…from the quickSilver Media and Entertainment desk…

One of my colleagues at Bristol Myers Squibb works in Summit, NJ, but she is from Wales. Which means she is not English. She’s Welsh. From Wales.

She told me about a town up at the north end of Wales called Wrexham. It started out as a medieval trade hub, but during the Industrial Revolution it was – not unlike many Welsh towns – a center of coal mining and steel milling. It’s like a smaller version of Pittsburgh, but with churches and streets dating back several centuries. And, like Pittsburgh, it has gone through its post-Industrial hardships.

Near the center of town is Wrexham’s football stadium, the Racehorse Ground, or Y Cae Ras in Welsh. And this thing is legend. First opened in 1877, it is listed by Guinness as the oldest existing stadium to hold an international game. The Welsh national team uses it sometimes for home games; it’s hosted more such matches than any other stadium.

The local team that plays there is Wrexham Association Football Club, Clwb Pêl-droed Wrecsam, the third oldest team in the world, established in 1864. They have a storied history, winning the Welsh Cup a record 23 times, and they play in the English FA system and competitions, including winning the FA Trophy at Wembley Stadium in 2013. However, they have since been demoted numerous times and fallen to the 5th level of English professional football.

Meanwhile, there’s this pay channel called Hulu. It’s a ripoff, it costs $6.99 a month above and beyond the Verizon Fios charge, and that’s for the ad-supported version. But we ponied up the cash because we wanted to watch Only Murders in the Building. So we’ve been looking at the Hulu lineup hoping to amortize our investment.

You may also have heard about a Canadian actor named Ryan Reynolds. Over the past 30 years, he’s made lots of mostly schlocky movies, but he’s a bona fide star, having grossed about $5 Billion. He has famously invested in such things as Aviation Gin and Mint Mobile telephone. In February 2021, Reynolds was convinced by fellow actor Rob McIlhenny – whom he had never met in person – to join him in trying to buy Wrexham AFC – a club Reynolds had never seen play, in a part of the world he had never visited – during a pandemic lockdown that threatened to shutter the team for good. An offer was made, and 98% of the shareholders of Wrexham approved it.

Now, these guys are in the entertainment industry, so they couldn’t help but record what happened next. I won’t tell you any more except for two points. First, the resulting documentary premiered on Hulu on August 24 and has been rolling out 2 episodes per week, so they are already up to Episode 11. Second, we racked up the first episode last night, and before we could turn it off we were into Episode 5.

And so, for those of you looking at the prospect of a rainy weekend with the tail end of Ian coming through, I offer you, for your bingeing pleasure:

“Welcome to Wrexham”

Available on Hulu and also FX, if you have that. I suggest you first watch Spurs destroy Arsenal in the London Derby on Saturday morning to get your footie flowing. And then, off you go to north Wales. You’re welcome.

Diolch Debbie for the recommendation.