingly complex English league system with zippy diagrams and pithy U.S.-to-U.K.-to-Welsh translations here and there.

If you found Ted Lasso too cloying to watch, Welcome to Wrexham might be more enjoyable, as it’s a less-dopey version of the same story. But all Ted Lasso viewers—or football/soccer fans in general—will appreciate Welcome to Wrexham as a pacifier while we wait for Season 3.

The series has the hallmarks of a fish-out-of-water documentary, a Ted Lasso in real life, but it turns out to be a more soulful series than that, once it gets over its bumpy landing.

The lack of almost any visible conflict or messiness leaves Welcome to Wrexham feeling a bit hollow from a viewer’s perspective. To their credit, Reynolds and McElhenny seem to have a solid grasp on what they have to offer the club, and what they don’t.

It helps a great deal that in this series both Reynolds and McElhenney are a) funny, b) don't take themselves too seriously and c) give the fans and players a voice throughout. ... It's a little gem.

Welcome to Wrexham is at its best when it spends time with the resilient players and their stubbornly devoted fans. [29 Aug - 11 Sep 2022, p.7]

Welcome to Wrexham is, in a word, boring. The documentary-capturing cameras have been on from before day one and they’re capturing the dullest footage there ever was.