Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney Share Massive Wrexham Expansion Plans

It’s Season 3 of FX’s Emmy-winning sports docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham, and co-owners Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) have nothing to prove, as far as their passion for this team is concerned. Seasons 1 and 2 established this Hollywood duo’s intentions to uplift and highlight the Welsh association football team, Wrexham AFC, and their dedicated fanbase. Now, it’s about pushing further, reaching their goals, setting new ones, and expanding.

Where the first two seasons garnered global attention for this underdog team looking to rise in the ranks and reach League Two, Season 3 still has a ways to go for the players and their community of die-hard supporters. Having staked a claim in the EFL, the pressure is high and new challenges await Wrexham AFC, as well as an unprecedented journey into the locker rooms and onto the pitch. Likewise, Wrexham AFC’s Women’s Team are fresh off an undefeated season and will be taking on the Adran Premier League.

During this interview, Reynolds and McElhenney discuss the impact the series has had all over the world, and why this underdog tale resonates with so many across the globe. The duo also talk about their massive plans for The Racecourse Ground, the challenges they’ve met in expanding, getting Wrexham AFC to the Premier League and “staying sustainable,” and updates for this summer’s North American tour. Check out the full interview in the video above or the transcript below for this and tons more.

COLLIDER: I’ve spoken to both of you separately and now finally together for Wrexham, which is always cool.

ROB MCELHENNEY: Very cool.

RYAN REYNOLDS: Hell yeah. We’ve collectively spoken three-and-a-half thousand times, I think, all of us.

MCELHENNEY: We’ve been in the same room together, but we were talking about different things, I believe.

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‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Season 3 Has a New Release Date on FX

The first two seasons of the docuseries from Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds are available to stream on Hulu.

It’s true. You guys have both made people laugh tremendously, belly laughs, and really entertained millions of people around the world. But with Wrexham and the club, you’re actually making a difference in people’s lives and in the city’s life economically through what’s happening with the club and people wanting to visit. For the two of you, what does it feel like to actually have changed people’s lives and impacted them so deeply?

MCELHENNEY: Honestly, we talk about this, and I’m not just saying this to be corny, but we feel as though our lives have been changed so dramatically by the town and by the people of Wrexham. That’s what we actually focus on more. Then it becomes a matter of gratitude for that, to be welcomed into the community so much so that we are willing to invest not just economically but emotionally into the success of the town as much as we possibly can. To see that pay dividends has just been the honor and joy of my life.

REYNOLDS: And I don’t see us as a catalyst for changing people’s lives there. I do think that what we’ve really only done is show it. We’ve spotlighted it and had an opportunity, really, to allow other people a little insight into this town. But the thing that I think is so moving for folks, not just in Wrexham, but all over the world, is that that story, it’s the story of people in Akron, Ohio, Scranton, Pennsylvania, Regina, Saskatchewan, these smaller market, working-class towns, that life isn’t black and white. Life is pretty nuanced and pretty challenging at times.

Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney Have Big Expansion Goals for Wrexham Stadium

You are always trying to expand The Racecourse, and I know you’re doing construction now. What do you want to tell people about building where you’re building versus, say, building in Los Angeles? It seems to be a little bit of a slowdown. You know what I mean?

MCELHENNEY: It is definitely a comedic point of consternation in the show how often we’re running up against bureaucracy. And of course, safety concerns and things like that, and all those regulations are there in place for a reason, but then there are some things that just seem like hurdles for hurdle’s sake. It’s a lot harder to build in the UK than, I found, almost anywhere else in the world.

REYNOLDS: Yeah, I think the thick buttress of bureaucracy is the biggest fucking problem. I live in New York, Rob lives in LA, where construction is very different, in as much as they will charge you $10 for every $1 you spend. But in Wales, it really is a lot of red tape, and it’s just sort of figuring out ways to tick all those boxes and make sure that every single bureaucrat is happy.

Right now, I know you’re thinking about The Racecourse being about 16,000 seats when the addition that you’re building now will be done. As the team, god willing, keeps growing and gaining, what is the goal in terms of seating at The Racecourse? Are you thinking one day it could be 20,000, or do you think 16,000 is a great number?

MCELHENNEY: We have a plan in place right now that would eventually work from stand to stand, so eventually you get all four sides. It’s hard to say for sure, but we think we could get between 45 and 55,000 people in there.

Oh, wow. So a hardcore expansion?

MCELHENNEY: Oh yeah.

REYNOLDS: Like the whole town could come to the game.

When you think about all the goals that have been made under your stewardship, do you have an actual favorite? When you think about goals, is there one that you’re like, “Oh my god, that’s the one?”

REYNOLDS: We have a pretty comprehensive mission statement, all of which is still, to this day, our North star with Wrexham. I don’t know, is there one in particular?

MCELHENNEY: I think if the assumption is that we’re doing it the right way, which is the way that we hopefully back up consistently in the mission statement, that getting to the Premier League is the ultimate goal, and staying in the Premier League, and staying sustainable. But again, that’s only assuming that we’re doing it in a fashion that the community supports, because there are all sorts of ways to succeed, and we feel as though there are only a few paths that we feel would be ethically viable to do so.

People asked me on Twitter, what is the plan for Wrexham’s exhibition tour this summer? Do you know?

REYNOLDS: It’s taking shape right now.

MCELHENNEY: It’s taking shape right now, but it’s happening.

So you’re literally debating it as we speak.

REYNOLDS: Yeah, we’re just figuring out where and when.

MCELHENNEY: Yeah, we’re locking in dates and stadiums and teams right now.

‘Welcome to Wrexham’ Provides the Team’s Stewards Life Lessons, Win or Lose

I’ve watched the show, every episode, and I’ve seen your social media. I know you guys lose your shit at the matches just like any fan, but it has to be crazy to be the owners watching your club. How do you handle that pressure of you’re the buck, like it goes to you?

REYNOLDS: Well, I mean, I’ve never really consider ourselves as owners necessarily. It’s more like stewards of the club, but I’ll say that when we win it’s gotta feel 20% better than anything I’ve ever felt in my life, and then when we lose, which god forbid, it doesn’t happen that often, thank god, but it’s a pretty bottomless pit of despair for a little while. Hard to dig yourself out of. I don’t know. What’s your experience?

MCELHENNEY: It actually is a good teaching moment for my 13 and 12-year-old because daddy has to go through a moment of being by himself, counting, meditating so that I can be the best version of myself for the rest of the weekend. So, it’s a good thing for me to actually have to go through and practice what I’m preaching about fighting through adversity, and sometimes adversity is just being depressed or feeling bad about your team.

REYNOLDS: When he’s feeling that kind of rage if the club happens to lose — again, thankfully rare — he takes it out on my kids, which is sort of an unexpected twist to this fairy tale.

MCELHENNEY: Yeah, I get them on the phone across the country.

REYNOLDS: And just starts lowering self-esteem.

Welcome to Wrexham Season 3 premieres on FX on May 2, with subsequent episodes releasing every Thursday.