We Are Still Here

 Like many people, Erika discovered Wrexham, Wales by watching a TV show where two celebrities buy a football/soccer team in a small town in Wales. Over the past five years, the team has had amazing success, winning an unprecedented back to back to back promotions, moving up from the lowest division to the second highest division in the English Football League. It’s a great sports story no matter how you cut it. 

Even more inspiring than the team is the town itself. As profiled in the show, the town and team are deeply entwined through good times and bad. Despite countless hardships and tough economic times, the people, the town, and the team persist. Go watch Welcome to Wrexham and tell us if you don’t feel inspired. 

Two years ago, we got to see the team play in a Vancouver, BC friendly and lucked out to be seated in the same section as a bunch of hometown fans. It was awesome. Doubly lucky, we applied for tickets and actually got some for a home match in Wrexham. 

Despite serious travel delays, we got ourselves down to Wales three hours ahead of the Wrexham v. Birmingham City match. Based on recommendations from multiple sources we had a mini pub crawl on our walk to the stadium. First stop, the Railway Inn, a small neighborhood place where we chatted with friendly regulars who planned to watch the match from the pub. Next we stopped by the Turf, famously embedded in the outside of the stadium, but it was already super crowded so we didn’t stay. Last stop, dinner in the big garden at Maes Gwyn with hundreds of fans getting fueled up for the match. 

At the match we sat by Tomos and his dad.  Not Thomas in English, this young boy told us, but Tomos in Welsh.  Fathers and sons in their family had been going to Wrexham matches for several generations. It was so much fun talking about football and sharing stories with them.  Before the match they sang along with most of the stadium to a song in Welsh. They told us it translates to We Are Still Here, an important anthem of resilience and identity for the Welsh. That kind of passion and connection is what makes this place so special. You can sense it through the screen, but you can’t begin to understand it until you feel it in person. 

We had a great experience in the stadium. Erika got a picture with Red the Dragon and we had a front row spot to catch all the action on the field and  some of the TV media. Before the match started we encountered two other American fans who were amazingly from Seattle, and a Japanese guy in a Sounders hat he picked up when he came to Seattle for the Club World Cup. Small world, right?

While the result of the match wasn’t what we hoped, we loved joining in the chants and cheering for the home team. We listened to the stadium sing as loudly as we have ever heard anyone sing in our Seattle stadium , which is several times the size. Wrexham may be a small city but it has a huge heart. 

Next morning we met with Mark Griffiths, the local commentator for Wrexham. Erika connected with him over social media and he invited us for coffee at a little independent shop called Bank Street Social. After great coffee and engaging conversation, Mark took us on a quick tour of the city center, sharing history, stories, and recommendations. He left us with a unique souvenir from the match too. It was such a special way to wrap up our visit to Wrexham. 

We did not get enough time there, but we know that we will be back.