In an often brutal and bleak world, the recent resurgence of Wrexham, the city as well as the soccer club, lifts the soul. Tourists smile when asked for their thoughts on this small industrial city near the English-Welsh border, brought to the world's attention by the soccer club's owners, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Locals have always loved talking about their club, the beating heart of this working-class community, but now there's a confidence and, crucially, optimism, when doing so.
From the first episode, landlord Wayne Jones and his customers are held as an example of how Wrexham AFC is woven into the fabric of people's lives. The Turf is full of life, locals mixing with tourists who want to drink at the pub they know from the show. Jones, a season ticket holder, says he scoffed at warnings from McElhenney to prepare for tourists once the documentary was aired. "As much as I love this town, we are just a small industrial town in northeast Wales," he says. "But they've nailed it."
It is a long, sometimes bloody history; 200 years of English invasions and Welsh revolts before the country was completely conquered and, though peaceful for hundreds of years, the relationship between the two neighbours is still complicated. They are different countries sharing common laws, friends for the most part despite cultural differences, yet like for many a once conquered nation, the past is not forgotten.
"The searchlight has changed," says Elen-Mai Nefydd, head of Welsh medium academic development at the city's university, named after the medieval Welsh nationalist leader Owain Glyndwr. A Welsh speaker, Nefydd talks passionately about the language, which is spoken by nearly 30 per cent of the population, according to the 2022 Annual Population Survey , which is around 900,600 people.
"The hashtag is completely out of control," the 54-year-old says, explaining that he struggles to answer all the questions he receives even after introducing a one-hour weekly podcast specifically for that purpose. When Reynolds and McEllhenney put forward their proposal to the trust, Griffiths says they talked about having stewardship of the club, rather than ownership. They used, he says, "the right language."
Wrexham is the first club in Wales to fund a powerchair team, says Evans. Playing on an indoor court, a team consists of four players -- a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder and an attacker -- and they compete using a larger ball than your typical soccer ball, while goalposts are two upright posts six meters apart.
It is quite the change from the early 2000s when there were fears the club would be evicted from its stadium, or nearly 12 years ago when the Racecourse Ground and training facilities were sold to the university and fans raised more than £100,000 in a day to save the club. "We were one of the luckiest towns, as it was then, to come out of Covid with so much to look forward to, and both owners brought that to our town."Finally. Forty-four games into the season, and today is the day Wrexham could get promoted. No club has been stuck in the National League for longer. Fifteen often dreary years in the fifth tier; some nearly-there seasons, some never-come-close seasons.
Clarke says he could make more money in another line of work, but over the last 17 years in business, his shop has become a hub for anyone wanting to talk about Wrexham AFC, and there's nothing he loves doing more than that. "Usually put the world to rights on a Monday morning after the weekend results," he says.
Five minutes into stoppage time and fans are rising to their feet, increasing the decibels, preparing for the full-time roar. And then the whistle blows.
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