[people chattering]
[Arthur Massey] Wrexham Football Club has been my idol.
First game I watched was,
I was seven years old.
In 1931.
There was no-- no stands.
Nothing.
Only the Turf Pub.
And it all happened from there.
I remember the game.
They had a balcony built.
To bring the players down from the changing rooms.
And I was at the side of the balcony.
Wished the players all the best.
Halftime, went back up for a cup of tea.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe how fast the years move.
I built my life here.
I met the love of my life at this school.
When I was home from the army.
We brought up a wonderful family here.
Something I'm very proud of.
I'm almost a hundred years old.
That's more than half the life of Wrexham Football Club.
I guess you could say I'm a Wrexham boy through and through.
Dad, what are we going to do in March then for your one hundredth?
Well, I wish I knew!
[all laughing]
Now, let's get the important things sorted first.
Which games are around your-- around your birthday?
[woman 2] There's one before your birthday.
The one a couple of days after is Tranmere at home.
- Oh, well-- - [Julie] That'd be the one, wouldn't it?
- Well, yeah. - That'd be a good one, wouldn't it?
Yeah, it is.
- So we'll celebrate your birthday there. - [Jacqui] Yeah.
Fine.
- [Jacqui] Is that all right? - Then we'll organize something else
for the non-footballing members of the family.
[Julie laughs]
Drop of brandy. [laughs]
But what are the highs, Dad, you had over the 90 years?
- The highs were the promotion. - [Jacqui] Yeah.
The lows were the... demotion.
- [Jacqui] Yeah. - [Julie] Yeah.
Favorite Wrexham moment?
When my grandson stepped out onto the Wrexham turf.
Putting on the Wrexham t-shirt to play.
That was my proudest moment.
It's the match that Lee Jones will remember forever
because he scored all five.
[Julie] Lee scoring five against Cambridge.
That was another high, wasn't it?
- That was lovely. - [Jacqui] Yeah.
I remember Gary "The Psycho" Bennett.
Dixie McNeil,
Joey Jones,
Arfon Griffiths.
Everything is temporary--
No joy lasts forever,
no pain lasts forever either.
♪ Don't forget where you came from ♪
♪ Don't forget what you're made of ♪
♪ The ones who were there ♪
♪ When no one else would care ♪
♪ Don't be afraid to cry now ♪
♪ Even when the world comes crashing in ♪
♪ Don't forget to sing when you win ♪
[commentator 1] Nice play Okonkwo.
[commentator 2] Yeah, great goalkeeping from Arthur Okonkwo
we saw at the corner a minute before.
- [Okonkwo grunts] - [crowd groans]
[Mulholland] Doesn't know where he is. He's dizzy, lightheaded, feels sick.
You're not gonna be able to continue like that, are you?
- No. - No.
[Mulholland] You have got to start thinking second concussion, yeah?
More likely from the impact.
- [Mulholland] How are we doing? - [Okonkwo] I'm good.
Still-- Still a lot of pain.
I don't know. I think it doesn't feel quite right.
We've obviously done the X-ray,
which has showed the ramus fracture, which is where you're feeling--
you're feeling your pain when-- when you open and close your mouth.
I've had surgeries, I've had other injuries,
but I think this one was definitely my most painful period
just because of where we are in the season.
After post-surgery, how long is it normally before get training again?
Yeah. Based on this type of injury and experience of dealing with it before,
we're probably looking, best-case scenario,
with this one anywhere sort of between two to six weeks.
But obviously, we're gonna be aiming more towards
the two to three weeks to get you back.
I couldn't chew.
So a lot of my diet involved soups, and smoothies, yogurts.
I lost around-- Over four kilograms.
Yeah, you're just in a bad place.
And then being on the sidelines and not watching the games--
Not my best-- my best time.
We've had a lot of ins and outs with goalkeepers
over the last couple of years.
You know, we had Bob Langton starting out when he came in,
and Christian Dibble as his very able backup.
Mark Howard bookending Ben Foster's epic run.
Saved!
Foster was with us for just eight games at the end of last season,
and five for the start of this one.
And now we've got Arthur Okonkwo, who is currently injured and on loan.
When you sign a player on a loan, you're doing it because you've got a need.
And we could go out and buy an experienced player,
but sometimes you can bring a player in who's on a journey
in their own career,
which probably goes past the level and standard that you're at
but needs to find somewhere to be able to prove themself.
In this case, Arthur has temporarily left Arsenal
and joined us here at Wrexham to get more playing time.
Now, here's the catch.
These loans occur during the normal transfer windows during the summer.
And in January, if Arsenal suddenly need Arthur back,
they can recall him for their squad at any time
during the January transfer window.
