It’s no longer fresh news that Actors Rob McElhenney (‘Always Sunny in Philadelphia’) and Ryan Reynolds (‘Deadpool’) bought the historic Welsh football club Wrexham A.F.C. in early 2021.
The story of how the idea came about and was executed is fascinating and you can learn all about it by watching Welcome to Wrexham the American documentary series which follows the the Hollywood pair’s ambitious purchase and their attempts to revive Wrexham AFC - the third-oldest professional association football team in the world.
Here’s a couple of trailers for the series -
I’m not a football fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I’ve really enjoyed watching this series, they’re also very respectful of the Welsh language and give it a decent platform. It can be viewed on Disney+
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Here’s a funny Video where they test each other’s knowledge of football, Welsh and Wrexham…
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Wrexham’s been so depressed since the loss of the coal, steel and brewing industries, and you get used to only ever hearing about it in the context of poverty, unemployment and drug abuse. Even Duolingo’s Welsh course only ever mentions it when there’s a question involving death or crime! It’s nice to hear people talking about the town in a positive way.
ETA - funny it should take a couple of Americans to make that happen though.
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So what did you think of that brilliant episode 7 Wide World of Wales, which was all about Wales?
We loved it, but it would be great to know what you thought?
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Loved it too! Really good to see what they are doing for for the club, the town, the country and the language too.
They seem to be doing everything for the right reasons, and in the right way.
I haven’t been to the Cae Ras since the 1980s when my Taid used to take me, but I’ve joined as a member on the back of the Rob/Ryan stuff, and I’m looking forward to getting back there and meeting up with fellow SSiW-er @phil-egan (who is a season ticket holder).
(p.s. Rob & Ryan definitely need to enlist SSiW in some way, don’t they!?).
We have loved the show, and since I write novels set in medieval Wales, we did a little video reply to them and to their North American viewers 
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