Non-League Wroxham FC Launches Documentary Series, Drawing Comparison to Wrexham

A non-league football club has launched its own documentary series, drawing inspiration from a club with a similar name. Following the model of the highly successful Disney+ series ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, which features Wrexham AFC and its Hollywood-star owners, the new series, ‘Welcome to Wroxham’, will focus on the Norfolk-based club Wroxham FC. James Blower, chairman of Wroxham FC, noted the phonetic similarity between the two clubs but stated his club missed out on Hollywood investment “by just one vowel”. He expressed his hope that the four-part fly-on-the-wall documentary series would help “improve the club’s fortunes”. The Welsh club, Wrexham, has experienced significant success since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney finalized a £2m takeover in 2021. They have progressed from the National League, which is the fifth tier of football, returning to the Football League after a 15-year absence. Following their immediate promotion from League Two, they currently hold the third position in League One. In contrast, Wroxham is positioned five levels below Wrexham, currently ranking second from bottom in the Isthmian League North Division. Blower stated, “We want to get more fans through the gate; we want to get a higher profile and ultimately, more commercial partners and investment.” He added, “We missed out on Hollywood investment by one vowel and this is a chance to showcase all that’s good about our club.” He mentioned that the Norfolk club, known as the Yachtsmen, is frequently confused with its Welsh near-namesake. Blower recounted, “People phone the club by accident or go on the website and they’ve got the wrong club,” adding with a laugh. He also shared, “We also had an incident with a commercial partner who got incredibly excited when dealing with us.” He continued, “But then I realised the girls in the marketing team thought they were going to be working with Ryan Reynolds and not James Blower, and they were obviously very disappointed when they saw the reality.” Jordan King, a midfielder for Wroxham, commented that despite the clubs’ similar names, their footballing conditions are markedly different. King stated, “They [Wrexham players] probably get their meals done for them. But we’re non-league, we’re part-time and we train twice a week.” He added, “We’ve also got families and jobs so we have to balance work.” King mentioned that Wroxham was “hinting” at the possibility of playing a friendly match against Wrexham. He remarked, “In a one-off game we’d always fancy ourselves against someone else.” Barry Letten, 78, a volunteer groundsman at Wroxham, recalled an instance where a confused fan arrived at the club’s Trafford Park ground. Letten quoted the fan asking, “Are we in Wrexham?” to which he replied, “No, you’re in Wroxham in Norfolk.” He further explained that the fan “decided he wasn’t going to get to Wrexham in time for kick-off so he stayed here and watched the game.” The club announced that ‘Welcome to Wroxham’, produced with support from sponsor Riot Labs, is scheduled to premiere at the clubhouse on Saturday.