For instance, this season,
Newcastle loaned midfielder Joe White to Crewe Alexandra.
He did quite well for them.
They'd have loved to have kept him on
to help them in their push for promotion to League One.
But Newcastle recalled him back in the January transfer window.
David Beckham had a hugely successful stint for Preston North End
before being recalled after a month on loan, earlier in his career.
[commentator 3] David Beckham's needed little time to make his mark.
[Harvey] The better the player does with their temporary team,
the more likely it is that they will be called back.
So it's not a permanent solution, and it's not without risk.
We are working with a Premier League-level keeper
who just happens to be young,
and doesn't have a place on the Arsenal squad yet.
It would be as if it's 1985
and the Chicago Bulls draft Michael Jordan.
And they're like, "Well, you're, like, 20-year-old kid."
And the Philadelphia 76ers are like,
"Hey, guess what, Chicago, we'll just take him off your hands
for, like, two, three years, and then we'll just build him up
'cause he can start with us, then he can come back to you."
Then he comes to Philly and wins, like, three championships.
They're like, "Great. We're gonna start a dynasty."
And then Chicago is like, "Fuck off. We're taking him back."
Yeah.
That's exactly what it is.
It may sound weird to Americans, but we've been doing this for a while.
[podcaster] Yeah, Tim. That draw against Harrogate was a bitter one
as we were two-nil up, but results elsewhere went our way.
We're actually second as we take on Colchester at home.
[commentator 4] Hello and welcome to the Racecourse.
Wrexham against Colchester United today.
Wrexham, one change. Mark Howard in goal.
[Howard] It's not easy when you're a goalkeeper
coming on off the bench because it's different than an outfielder.
You can't run around and get yourself going.
...back to him, but he's spread out wide.
Fevrier again, up against O'Connor. It's an interesting little battle, this.
You're straight back into take goal kicks, come for crosses, make saves.
Can he get the shot off? He does. Good save by Howard low to his left.
But there's a warning shot. Fevrier's always lively.
Attaboy, Mark.
If I'm called upon, if I'm needed, I'm ready.
And that's all you can ever try and do.
[commentator 4] The long throw, deep in the six-yard box.
Helped on. Lee hits it. It's blocked. Lee again!
- Wrexham score! - Yeah!
Yeah!
His first shot's blocked. It comes back out.
Right-footed finish from close range. Happy birthday, Mr. Lee.
- Keep competing. - [commentator 4] Tozer. Nods it down.
Doesn't find Jay, but he miscontrols it.
Now can Cannon, who's looked very impressive so far, start something?
Well, Evans is off here.
- Yeah, he's off. - Cannon-- It's a straight red as well.
Fucking hell!
So in football, the referee has really one mechanism
for disciplining players during games.
That is the yellow and red card system.
- Well, he's-- - I think it's rightly so, to be honest.
Yeah, it looked like a red from where I'm sitting.
In this case, the dreaded red card is used for more excessive infractions,
resulting in the player's immediate dismissal.
[commentator 4] So, Evans sent off.
But that changes the dynamic of the game massively.
Ah-ha-ha!
- Fuck! - [Ker] Leaving the team down to ten men.
[commentator 5] Unfortunately for Wrexham, it's gonna be a hell of a tough game now.
Keep scrapping for everything! Come on!
[commentator 4] Cross is headed partly away.
Read heads it back in the goalmouth. Mendy pokes it clear.
Greenidge now.
Feeds into the edge of the-- Chilvers, chance on his right foot.
Hits it! Just wide.
I think Howard might have had it covered.
Mendy. Looks like Jones making a typical charge around the outside.
Yep.
Wrexham are happy to keep the ball on the edge of the box here.
Lee helps it on.
McClean finally gets the ball.
Sets himself...
It's a goal!
- Yeah! - That's a crucial, crucial second goal.
A huge get into McClean.
It's an own goal.
It's a horrible own goal.
But I'll tell you what, McClean puts it into that dangerous area and caused it.
[chanting]
Wrexham!
Whoo!
[commentator 4] Chance maybe for Read, 25 yards out, to change the angle.
Helps it across to Iandolo.
Here again, Wrexham shift across.
Cross comes out. It's a good ball. Free header.
Great save by Howard. Rebounds. It's in.
And Colchester are given some hope.
What a wonderful save it was by Howard. He was livid, and rightly.
[commentator 5] It was. Fantastic save.
Come on!
Swings it in. Boyle wins a good header. Ball went to good header Iandolo.
Iandolo, chance to hit this. Does so. Puts it over.
[crowd groans]
And Wrexham just need to see this out.
Howard hits it long. Ref's not looking at his watch. Palmer.
And that is the final whistle. And you hear that cheer.
There's relief mixed in with it.
