Welcome to Wrexham Season Five premieres this week, with viewers set for plenty of new names and faces to get accustomed to. For the fifth year in a row, the FX docuseries follows the Welsh soccer club on its remarkable rise under Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds.
After an unprecedented three successive promotions, Wrexham finds itself in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English soccer, for the first time in 43 years. It is the highest level the club has ever played at, but as viewers will quickly realize, that doesn’t mean they would be happy to consolidate.
Mac, Wrexham co-chairman and executive producer of the show, made it abundantly clear he does not believe in the word “consolidation.” It is that fierce level of ambition that helped the Red Dragons reach the Championship, and it is immediately clear that a fourth promotion to the Premier League is the target.
What to Expect from Welcome to Wrexham Season Five
The new season of Welcome to Wrexham begins as the Welsh club starts life in the Championship. Phil Parkinson is still the no-nonsense manager who has masterminded the club’s dramatic rise up the divisions, but many of the supporting cast are now gone. “That is a lot of faces I do not recognize,” admits Reynolds, speaking at the Racecourse Ground early in Season Five.
Given the rapid speed of their three promotions, Wrexham has quickly outgrown many fan favorites, with the higher division requiring a higher caliber of player. It is one of the many prices of success that are made clear, along with the increased transfer fees that have been spent to lure them to the Racecourse Ground.
Viewers will bid farewell to some of the key figures in their journey and be introduced to new signings looking to write their own names into Wrexham folklore. Although it is sad to see such wholesale changes, with 13 players signed last summer, it does bring a new freshness to the show, with a new cast to learn about.
In the opening episodes, viewers will watch the North Wales club adjust to life at the new level, with a few tough results along the way casting doubt on their credentials and on whether Parkinson is still the man for the job. Again, the actual soccer is expertly edited, with emotive fan shots and excellent voiceovers that make for compelling viewing, whether you already know the result or not.
The opening episodes also follow the women’s team as they go in search of their first Welsh league title. Although there aren’t entire episodes devoted to them as in previous seasons, their own meteoric rise has been a huge part of the club’s growth, and we suspect they will feature heavily in Season Six next year.
Telling a Story Beyond the Pitch
Welcome to Wrexham still sets the standard for all sports documentaries, if not all documentaries, period. A key reason for that is that it tells the story far beyond the main subject matter and, despite having a stellar cast to call upon, shines a light on ordinary people living in the community.
That remains the case in Season Five, right from the start. In the opening episode, we meet the family of Bailey Jones, a Wrexham fan who died in 2023 at the age of 20 after suffering a brain bleed. His organs were donated, and a year later, the recipient of his heart, Matthew, meets Bailey’s family. Once again, it is a master class in emotional storytelling, handled beautifully and respectfully. It continues in Episode Two, with a tribute to Wrexham’s greatest-ever player, Joey Jones, who passed away in July 2025.
While Mac and Reynolds were the main attraction in the first season of the documentary, they have quietly taken a backseat and allowed Wrexham and its community to become the real stars of the show. That is the ultimate secret ingredient that quickly separated Welcome to Wrexham from impostors trying to cash in on the success by using it as a vanity project for their own work. As with any good sports documentary, you don’t even have to like sports to love the show.
It is perhaps no surprise, then, that Welcome to Wrexham has already been renewed for another three seasons, even before Season Five has premiered. The Red Dragons have become a global name in soccer, and it seems they are only going to get bigger.
Welcome to Wrexham Season Five: Release Date
The fifth season of Welcome to Wrexham will premiere on May 14, 2026, with two episodes released. There will then be weekly releases of one episode over the following six weeks.
The FX series, which has won 10 Emmy Awards and two Critics’ Choice Television Awards, will run until June 25, 2026.
Welcome to Wrexham Season Five: How to Watch
| Region | Platform |
|---|---|
| USA | FX, Hulu |
| Canada | FX, Disney+, Apple TV+, FXNOW Canada |
| United Kingdom | Disney+ |
| Australia | Disney+ |
Welcome to Wrexham Season Five premieres in May 2026 and will be broadcast weekly on FX at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT). Following the initial broadcast, U.S. viewers can stream the episodes anytime on Hulu.
As in the U.S., Season Five of Welcome to Wrexham will air weekly on FX in Canada. All episodes can also be streamed on Disney+ Canada, as well as on Apple TV+ and FXNOW Canada.
The only way to watch the documentary series in the U.K. is by subscribing to the Disney+ streaming service. That is also the case for viewers in Australia.
Welcome to Wrexham Season Five: Episode Guide
Episode 1
- Title: “The Heart of Wrexham”
- Release: May 14, 2026
- Bio: In a tough new league with a mostly new squad, Wrexham fans and co-chairmen Rob Mac and Ryan Reynolds try to keep the focus on what makes Wrexham “Wrexham.”
Episode 2
- Title: “Joey Jones”
- Release: May 14, 2026
- Bio: The team struggles to stay out of the relegation zone as the town honors the legacy of Joey Jones, one of Wrexham’s footballing legends.
Episode 3
- Title: “Coming Together”
- Release: May 21, 2026
- Bio: The pressure on Wrexham AFC mounts as the pricey new players struggle to gel while the women’s team adjusts to a new leader.
Episode 4
- Title: “Wales Forever”
- Release: May 28, 2026
- Bio: As Wrexham and Swansea City prepare for a Welsh showdown, Nathan Broadhead, Lili Jones and the inspiring players of the Wrexham AFC Powerchair Team exemplify the Welsh spirit.
Episode 5
- Title: “Holiday Spirit”
- Release: June 4, 2026
- Bio: After a crushing loss leaves Wrexham spiraling at Christmas time, a giant FA Cup matchup against a Premier League opponent gives goalie Arthur Okonkwo a shot at redemption. Off the pitch, we catch up with midfielder Ollie Rathbone and Welsh translator Maxine Hughes.
Remaining Episodes Release Dates
| Episode No. | Release Date |
|---|---|
| 6 | June 11, 2026 |
| 7 | June 18, 2026 |
| 8 | June 25, 2026 |
READ THE LATEST WREXHAM NEWS, ANALYSIS AND INSIGHT FROM SI FC
- How Controversial New Championship Spending Proposal Could Impact Wrexham
- Welcome to Wrexham: How Much Money Wrexham Makes from FX Documentary Ahead of Season Five Release
- Rob Mac, Ryan Reynolds Reveal When Wrexham’s New Kop Stand Will Actually Open
- Why Wrexham Women Have Released Legendary All-Time Leading Goalscorer
This article was originally published on www.si.com as What to Expect from Welcome to Wrexham Season Five.
