Wroxham, not Wrexham: Non-leaguers bid for stardom

A non-league football club has taken a leaf out of its near-namesake's book by creating its own documentary series.

While 'Welcome to Wrexham' is a hugely successful Disney+ series featuring Wrexham AFC and its Hollywood-star owners, 'Welcome to Wroxham' will spotlight Norfolk club Wroxham FC.

The chairman of Wroxham FC, James Blower, said while the two clubs sounded similar, his missed out on Hollywood investment "by just one vowel".

He hopes the four-part fly-on-the-wall documentary series will help "improve the club's fortunes".

The Welsh club has soared since Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney completed a £2m takeover in 2021.

They have gone from the National League - the fifth tier of football - back into the Football League, after a 15-year absence.

After winning promotion from League Two at the first attempt, they now stand third in League One.

Wroxham, meanwhile, are five levels below them, standing second from bottom in the Isthmian League North Division.

"We want to get more fans through the gate; we want to get a higher profile and ultimately, more commercial partners and investment," said Blower.

"We missed out on Hollywood investment by one vowel and this is a chance to showcase all that's good about our club."

He said the Norfolk club, nicknamed the Yachtsmen, was regularly mistaken for its Welsh near-namesake.

"People phone the club by accident or go on the website and they've got the wrong club," he laughed.

"We also had an incident with a commercial partner who got incredibly excited when dealing with us.

"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."

• LISTEN: Welcome to Wroxham (we're not in Wales)

Wroxham midfielder Jordan King said despite the clubs' similar names, footballing conditions were very different.

"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 said.

"We've also got families and jobs so we have to balance work."

King said Wroxham was "hinting" at playing a friendly against Wrexham.

"In a one-off game we'd always fancy ourselves against someone else," he added.

Barry Letten, 78, a volunteer groundsman at Wroxham, said a confused fan once arrived at the club's Trafford Park ground.

"They came through the gate and asked 'Are we in Wrexham?'

"I said 'No, you're in Wroxham in Norfolk'," he said.

"He decided he wasn't going to get to Wrexham in time for kick-off so he stayed here and watched the game."

The club said 'Welcome to Wroxham', made with backing from sponsor Riot Labs, would premiere at the clubhouse on Saturday.

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