S4C launches own Wrexham AFC documentary series

S4C will premiere its own Wrexham AFC documentary series, Wrecsam…Clwb Ni! (Our Club!), this week, following Disney+’s look at the club following Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney takeover.

Like Disney+’s Welcome To Wrexham, the series will feature the two actors, who bought the football club in February 2021. However, the three-part docuseries aims to take a look through the eyes of the fans and the people of Wrexham at the impact of the takeover on the club, the town and the community. 

Players, staff, and supporters such as 16-year-old Lili Jones, who also plays for the club’s women’s team and the Wales Under 17s side. will also feature.

The show will debut at 9pm on Wednesday 12 October on S4C, as well as on demand on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer with English subtitles available.

McElhenney said: “We were looking for people with whom we could identify. People that we grew up with. And I look around at the faces of the people of Wrexham; they’re my uncles and my aunts, and my cousins, brothers, sisters and the people I grew up with. A working class community, Philadelphia is certainly like that. They work hard and they expect the teams they support to give everything they can.

He added on his and Reynolds’ original Zoom introduction to fans: “On Zoom, it’s just a camera pointed right at you, and you can’t see them so you can’t see how they’re reacting. It was really terrifying. I remember talking to Ryan after it was over and he was dripping with sweat. He was so sweaty and I was like, ‘bud, what’s going on?’ and he was like, ‘I was so nervous’. I don’t know that I’d seen him nervous before, at least not like that. To me, it just showed that he cared as much as I did.”

Jones added: “They [Rob and Ryan] actually want to be part of the Wrexham community, and that’s incredible to us, and it actually brings an even bigger feeling of togetherness in our community.”