We were down to ten men in the first half, and we still managed to dig in.
[commentator 5] Howard played really well today as well. Really solid.
- [Reynolds] Three points. We'll take it. - There we go.
- That was fun. - That was nice. Yeah. That was fun.
[clerk 1] Have you got your season tickets on you, if that's all right?
Go on. Thank you very much, girl.
- [clerk 2] You're welcome. - [clerk 3] Here you go, mate.
- Have a nice day. - Thank you so much.
[clerk 3] You're welcome.
My name is Peter Wynne.
I'm head of tickets at Wrexham Football Club.
So when I started, you know, you could turn up on the day,
cash in your hand, pay your 15, 20 pound on the gate, and stadium was so big,
you could sit where you wanted.
Over the past couple of years, that has changed phenomenally.
There's over two-and-a-half thousand people waiting to buy tickets.
It's just maths.
That level of demand, there's always gonna be people that miss out.
And so the sooner we get that Kop built, [chuckles]
hopefully, some of those problems should ease.
It's heartbreaking when you're in the bar,
and you see people that haven't got tickets,
and they've traveled from Colorado or Las Vegas,
and you know, they're begging for tickets and there's none going.
[Wynne] The last thing you wanna do is price fans out
or make it so the website doesn't work for a certain person,
and they never get a chance or whatever it might be.
So that's where the stress comes from for me,
it's that responsibility of you're looking after people's memories
or whatever it might be.
- [McElhenney] Hi. - [Reynolds] Hi, guys.
We're here to talk about a possible new stand
because it doesn't look like the Kop is gonna be up anytime soon.
[Reynolds] No.
[Ker] So, previously on the Kop.
The Kop was the iconic stand at one end of the stadium,
and it has sadly sat a kind of derelict mass
of rusting metal for the last few years.
So, we applied to UK government for some money
to build a fancy new stand there.
And got denied, but we decided to demolish the stand anyway.
And then we applied for more money. Got that approved.
And then ran into any number of exciting regulatory issues,
that we had to iron out before we actually built the damn thing.
So what do you-- So we have-- we have all sorts of printouts.
Well, so this-- this map I've got.
This is currently the site plan.
And this is the site plan that encompasses,
you know, what we're aiming to do with the Kop.
Oh, my God. You're my dad trying to navigate our way through Grant's Pass.
- Oh, my God. I'm 6 years old now. - This section--
Except he's driving at 80 miles an hour while doing this.
[Reynolds] The Kop is very slow-moving.
It's hard to get everything approved and kind of moving
at the rate that we wanna move.
And again, it's that bureaucracy, you know, is very tough.
People who have seen season 1 and season 2 know how much
I personally enjoy British bureaucracy.
- It's your favorite color. - Yeah, it's my favorite.
I can't maintain an erection
unless I'm thinking about British bureaucracy.
- It's hot. - Yeah.
Even just thinking about it. No, I have to--
That's why my legs are crossed.
Rob had proposed, "What would happen if we put two and a half thousand seats
in that area right now that are just temporary?"
That are just-- We just put--
And, you know, Shaun and several other people--
I love Shaun, 'cause he's always looking out for our best interests-- was like--
Absolutely not.
'Cause it absolutely makes zero sense financially.
In order to practically build a set of temporary seats,
you would need to either acquire or license this land
from the university and the council.
We need to do some stuff to the ground
to make it safe for people to enter into the back of this thing.
["The Sound of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel plays]
[Ker] That is the stupidest idea I've ever heard.
[McElhenney] I don't know. We figure it out.
We also couldn't get Phil Parkinson. He was never gonna come.
Paul wasn't gonna come.
Ben wasn't gonna come.
No one goes to jail if those guys don't come to the club.
If the stand collapses and kills a bunch of people...
- Okay. Okay. - ...I go to jail.
Your first thought is,
"Oh, my God. I'm going to jail because this thing is gonna collapse."
How would the world-- How has the world functioned to this point?
- That-- Yeah-- - [Reynolds] Oh! This is getting stupid.
First of all, you're dead right.
That's why we address the safety issue,
and why we would do everything legally aboveboard and ethically.
That's also why Rob and I are calling it The Humphrey Ker Memorial Kop.
My issue is genuinely not that I think it's gonna collapse
'cause we wouldn't put it up unless it was safe, right?
- We all know that. - Correct. The assumption is that we...
My actual concern is that we do all of this--
that we build this whole thing-- we maybe get one,
two games with an extra 2,000 people in it and then we gotta take it down.
And it sure would be nice to get a couple thousand more people in there.
That's the biggest complaint that I've been seeing
is people of the town saying we can't get in to see the games 'cause of the tickets.
Yeah.
And us losing a lot of money seems to be, like, kind of the...
