Season 5 of “Welcome to Wrexham” won’t have the triumphant ending of the past three seasons. After becoming the first team in the history of British soccer to earn three consecutive promotions, Wrexham AFC fell just short of a chance to earn a fourth promotion to the Premier League after taking a 2-2 draw against Middlesborough on the final day of the EFL Championship season.
The globally popular Welsh football club pulled out of bankruptcy by owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney came into the season finale in sixth place in the Championship standings, which would put it in the final spot for the playoffs. The top two teams at the end of the season get promoted to the Premier League, while teams in third through sixth place face off in a four-team playoff to decide who gets the last spot moving up.
Holding a tiebreaker over league rival Hull City, the goal for Wrexham was simple: win against Middlesborough, which had already qualified for the playoff in fifth place, and they’re in. But Wrexham found themselves behind early after Middlesborough’s Tommy Conway scored within the first five minutes of the match.
Wrexham came roaring back with a pair of goals from forwards Josh Windass and Sam Smith, but Middlesborough tied the game again at 2-2 just before halftime. In the second half, both sides missed scoring opportunities, and the score remained the same while Hull City defeated Norwich City 2-1 to leapfrog Wrexham for the final playoff spot.
It’s a painful ending to a year where Wrexham built themselves into dark horse contenders for promotion in their first season in the Championship since the 1980s, though it came with the sad departure of the team’s injury-stricken star Paul Mullin, who became one of the breakout characters of “Welcome to Wrexham.”
And while it will do little to ease the bite of falling just short for the players, this season still marks the best ever finish for Wrexham in its century-plus history, topping a 15th place finish in the Championship in 1979.
“I am completely gutted by today’s result but incredibly proud of our season. We’ve come a long way in five years and this was the best result in our 150+ year history. More to do. But for now, we have so much to be proud of, Reds,” tweeted Reynolds after the match.
Another tiny silver lining is that with another season in the Championship, Reynolds, McElhenney and CEO Michael Williamson will have more time to build up revenue for the club to help field a more competitive team for if and when they do make it to the Premier League, where they will face teams like Arsenal which has a first team payroll of £181 million, roughly nine times that of Wrexham.
The team is also expected to complete construction of its long-awaited new Kop stand, which will increase capacity of the team’s stadium, the Cae Ras, and help make it eligible to host international matches for the Welsh national team as Wrexham’s resurgence and the global popularity of the Emmy-winning “Welcome to Wrexham” has boosted the town’s local economy.
Season 5 of “Welcome to Wrexham” will premiere on FX and Hulu on May 14.
