Welcome to Wrexham 3×07, “Proper Trouble,” sympathetically examines football’s card system while Wrexham AFC and the women’s side play for promotion.
It’s a bit strange that the docuseries is three seasons in and has yet to discuss yellow and red cards and their impacts on players, teams, and their respective leagues to this degree. But Welcome to Wrexham finds a perfect subject in James McClean. The winger who joined the squad during Welcome to Wrexham 3×02, “Goals,” already has an impressive collection of cards—so much so that “Proper Trouble” sets their acquisition to a montage.
Welcome to Wrexham’s compelling angle comes from the man behind those infractions. After Executive Director Humphrey Ker lays out the rules for receiving cards, “Proper Trouble” flies through the men’s and women’s sides racking them up a season after Wrexham AFC received the FAW Fair Play Award in the National League. Ker lays out the broader stakes and the more precise impacts – McClean is missing games when Wrexham need to be in at least third place to receive an automatic promotion to League One.
Welcome to Wrexham can’t assume everyone knows Wrexham gets promoted to League One. Consequently, “Proper Trouble” must create believable risk and tension for those who do and don’t know what’s in store for the club. So, the episode emphasizes the magnitude of the Welsh derby — Wrexham vs. Tranmere Rovers. That is the exact match that Welcome to Wrexham 3×06, “Far Away, So Close,” avoided and occurred after Arthur Massey’s 100th birthday celebration on Welcome to Wrexham 3×05, “Temporary.”
Therefore, this season’s storytelling builds steady momentum around this match, making it the ideal centerpiece to Welcome to Wrexham Season 3’s penultimate episode.
For example, losing that match means Wrexham must lean into their fighting spirits during the subsequent games against Mansfield Town and Doncaster.
Enter McClean, who returns from suspension alongside defender Jacob Mendy and midfielder George Evans from injury. Fearless in Devotion’s Tim Edwards says that McClean is an expert of “cunningness, guile, and s***housery” that the team could’ve used on their side during the explosive match against Tranmere.
It’s top-tier editing that Welcome to Wrexham cuts from that strong character depiction to McClean at home with his family. James McClean’s wife Erin puts that duality into perspective: “He’s two different people. So, he’s what the people think of him and what he actually is at home.” Imperatively, “Proper Trouble” doesn’t shy away from what some people think of McClean, explicitly detailing the criticisms and death threats the player received after refusing to wear the poppy or acknowledge the UK’s national anthem.
Instead of cutting to a quippy history lesson taught by co-chairman Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, “Proper Trouble” rightfully passes the mic to McClean and Tommie Gorman, Former NI Editor, RTÉ. Gorman’s comments encapsulate both an understanding of why people in Britain, namely “working-class communities in England,” treat the poppy with reverence, while emphasizing the drastically different perspective in Derry.
Over archival footage and photos, McClean shares, “How we view the poppy in Derry is we call it the “blood-stained poppy.” It’s just something I can’t wear because of the history that went on in my hometown. The British occupation in Ireland came about lot of hurt and a lot of pain. One in particular, Blood Sunday, Civil Rights march, and the British Army opened fire and killed 14 innocent people. Six people from my community were shot dead that day.” It’s more than understandable that McClean’s perspective wouldn’t change now that he plays football in England, and it’s a relief that Welcome to Wrexham doesn’t hand-wave the vial comments made at McClean’s expense for standing by his core beliefs.
“Proper Trouble” leaves McClean in a good spot: “I’m 34 now. I’ve achieved so much in my career where I don’t have to prove anything. What I have to prove is to my teammates now at Wrexham, my manager, and the fans at Wrexham.” Ultimately, McClean only has a few more games and one more episode to do so this season. So, even though the player is on solid ground, this penultimate episode leaves Wrexham AFC unsteady. Welcome to Wrexham captures that sentiment best when manager Phil Parkinson removes his mic after the Doncaster loss to share his comments with the team off-camera.
The docuseries’s rose-colored glasses falter a bit at this moment, but that doesn’t make Welcome to Wrexham less of a success. Instead, its intensity translates into authenticity, which is crucial for someone who knows the team scores back-to-back promotions.
Elsewhere, “Proper Trouble” finally circles back to Wrexham AFC Women. With the additions of winger Carra Jones, forward Ava Suckley, and defender & captain Keren Allen, the women’s side comes out as winners against Aberystwyth Town in January 2024.
Gemma Owens, Head of Women’s Football Operations, captures the significance of that win: “It’s making a statement to the league. It’s making a statement to the supporters and to other clubs that we’re here to mess around.” Wrexham AFC Women’s continued success is yet another example of the historic growth of the women’s game.
Fittingly, “Proper Trouble” introduces Ally’s sponsorship of Wrexham AFC Women (Reynolds and McElhenney announced it in a video from March 2024) ahead of the team’s summer tour that kicks on July 19. Chief Marketing and PR Officer at Ally Bank, Andrea Brimmer, tells McElhenney the company wants to invest in Wrexham because it believes in equity across sports landscapes. Ironically, Brimmer says so in an episode that doesn’t spend the same amount of time with the men’s and women’s sides.
Unfortunately, the doc hasn’t featured the women’s team prominently since Welcome to Wrexham 3×03, “Notts Again.” So, even though both teams continue to climb their respective ladder ahead of promotions and the season finale, it’s exciting to know that the club and Welcome to Wrexham still have so much to amplify and explore in Season 4.
—
What did you think of Welcome to Wrexham 3×07, “Proper Trouble?” Let us know in the comments below!
Welcome to Wrexham airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on FX and streams on Hulu the next day.