- I have no problem with that. - ...whole thing.
- That I'm all for. - Oh, my God. Losing--
Losing a ton of money is so in right now.
- It's so-- - And it's red-hot.
[bleating]
[cameraman] Rolling it. Speed. Yeah.
[interviewer] For the first question, the 19th of November last year--
Yeah?
What happened? What are the circumstances? What's going on?
[commentator 4] Hello and welcome to the Racecourse Ground...
[James Jones] Um...
Playing Aldershot.
In the warm-up, I've looked to the stand,
and I've not seen my mum, dad, and Chloe, my wife,
'cause they were gonna be coming to watch me.
Chloe was pregnant at the time.
So I thought, "A bit late. It's not like them."
No texts. So I thought, "Fine." Played the game.
[commentator 6] Tozer with the throw.
Looking for Tunnicliffe. It's a scramble in the box there.
Palmer. Oh... It's a goal.
Cleared off the line.
Finds James Jones, and that's 2-nil.
[James Jones] We were winning. Still couldn't see them.
And then...
- JJ. JJ. JJ, come here. - The gaffer subbed me.
And as I'm going off the pitch, he said...
Apparently, your old man's waiting outside for you.
Your Mrs. is not doing very well or something, all right?
So just go down. Straight down. Yeah? Good lad.
So I've just quickly got me stuff and gone straight over to hospital.
You know, as soon as I saw her, I knew it was serious.
She was in pain.
And just seeing her face, it just wasn't right.
At this point, the baby is 25 weeks and one day... gestation.
All the time, you think about having your child
and how special that moment's gonna be.
And, instead, you're just left distraught, wondering what's gonna be.
Chloe was getting progressively worse.
And they had to have an emergency cesarean to save her life.
7:49, Jude was born.
And they just showed us his face as they wheeled him out to intensive care,
and he was--
His face-- He was just, like--
He was just-- There was nothing of him.
He was tiny.
[monitor beeping]
I remember the doctors saying, like, Jude's survival percentages
we're only, like, 40%.
It was off the back of being born so early.
I'm with Chloe just in, like, the recovery,
and she goes, "James, my eyes are starting to go."
And her eyes start flickering, and starts twitching.
And she starts having a seizure.
They took-- Made the decision,
she's got to be taken to intensive care as well.
So they're both in intensive care, and I was stuck in the middle
and thinking one or both might not make it.
[James Jones] The uncertainty of life can hit anybody.
Everything changed so quickly from being, you know--
I was playing a game of football.
We're winning, I scored.
And then suddenly you're in this situation.
I just literally wandered around the hospital
from one intensive care unit to the other.
And it was just-- It dragged on for months.
- [Chloe] Ah, the sun's in his eyes. - [James Jones] Oh, dear.
Let's face you the other way. Is that sun in your eyes?
- [Chloe laughs] - [James Jones chuckles]
Ready.
Steady.
Go.
- It was severe preeclampsia. - [Chloe] Yeah.
[James Jones] It developed into HELLP syndrome. Yeah.
But normally, with that condition, they remove the placenta,
and then you start to recover.
- But I didn't. I just kept getting worse. - Yeah.
- I know it was really tough.
There were some really scary times.
Are you gonna go in the swing?
Can you sit you back?
- [Chloe] Well, it's his first birthday. - Yeah.
Ready.
Steady.
Swing.
[James Jones] The fact that they've both come through now,
and Chloe is just the best mum ever.
- She's just amazing for Jude. - Yay.
And Jude's just, like, the best.
He's-- He's just so happy and funny, and he's got his own personality.
[Chloe] Wow, look at all this, Jude.
He's never fully out of the woods with different stuff,
but he's, at the minute, he's just the best.
- [friend] Aw. - [Chloe laughs]
[James Jones] When you take a step back and you look at the big picture,
you realize nothing lasts forever and everything can change.
And how my life could have been.
I think I'd take this all day.
[Chloe] I feel like he helped me come out of it.
When he was just saying, like, you know,
"I love you so much, and I'm here for you."
I feel like that's what helped me.
And it's so true. You're always here for us.
I'm so lucky.
- Sorry. - Don't. You'll set me off here.
[Chloe] I know. I'm so grateful though.
So grateful.
[drumroll]
[Reynolds] Because of my busy schedule,
I had to invite my co-chair, Rob McElhenney,
to the set of Deadpool in London...
- [McElhenney] This is amazing. - [assistant] Yeah, right?
[Reynolds] ...to discuss all things that are Wrexham.
- You wanna put your bag down? - [McElhenney] Yeah.
And, yes, I did have to promise him a role in the upcoming Deadpool film.
And for confidentiality reasons, nobody can see or hear any of this stuff.
