Documentary - I always remind myself I’m not the audience for this before commenting. My perception is meaningless. All that matters is what it does on other continents. I’m okay with us seeing no direct monies from the documentary as I suspect that creates more issues than it solves. Always amazed the doc. has won awards though. Tonally those first 2 series were all over the place. A complete mess. 3rd series was much more consistent but, with maybe 2 exceptions, also much less compelling. I think we’ll look back on that as one of the weirdest promotions we’ve had. Compare it to 2003 when we had a much more rounded team and a run of results and performances which made us look like promotion candidates. We spent most of this season fretting and I think that leaked into series 3. Kit - diamonds would be irresponsible. Makes the numbers and names very hard to read and especially if you have a sensory impairment. Bad enough watching games with kit clashes where not even the ADC commentary can make sense of it because they have the same issues. Sadly the focus on having 1 DLO and limited interest in the DSA means that fan views on this have limited routes to feedback good practice. Still, all speculation at this point. We’ll see. Main thing for me with home kits is to not mess around with the red. I don’t want to see fancy shirts with sleeves which make us look like Arsenal. I want to see something red and distinctly Welsh. Marstons? Think I’d prefer the Crosville Bus era :) Missed games - I managed to miss the 7-5 Barnet game thanks to the rail strike and a lack of lifts from Manchester Reds whose cars were all full. Did manage to make both Arsenal games and lord am I bored about the conversations around that second game. Poor game and two poor performances. The original FA Cup game we lost was far better. We were a better team; put in a better performance and the crowd was several thousand more than the official figures (and then some). Better atmosphere and everything. I almost never miss goals cos my VI means I have to plan to not need the loo or go down to the concourse mid game as it’s just too hard to do unless I’ve no choice. However, some years ago I took a then 7 year old down to Brighton for a certain FA Cup game. All through the 1st half he wanted the loo. Must have taken him at least 4 times. Then he wanted to go at the start of the 2nd half and… Cheesy, his favourite player, scored. Could have happily killed him :)

Fletcher been seen training with McClean, I reckon he's signing

That little finger will keep getting knocked, strap it tight. 🧑‍⚕️

I doubt that Shaun Harvey would recommend having doco revenue on the club's books. Having the doco which can be cancelled any season as part of the club's books would open up the clubs books to attack on financial viability grounds -- and there is enough jealousy of Wrexham's ownership to increase the odds of an attack being made if there is an opening. It's much safer to harvest the benefits from sponsorship, which is too basic to the revenue of all clubs to be open to attack. As far as the new Kop, the two most likely sources for delay are finance and a redesign to increase capacity.

England's biggest problem isn’t lack of celebs in defence, it is Southgate's mentality! If your defence is shaky then you have to rely on your attack easing the pressure upon them. It seems that Southgate doesn't go with that, or he believes England's defence is much better than it is.

Don't forget, when you intimate that we're not getting paid but the club finances grow from the exposure, what you really mean is that Ryan and Rob's investment return is increased. Something else is that player's agents will be asking for higher wages, based in part on the use of the player's image within the documentary. Black & White diamonds? Makes me think of a clown - not a good look!

I was happy that we secured promotion without our owners present. It was a reminder that Wrexham is about the club and not its celebrety owners. Part of me wants to thank them as we didn't have the additional pressure of their presence with even an outside expectation of us winning promotion. However, there is the fan in me which thinks, 'How could you stay away if there was even a remote possibility we would get promoted?' Then there was Ryan saying, 'We'll go to the next one then!' and not even turning up.

zwei bier bitte, andy. i have faith you can imbibe your way through your drinking injury. thoughts on the doc.. there are three other partners here, Boardwalk Pictures, 3 Arts and FX Productions as well so they get their shares of the profits off the top. Ryan has Maximum Effort which is a huge production/advertising company now and Rob has More Better which is newer and wants to grow. So profits go into those enterprises first before they land in R&R's pockets. Club is officially owned by Wrexham Holdings LLC with 95% ownership but Rob/Ryan own RR McElhenney which is now more than just the club. I would expect the club to have been profitable this past season but future investors could help fuel growth of the wages, stands, training grounds/academy and that the club would continue to responsibly grow debt for capital investments. Question is when do we get to Championship and when does the documentary end and what is Ryan's (less so Rob, I think) exit strategy? Is that when all club debts get settled? Interesting questions..

www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/football/wrexham-game-great-new-way-32704309?

Gareth Bale, Luke Young Arthur Okonkwo

Drinking is no good. When you get to 50 you really know this

Wow, this is a Grango reunion…

Nice to see John Stewart ! I used to give him a lift to work when he was doing a temporary job at my then employers Iceland Foods

Just wondering is when checking the prices in Vancouver for hotels were you quoted US dollars on Canada dollars. The exchange rate is like 1 to 1.37

The locker room should see Arthur as Wrexham’s Cornerstone player for their PL ambitions and that should allow for no disruption with the team chemistry

Hey John, good to see you again. #phillyPTSD

Interesting to hear mention of schools. I went to Ysgol Y Wern in Rhosllanerchrugog in the late 70s 😊

Airbnb!

