If you were to go solely by the artwork for the FX series “Welcome to Wrexham,” with the American actor-writer Rob McElhenney of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” Fame” and the Canadian actor-mogul Ryan Reynolds of Ryan Reynolds fame in track suits while posing in front of an Association Football Club, you couldn’t help but think we’ve already been Ted Lasso’d into this scenario, right?
Ah, but this isn’t a copycat, fish-out-of-water work of fiction, but a documentary series chronicling the most improbable but true-life story of two Hollywood hotshots who decide to purchase the third-oldest professional football team in the world at one of the lowest points in its 150-year history and try to turn it around in “Rocky” style fashion, despite knowing almost nothing about the game we call soccer. Aware they could come across as a couple of Hollywood “a------s” as they put it, Reynolds and McElhenney make it clear from the start this isn’t some condescending, cynical whim, and they wisely cede great stretches of screen time to the players, the support staff and the long-suffering yet fiercely loyal fans in Wrexham who live and die with their beloved football team. The result is one of the most fascinating, endearing, sometimes hilarious and eminently watchable docuseries of the year.