[Reynolds] Here? There's Rob.
- [person on set] Hi, Rob. - Hi.
- Sorry. Sorry. - How are you? I don't want to get anything
on that beautiful coat of yours.
- There's blood all over me. - [McElhenney] You seem to be a bit busy.
[McElhenney] Hey, Ryan, what scene are we shooting today?
- [bleep] - We're in here.
[bleeping]
It's-- [bleeping]
[crew chattering]
- So, it's like, uh... - [person] So, in other words...
Basically, we get...
[bleeping]
I'm standing here. And this...
[bleeping]
- And then quiet down. - I just saw you do that.
[McElhenney] Oh, a spray tan trailer.
Don't have to blur that. No spoiler there.
- Yo. Hey. Hi. - Hey, buddy.
- And we've got-- - Come on in.
I am texting Ollie Palmer.
- Oh, yeah? - Yep.
How much should I block what I'm wearing?
On this camera?
You're fine. You're-- Just don't unzip.
- Can you not tease? - Sorry. Sorry.
- This isn't the Spearmint Rhino, Rob. - Yeah.
[Reynolds] Now, I can't necessarily tell you
which character Rob plays in Deadpool
for fear of being shot down by the Marvel drone that follows me and my kids around.
Wade Wilson?
Who's asking?
But it could be him. Or him.
Please. Oh, my fuck!
Maybe him.
Well, no, not him.
Possibly him.
Uh!
It's super comfortable making superhero movies.
I know. Thanks for doing a-a-a cameo.
- Super secret cameo. - Yeah. It's really fun.
Just for the record, Rob has never asked me
to be on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Mythic Quest or his podcast,
or any of his other many
- multimedia ventures. - I asked you to be on this.
- Yeah. Thank you. - Yeah, you said yes.
Yeah, and it's been hell.
You remember that temporary stand that Humphrey said he was gonna go to jail for?
- Yeah. - It's being built.
- Did you see? - Yay! I saw some pictures of it, yeah.
[Harvey] Rob and Ryan want to get as many people into the stadium.
A temporary stand is sensible in addressing the shortage of tickets.
But from a financial perspective, it's anything but.
I've long advocated a principle of conscious decision-making.
You know, if people know the facts and want to do it,
it's not the wrong decision.
But in isolation, it's a financial nightmare.
Humphrey's like, "Oh, God, I'm going to prison."
That is his first thought.
Shaun and Humphrey are-- Their bodies are 90% ulcer at this point.
I may still seek counsel as I quite value my freedom.
[clatters, clanks]
[lock clicks]
[Reynolds] I can't imagine there's ever gonna be another year again
in the future of this club where we're not in the middle of something pivotal.
We're in a fight right now
to get our asses out of League Two and into League One.
And that feeling is just never gonna go away.
[McElhenney] All jokes aside, Shaun came through
and built a beautiful temporary stand,
but we are going to lose a significant amount of money on it.
However, I believe it's a competitive advantage
to be able to close that stadium in and to hear that support.
I think it's gonna be twice as loud in there
because you have an extra 2,500 people.
But also because the acoustics now will keep everything locked in.
[fans chanting] ♪ The Red Army ♪
♪ Allez, allez, allez, oh Allez, allez, allez, oh ♪
December 23rd forward, hopefully.
For, well, I guess, our derby, right?
- Yes. - Like Newport. Yeah.
- And where is that derby? - Derby?
- Derby, yeah.
Sorry, quick chyron.
Derby, wrong. Derby, right.
Ryan.
Idiot.
["It Came Upon the Midnight Clear" plays]
[announcer 1] Here we are undefeated. 'Tis the season for a Welsh derby match.
Wrexham versus Newport County at the Racecourse Ground.
Fuck Wrexham.
Assholes.
[announcer 2] Yeah, it's a strange one,
because Mark Howard's actually done really well in goal.
But I think he's gonna be replaced because Okonkwo is back from injury.
- I like the touch. I like it. - [Mulholland] Do you like it?
As long as it does the job, that's all that really matters, isn't it?
Do you wanna try it on?
All right, you put it on, and I'll strap it around in the back.
Yeah.
[Ker] So good news on the Okonkwo injury front.
Arthur's cleared to continue to play.
Just tuck this in.
[Ker] He's been fitted with a custom mask which should prevent any further injuries.
So I know I'm supposed to draw a Deadpool comparison here,
but to be honest, he looks more like Batman,
who we can all agree is much cooler.
- You can see just when I-- - I can't feel it.
- That's not going to impact that. - No.
But more importantly is, if you get a blow to the front of the chin,
or you land on your chin, or a ball hits you
when you're making a save with your hands up,
you got that protection there.
It provides that impact from the front and from the side, really.