Damn. This is becoming the perfect length for my morning physio. so I’m listening in the “off season”/pre-season even when I really need to get away from football. Have to say that, against my better judgement, I have enjoyed the TST highlights. Fundamental issue is that it’s not a Wrexham team but the only people available to play in a Wrexham team, who would have the necessary pace and tactical understanding, are the first team squad. It needs a slight rethink. I wonder whether we might be better using our reserves with a couple of name players? Okwonkwo - my position remains that I don’t think the errors get ironed out with age and, even if they do, we’re unlikely to be the beneficiaries of that. I’d rather a cheaper; more experienced and generally reliable keeper and see the money go elsewhere. Love the idea that people STILL have faith in Harvey to sort this. That will almost certainly result in us once again overpaying as is his way. Let’s not confuse a willingness to spend other people’s money with few personal consequences with “negotiation”. Thought the list of positions we need was almost right but not quite. A lack of pace at the back will cost us and our cover looks thin. O’Connor is hideously over-rated at left back. Again, lack of pace is an issue. Evans can drop back but, again, er, lack of pace. Hopefully we push McLean into midfield and get decent cover for Mendy. Suspect that if given chances James Jones will thrive at this level. Genuinely interested that no-one mentioned the option of long term loans of Championship and Premier League players. That’s how other teams have thrived at this level and why I suspect all currently seems quiet on the western front. I suspect that’s where our striker comes from. Someone with pace, skill and movement but who can learn from the likes of Mullin and thus won’t undermine him. There are also some options at the Euros from some of the lesser known nations and I’d be disappointed if we weren’t exploring that. That’s where we should now be. Wales - been around long enough to know from day 1 that page was a 1980s Wales manager with zero tactical nouse and no vision re: long term planning. Bobby Ghoul had more clue. Wasn’t fooled by the qualification either. The results in that tournament weren’t “disappointing” as many asserted. They were absolutely what was to be expected as are the results now. I do actually agree with Page that we are in transition but the point is that it’s jargon for “I’m kinda hoping something magical will happen with these kids but I don’t really know what I’m doing”. Wholly agree with Tim (and ergo not with Andy) that club and country should be equal. Kind of see where Andy is coming from with Mullin not feeling especially Welsh but ultimately we’re a country with no obvious striker so why not. I don’t buy into the whole fear of injury thing. Parky has the right attitude on this. Injuries happen and we’re in a position to use the market as needed to work around them. International games are less frequent than EFL Trophy or Carabao Cup games and yet we don’t see most fans hysterically demanding we stand down key players “in case they get injured”. The counter here, which almost never gets discussed, is that being an international can also improve a player for the benefit of a club.

I live in Charlotte too!

Andy. don't you have any points from hotel stays, looking online i can get 5 nights at HI vancouver for 300k points which is nothing

Also, the Whitecaps released upper bowl tickets. Upper bowl tickets will start at $45 - plus taxes and fees.

Andrew, what hotel in Vancouver are you considering that costs £1700 for 5 days? Unless you want the Fairmont Hotel, there should be less expensive options. Also, you could stay at an airport hotel and take a 33 minute train ride to BC Place that costs ~CDN$5-6. There are also airport motels that are even cheaper.

You definitely want to be outside of downtown Vancouver. Room prices drop significantly once you’re 15 or 20 minutes away by the Skytrain.

Me and my daughter have match tickets and flights booked to Vancouver but I've been holding off booking a hotel or Airbnb because of the ridiculous prices. Was hoping we might be able to team up with other travelling fans to book a shared apartment and save money 😱

Reach out to Shawn from the Red Horde. He’s a Vancouver native and is organising a bit of stuff around the friendly.

Cavan Sullivan was recently signed by Man City. He is a fourteen year old from Philadelphia.

They meant they were in danger of getting relegated (knocked out) of the auto promotion spot to the playoff spot

Andy....look at Lonsdale Quay hotel in North Vancouver. Seabus is a 12 minute water crossing and connects to the sky train to the Stadium. 3 minutes walk from Seabus to hotel. 1200 pounds for 5 days at hotel.

Andy I think the relegation stuff was intentionally misleading language. “Relegation… to the playoffs” 😂

I emailled like you said to get a sample newsletter no reply. I know you were in a country in africa staring with z ( zed here in canada like where you are)

Thought they definitely DISNEY-FIED the McClean thing re the chant. Thought it was a cop out. Sound editor turned the volume chant down. Pissed. true you can find it if you want. But how many eff you yelling, flying fingers, phallic and sheep images we have to sit thru? You couldn't play the last line? Total BS.

