Welcome to Wrexham Season 4, Episode 4 Review: ‘Built to Last’

Welcome to Wrexham Season 4, Episode 4, “Built to Last,” unpacks the time and work it takes to go from the academy to multi-faceted longevity in professional football. To its credit, Welcome to Wrexham values perspectives about the sport and the people around it. Therefore, insight from medical professionals (the Head of Medical Performance and Sports Science at Wrexham AFC, Kevin Mulholland, for example) and skilled athletes improves this episode.

Admittedly, “Built to Last” veers into a bit of semantic satiation with any version of investment, sustainability, and magic. Nevertheless, that drawback rarely weighs on Welcome to Wrexham for too long because of its overwhelming ability to tell a strong, moving narrative. This episode is well structured and balanced, showcasing an impressive breadth and depth. “Built to Last” is a reminder that Welcome to Wrexham can juggle all of Wrexham AFC’s moving parts.

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Wrexham AFC Academy as a Foundation

As conversations around the club’s infrastructure progress, a larger focus on Wrexham AFC Academy tracks. Though the episode doesn’t start there, the Academy becomes a perfect foundation for “Built to Last” and the themes it explores. More broadly, the Academy also shows the club’s growth and where it still needs to go. It’s illuminating, as a fan of the club and the docuseries, to know that Wrexham AFC couldn’t afford that foundational investment in 2021.

Likewise, it’s beneficial to learn what comes with a categorical advancement at the Academy. “Built to Last” can’t find a better portrait of what that all means than in Wrexham AFC Academy defender Tom Kelly. Welcome to Wrexham makes that impact hit all the better by pulling the lens back and hearing Humphrey Ker say that the club’s academy players – Jordan Davies and Max Cleworth – “are worth their weight in gold.” Welcome to Wrexham shows that gold on the pitch, but it shines the brightest when Cleworth (and other first-team players) show up for the Academy’s first match in the FA Youth Cup. 

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Perspective and Progress at Wrexham AFC

That alone is a brilliant depiction of the community at Wrexham. “Built to Last” only compounds on that effort as it examines the progress with Wrexham Women’s Academy. It’s quite brutal to hear that they don’t have “a home,” but it’s reassuring to watch co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds outline actionable steps – purchasing The Rock for the Academy, for instance – they intend to take to facilitate growth for the club’s women. It’s particularly important to hear from them, as Welcome to Wrexham usually sees Head of Women’s Football Operations Gemma Own as the women’s biggest advocate. 

“Built to Last” seamlessly pivots from intentions of progress with Gemma Owen to seeing those efforts on the pitch with her husband, Gareth “Gaz” Owen, former Wrexham AFC midfielder and Wrexham Women U19s manager. His story as a Wrexham legend, particularly during the 92/93 season when the club won promotion to League Two, and surviving an ischemic stroke is the emotional core of “Built to Last.”The care that Welcome to Wrexham puts into navigating Owen’s story is yet another example of this docuseries valuing the people who make the football worth it. From players supporting Owen to Wayne Jones’s comments, showcasing the community’s support is impactful.

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Wrexham Is Built to Last

Football becomes much larger than a game because of the people who make it all possible, so it resonates to hear Jones describe Owen as a hero in Jones’s Wrexham AFC love story. It’s all part of what brings Jones to owning The Turf, a pub that has become the “heartbeat” for Wrexham. The story may write itself, but Welcome to Wrexham captures all the nuances – resources, hard work, good care, etc.  – that make it a standout. “Built to Last” even pulls that needle through Ker’s marathon prep. Though they are expected to ebb and flow, the club, community, and personal development are in an ever-overlapping Venn diagram for good, and not only for the docuseries. 

This episode actualizes that intersecting process through older players – mainly forward Steven Fletcher and goalkeeper Mark Howard – being honest about where they’re at physically and mentally. With “Built to Last” airing after both players were released by the club, it feels paramount to savor Fletcher and Howard’s skills and wisdom and appreciate their magic alongside them. Their resilience, perseverance, and dedication to the beautiful game make watching Fletcher and Howard play special. Without Kelly, Owen, Fletcher, Howard, and all the superheroes who make it possible, Wrexham AFC would not have the same longevity, and Welcome to Wrexham would not be the same golden gem. 

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What did you think of Welcome to Wrexham Season 4, Episode 4, “Built to Last?” Let us know in the comments below!

New episodes of Welcome to Wrexham Season 4 air on Thursdays at 9/8c on FX and stream the next day on Hulu.