So, I think it's a pretty secure mask for what you need it for.
[crowd cheering]
[commentator 4] So welcome to
Wrexham against Newport County, a Welsh derby.
Goodness me.
The atmosphere already crackling.
Not least because we have got a fourth side to the ground.
The temporary Kop is open.
[Wrexham fan 1] It's iconic.
This is what we've been brought and bred up with.
This is the home end, as we know it.
Seeing this today, that's why I've got a ticket here today.
Just to bring back memories and make the ground bounce like normal.
To get asked today to come and road test it
as a wheelchair user working for the club, to check everything's in place.
It's absolutely brilliant facilities.
And just from a nostalgic point of view, to be back on the Kop is just incredible.
Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!
[commentator 4] Listen to that noise.
[announcer 3] That's spine-tingling, that was.
[announcer 4] Yeah.
[Ker] So going into today's match, Wrexham's opponents are Newport County.
They are in 17th place on 26 points.
Wrexham, we're in third on 40 points.
One point ahead of Mansfield.
Today's match is crucial to keep that momentum going.
[rhythmic clapping]
[commentator 4] As the teams are now coming out to a raucous reception.
[James Jones] The temporary Kop definitely adds something.
Adds a bit more atmosphere,
and feels like a proper stadium again almost.
It just didn't seem right.
You always wanna win the games, but there's definitely those extra incentives.
And we had to make sure we won.
- [crowd cheering] - [commentator 4] A derby match,
derby atmosphere, four-sided ground.
[crowd chanting]
Okonkwo's got a protective mask on, hasn't he?
[commentator 5] Yeah. Yeah.
[commentator 4] Gets to be the first goalkeeper
to greet the fans at the temporary Kop stand.
I saw someone suggesting that it should be called the Ben Foster Stand
'cause he only came in for a bit but did a great job.
I rather like that.
- [whistle blows] - Away we go.
Wrexham kicking towards the SToK Cold Brew end then.
Come on, Wrexham!
As Wrexham looks to exploit that. Great ball over the top.
Mullin on his own down the right channel.
He's pressured by Delaney. He goes down in the box.
And the ref is not interested.
Fucking hell!
Mendy, taking on the fullback.
Gets into the box, right-hand side, on his left foot.
Sweeps to the far post!
Just gone beyond.
Oh!
Well done, Jacob!
Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!
Bogle surging forwards, knocks Tozer over and plays a great ball.
Evans, tight angle. It's a brilliant save by Okonkwo.
But Newport are penning Wrexham in with the assistance of this wind.
Delaney goes back into his own half.
Get up to the ball!
Then puts it out wide.
Picked up by Delaney on the flank.
He puts a great cross in. Header towards goal!
Another brilliant save by Okonkwo!
- How did that not go in? - [commentator 5] Goodness me.
That could've gone either way. That one.
[commentator 4] Okonkwo. The masked avenger.
[Parkinson] It's there for us, isn't it? The game is there for us.
The moments of quality, there might be five.
There might be five in the game where we go, bang, bang, bang, out the other side.
1 v 1, we get a goal.
But the rest of the game is gonna be scrap, scrap, scrap.
Stay calm. This is the type of game it is, and we're gonna come out on top.
And when the moments of quality come, they will come from fucking us.
Keep doing the defensive work. Keep doing the blocks.
Keep doing the crosses, and it will fucking come.
Okay? Come on, boys. Let's fucking go!
Come on! Come on, boys!
[commentator 4] The crowd, wait for it, is 12,095.
It's like I said, the biggest crowd
since that Boston match in 2007 at the Racecourse.
[rhythmic clapping]
Wrexham!
Wrexham just need something to go our way.
As here come Wrexham. Ball into the box.
Dalby backing in, pinning his man. Can he lay it off? Can he turn?
Hits it. Oh, just wide!
Lee's just behind McClean, but he keeps it going.
Back to McClean again from Dalby.
This is good from Wrexham. Lee driving through the middle.
Hits the shot!
Hit the post. Bounced back out, hit the keeper.
Go again! Come on!
[Parkinson] Come on! Let's go, gents! Come on! Come on!
Chipping away, the bastard.
[commentator 4] McClean, what a tackle that was.
Pressure is building and building.
Tozer then, with the long throw.
Slings it into the edge of the six-yard box. Touches it on.
- Wrexham score! Wrexham score! - [cheering]
James Jones smashes it home!
- Get in! Come on. - [whooping]
[laughing]
[commentator 4] James Jones, again,
in front of a populated Kop, hits the net for Wrexham.
But you got to say the last five minutes has been coming, hasn't it?
[commentator 5] Yeah, definitely, it's been coming.
It's a great finish by James Jones.
He really got a hold of that and made sure it went in.