GET ARTHUR ON THE PHONE WITH ROB!!!! BTW, love Arthur but don't want to pay him if he's only interested in the dollar dollar bills. You gotta get invested in Wrexham and want to be a big contributor to the project. Still feels like we overpaid for Ollie, who was hot for first 6mths and cooled ever since. Although Mulls likes him. Money isn't everything.

I think Roger Milla for Camaroon holds the record for the oldest scorer in the World Cup, in 1994.

Okonkwo probably needs exit clauses if the team doesn't make the Championship in 2 seasons.

Contact Red Horde about accommodation ideas in Vancouver.

Did someone forget to upload this episode to the audible podcast carriers 🤔🙄🤦

Given the US has 5x the population of the UK, does a 25k crowd actually mean championship level? Or is it 5k, league 2 and below level.

I'm really enjoying the newsletter. Seems like a no brainer really for the cost over the year

Everyone should sign up for the newsletter… it is a no brainer….

Contrary to the opposition fans we haven't seen a referee in the documentary who has favoured Wrexham.

Andy and John in the same class at school? He looks like a babe compared to John. Bloody genes

wrexhamisthegame.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=f9d6404d

No Hippos were hurt during the making of this pod

Not sure why you'd be apologetic about this "filler" episode bc we crave this kind of shit! Why do I care about your opinions on the TST? Idk, but I do, strangely!

why isn’t this on spotify ( yet?)

I had to rewind to make sure I heard Parky correctly and then busted out laughing after I picked my jaw off the floor. Whew, he was hot! I was, however, taken aback that so many called for his head so quickly.

Andy you are spot on about the club and some of the observations made between community club and commercially run club. Some decisions that have been made were poor… considering some of us worked for the club on a voluntary basis with NO THANKS to our services… furthermore the outgoing CEO lost the ability to return email as you pointed out also! Great work chaps, up the town 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Thanks fellas! Andy, Good luck with the baboons & hippos! Tim, hope your “time off” is enjoyable. Question: how much longer does Parky give AO? Arthur has known he wasn’t being retained for a while now. Just made official, I get it, but maybe it’s time to ask him: what are you going to do? Sign or don’t. Surely he’s had enough time. Looking forward to the entertainment that is TST which starts 10:15am my time today.

Credit due I think. Expected that to be filler and only gave it a go cos it was 45 and nicely fits my morning physio. routine. Ended up really enjoying it. Some thoughts: Patagonia - in the same way Tim was disappointed in the lack of context for Mendy’s call up I was disappointed in this section of W2W. In the 1970s my primary school music teacher moved to Patagonia and she stayed in touch with my mother (who also taught). Became apparent there were multiple Wales and Wrexham football fans out there. There was contact between them and the club and several came over. Later on, VHS tapes of seasons made their way there from fans. The club, sadly, was almost wholly disinterested. The advent of the internet changed things but Facebook had a Patagonian Reds account long before yer man made contact and took credit. With a bit of effort I suspect it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone alive who remembers all of this and who indeed is maybe one of those original fans. There was also a Clwyd Latin American music society which met at Theatr Clwyd. Largely based around people/teachers who had fled the Pinochet regime but attracted people in NE Wales from a similar background and that included people who had spent time in… Patagonia. Many followed Division 1 Teams (as was) but several were Wrexham fans. In the wardrobe I have a very holy and rather wonderful t-shirt from said society. Tozer - nice bloke but I do think we’re prone to misremember and mythologise lots of stuff around ex players. First season with us he looked like his legs had gone initially until he got going. Had a purple patch but then faded badly for periods. There was zero leadership verbally. Some vague waving but, eventually, lots of leading by example. There was a purple patch between him and Hayden in the promotion season with the long throw but more often than not it was a tactic which teams who had prepared for it handled easily and it’s easy to forget how much fan frustration it caused. Where we scored it was generally against NL teams without the resources to scout out multiple games in advance of a fixture or who had players simply ill-equipped to cope. More and more it became less about scoring and more about ramping up pressure at key points. Last season, personal circumstances aside, it was very quickly obvious that neither Hayden nor Tozer had the legs for League 2. Both put in some genuinely bad performances and there was some relief when both were injured and/or dropped. Absolutely agree that Tozer was great at Notts County but that has to be seen in the context that they put zero pressure on him compared to other teams; had started to transition into a team lacking pace in key areas and he still managed to put in 2 shocking passes under no pressure whatsoever which nearly cost us goals. I wish him well at FGR but suspect he’ll be doing more behind the scenes than playing. He served a purpose for us but I can’t say I feel the need to eulogise his time with us in any way.