Wrexham aiming for TV star role in Cup sequel
Immediately after Wrexham’s 3-3 draw with Sheffield United in their fourth-round FA Cup tie, as Elliot Lee was trying to process how close he and his team-mates had come to providing the story of the round, into the dressing room walked Hollywood royalty.
The club owner, Ryan Reynolds, had been in the stands and now the Deadpool star wanted to congratulate the players on their stirring performance. And yet none of the players seemed remotely surprised to see him going round the room,
shaking hands and having a word with everyone in turn.
“That’s what the owners do,” Lee says of Reynolds and co-owner Rob Mcelhenney, the man behind the American hit sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. “They are absolutely part of what we are trying to do. If they are at the game, they come to see us. If not, they text us, individually, to talk about it.”
And for Lee, who made his debut for West Ham United 10 years ago, that makes a refreshing change.
“I’ve played for clubs where you don’t even know who the owners are, or where they don’t care about the football, or treat it like a circus,” he says. “But here the owners are unbelievable. They care about you, not just as footballers but as human beings. And it really helps the lads.”
Lee, the son of the former Charlton and Newcastle midfielder Rob, was signed by the National League club from Luton Town last summer. He had been part of the Hatters side who had won successive promotions into League One and the Championship.
“I’d reached that stage of my career where I wanted to be part of
a project,” he says. “I was a free agent and when Wrexham came up, I already knew what they were trying to do. This is where I wanted to be. I’m loving life here. This is about as exciting a project as there is in football.”
The club were bought by the actors so they could make a documentary about transforming a down-on-its-luck operation. Welcome To Wrexham, the Disney+ show, is in continuous production. Which means, for the players, everything they do could end up on television.
“When I signed, they mentioned the documentary and I had to sign a paper to say I’m OK to be in it,” he says. “The cameras are here most days. And on your days off, you find yourself being interviewed. But it’s something you get used to.”
What Lee is hoping is that when series two of the documentary is aired this summer, it exposes one thing above all about what is going on at Wrexham: that the team play good football. As they demonstrated against Championship highfliers Sheffield United, this side can hold their own.
“We like to think we showed what we are about in that game,” he says. “We are not just old-school, non-league hoof. We thought we had that game won. We were so disappointed to concede in the last second.”
And if Lee is looking for further inspiration for the replay, he needs only to delve into family history. Though he was just six at the time, he watched his father play for Newcastle
United in their Cup semifinal against Chelsea at Wembley in 2000.
“My dad scored in that game, though he never won it,” he says. “The FA Cup meant a great deal growing up, I made my debut for West Ham in the Cup. I just think it is the best competition.”
Moreover, he believes, even though the priority at the club remains restoring the Football League place that was lost 15 seasons ago, a run in the Cup can only be beneficial.
“It gives you such belief,” Lee
says. “Going toe-to-toe with a club as big as Sheffield United, or beating a club like Coventry like we did in the third round, gives you so much confidence.”
And were he and his team-mates to deliver a shock in tonight’s replay, it will surely be celebrated as the story of the season.
“Well, like everything, I think because of the publicity the documentary gives us, we have to be aware that some people really want us to fail,” he says. “But here’s hoping that for most, a Cup upset is still something to cheer.”