[James Jones] I didn't think about it so much at the time.
I was just happy to score.
But it would be a nice feeling to look back on,
to know that I was the first one to score in front of four stands again in,
what is it, 18 years?
So, yeah, it's a nice one to have in your back pocket.
[commentator 4] Hey, listen to that.
The atmosphere is incredible.
Wrexham!
James Jones. My heart's still pounding. Gotta say.
Yeah!
- [whistle blows] - And the final whistle. Wrexham win 2-nil.
[commentator 5] It was one of those games.
I was unsure about whether we'd get the win or not,
but I'll take 2-nil today, anytime.
[commentator 4] It was a proper derby.
[reporter] Today, a record attendance brokered inside the Stok Cae Ras.
Four sides to it, and two goals in front of the Kop.
Must have been great to see.
Yeah, that was-- I said to the lads at halftime,
you know, kicking to that end with supporters
and, you know, "Let's really kind of take the game to Newport, knock attacks in,
kind of put them under sustained periods of pressure."
You know, all in all, I thought the lads have stuck to the job in hand today
and got another very important three points for us.
[commentator 4] It's the first time Wrexham players
have done that for 25 years, clap the Kop.
[commentator 5] Wow, that crowd today was definitely the 12th man,
definitely pushed us over the line.
[fans] Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!
[Ker] So a very good weekend for us really, you know, yielded three points.
That's what we're after.
But, you know, elsewhere around the league across the country to the east
our old friends and foes, Notts County, finding it a bit more difficult.
[commentator 6] A previous spot-kick. It's Jennings down the middle.
Tranmere 4, Notts County 2.
[Ker] When last we met Notts County,
they were second in the league and flying frankly.
But since then, things have been a little tougher for them.
League Two's a very competitive league.
It's a league where anyone can beat anyone on a day.
[commentator 6] Notts County today lose serious ground to the top three.
They're seven adrift now.
I think the team's a bit wounded in terms of having winning as a habit.
When you lose that habit for a bit, it hurts.
I don't want to make excuses here,
but we've had a lot
of factors that have played a part
in us not being as successful as last season.
[announcer 5] Bigger news has followed since that last game, as Luke Williams
has departed to jump two leagues to go to Swansea City of the Championship.
[Ker] Not only are they struggling to find their footing in League Two,
but they have lost their very successful manager, Luke Williams, to Swansea.
The end of the Luke Williams era at Notts County Football Club.
The reign is over, giving certainly many young Notts fans
the best days of their life as Notts County supporters.
Was at Notts for 18 months, and I've returned to Swansea as head coach.
That's my beloved Notts.
And, uh, you know, it's always gonna be a special football club to me.
It's indescribable.
It's impossible for us to ever be really separated
even if we're no longer day in, day out together.
I will, you know, cherish the memories of working with them
and the things we've done together.
[announcer 6] A shot at redemption.
Scott sends Notts County back to the Football League!
The game never stands still, and nothing is ever permanent.
And this game is precarious at the best of times.
So, I've made a decision, and it's extremely difficult.
Notts have struggled and stuttered in recent months.
[announcer 5] Gonna lose--
And again, a leaky defense is at it again.
[Scott] If you look in isolation at four or five games,
like, use the form under the current manager when he came in,
the results weren't as we would have liked and as he would've liked, I'm sure.
[announcer 6] It's another away loss for County.
[Stal] You just need to look at the league table.
"We're in a hole trying to climb out of it,"
I think is what I would say.
We've slumped massively, as everybody knows.
[announcer 5] What a brilliant finish from Cedwyn Scott.
[Langstaff] Cedwyn being injured, he was a massive player for us last year.
We've had players like Geraldo Bajrami
who had a similar injury and he's out for the season.
Matty Palmer, who was arguably our best player last year
and a big part in the way we want to play.
We have had factors that went against us.
When it's not going your way, it's just not going your way.
It's really frustrating because it's another team that's come to Meadow Lane
and have not had to do a lot to really beat us.
And that's the frustration.
[Maynard] Since we've been in charge as a management team, we've found that,
uh, that big moments within games kind of haven't gone our way.
We've had a lot of niggles and injuries.
It's kind of been out of our hands
to a degree, at certain stages, since we've come in.
Things in football can change really quickly,
and we went from, you know, we were up there
challenging for the top end of the league, and now we are mid-table.
But as quick as that changed, it could go back the other way.
[announcer 5] To Robertson.
Plays it back to his goalkeeper. It's come off the post.
Could be a simple tap-in, and it is.
They don't come much easier than a tap-in like this.
We had high hopes for this season, but it shows the highs and lows
of football and how quickly it can turn around.
It sounds cliché, but we'll take each game as it comes.
The game must go on.
[Ker] Football is temporary.
One week you're in great form, the next you're in the doldrums.
So the new Goliath in this league for us is Stockport County.
Those of you with a long memory will remember they're an old Goliath for us
because they are the team that pipped us to the title in the 2021-22 season.
[commentator 4] This Wrexham season is over!
[Ker] Old foes resurface.
[announcer 7] County are back!
...and the dream has finally come true.
[Ker] So now, both teams are fighting for top spot in League Two,
and it's turning into a bit of a doozy of a battle.
[announcer 7] Olaofe one-on-one, and scores a magnificent goal.
We went to Edgeley Park earlier in the season and were well-beaten by them.
Olaofe with a header.
Olaofe scores the hat trick.
[commentator 4] Did not see this coming. Let's be frank.
[commentator 5] No, not at all. But 5-nil to Stockport. Wowie.
Ever since that, Stockport County have been on a bit of a tear.
And he scores, sends the keeper the wrong way.
It's seven goals in seven games for Louie Barry.
It's Bailey who goes for goal.
It's a stunner, and the winning run is set to continue.
And there it is. County have got the three points.
Nine wins in a row.
County stay top of the table.
Olaofe checks one way, then the other, on his left foot.
And he's made it 2-nil. County have got the three points tonight.
And it's day's dozen, 12 in a row for Stockport County.
[Reynolds] So we have a very important event approaching.
Arthur Massey, who is believed to be our oldest fan, is turning 100.
We have a special surprise where we will invite Arthur onto the pitch,
we'll present him with a jersey,
and more importantly, he will receive a standing ovation
from our home crowd for a full 100 seconds.
And because of our busy schedules, we're sending Rob a few weeks early
to give our thanks to Arthur.
It's a nice neighborhood.
And hopefully, he doesn't blow the secret.
- Hi. - Hello, my darling, how are you?
- How are you? - It's so good to see you.
It's so lovely to see you.
- Nice to meet you. - Lovely to meet you.
Thank you for having us at your home.
You are as good-looking as you look on the film.
- [Julie chuckles] Oh! - Thank you.
- How are you? - Hi.
- How you doing? - Nice to see you.
- It's so nice to see you. - Nice to see you.
I wanted to make sure I came by and said hello and thank you.
- And happy birthday. - Oh, that's nice.
- Happy birthday. - Wow.
- [Julie] That's very kind, thank you. - [Massey] You did brilliant.
Thank you.
And, well, so did you, you lived almost a hundred years.
- I'd say you're doing something right. - [Julie] Yes, yeah.
Whatever you're doing, I want to do more of.
[Julie, Arthur's daughter] It's the brandy.
- The brandy. - [Arthur's daughter] Yes.
- Brandy. - Let's have a brandy.
[McElhenney] How long have you lived in this house?
- Seventy-- Seventy-four years. - Wow.
I lived very much-- I lived in a house like this.
This is how I grew up in a-- I don't know if you saw--
[Arthur's daughter] On the documentary. You showed your son round.
[McElhenney] But we shared a bathroom though.
There was five of us.
[Arthur's daughter] Yes. Yeah, that's right.
And, you know, as you get older, the house looks so much smaller,
but I remember it being so large, and it was hard to go back.
- And it wasn't in good shape. - No.
The person that was living there was not in good shape,
and he felt a little bit embarrassed.
And, you know, the truth is that we--
I get a little emotional to think about it because we--
I just remember love in the house.
- Yeah. That's right. - [Julie] Yeah.
- That's all I remember-- - And that's all that's important.
- Yeah, yeah. - [Julie] Yeah.
[Arthur's daughter] Dad's seen lots of changes.
I think what those eyes have seen over a hundred years.
Must be a very difficult part of living a hundred years
is having to say goodbye to so many people.
Yeah, most of our friends have gone.
- That's life. - [McElhenney] Yeah.
You have to accept what it is, not what you want it to be.
You know what you want it to be, but it's never like that, is it?
Happy birthday, Arthur.
Happy birthday. You're 100 years old. Wow.
[cheering]
[Reynolds] When people ask us, they say, "Why Wrexham?"
Well, the answer could very well
- just be Arthur Massey. - Yes.
[Griffiths] What a treat we have here today.
Our oldest fan, Arthur Massey, will be honored here at the Stok Cae Ras
with a hundred seconds of applause.
- Hi, how are you doing, huh? - Happy birthday.
One second for each year of his remarkable life.
Hi.
- [Arthur] What's his name? - Jude.
[Julie] Jude? Oh, lovely.
Hello, happy birthday.
Hello.
Greeting the old man. Happy birthday, sir.
[Arthur] Thank you very much.
[cheering, applause]
[no audible dialogue]