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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Fantasy football: here come TV's Welcome to Wrexham rip-offs
It was the crossover that no one in the entertainment industry, or the sports world, saw coming: the stars of Deadpool and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia aligning in February 2021 to purchase a beleaguered professional football club in the north of Wales. Four years on from that blockbuster deal, which looked all but doomed to end in disaster, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (legally changed from McElhenney, a tongue-twisting trip wire apparently) have not only proven to be eminently noble stewards of 160-year-old Wrexham FC; in hindsight, they look even cannier for deciding to make a great show of their attempt to reverse the club's fortunes. Welcome to Wrexham – their Ted Lasso-like hourlong series documenting the club's historic ascent from fifth division English football to, now, the Premier League doorstep – has been an unqualified hit with American audiences and critics, many of whom came into this premise as clueless as the new owners themselves. So it figures now that Wrexham has nabbed eight primetime Emmy nominations, Hollywood finds itself scrabbling to turn Reynolds and Mac's offsides run into a proper reality TV subgenre, with three new Wrexham knockoffs hitting small screens starting from last week. Amazon's Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues follows Tom Brady's quest to turn around Birmingham City. From the kickoff, the seven-time NFL champion bristles at any attempts to frame his interest in City as a vanity project; that's even as his series serves up another test of the Patriot Way, the TB12 method and other winning formulas that fueled his gridiron Cinderella story – a favorite chestnut. 'What's the difference between football and soccer'?' he asks, rhetorically. 'Nothing.' Throughout the five-part series, Brady fancies himself a visionary and disrupter only to be revealed as a classic American know-it-all. 'I'm a little worried about our new coach's work ethic,' he says, hinting at some buyer's remorse over former England captain Wayne Rooney – who turned out to be a complete disaster as manager. Brady would have been far better served making a documentary on his conflicting interests as an NFL owner (of the Las Vegas Raiders) and the league's highest-paid game analyst. The alternative, his Prime Video series, is as satisfying as a solitary morsel of dark chocolate – once a TB12 nightcap staple, bitter and unfulfilling. And that's despite the excess of clips from Peaky Blinders. (Show creator Steven Knight is an executive producer on Birmingham.) FX's Necaxa, the official Wrexham spinoff that debuted Thursday, offers a deeper dive into Liga MX – Mexican fútbol. Surprisingly, Mac and Reynolds also feature prominently as executive producers and talking heads in this five-part series. The job of actually reviving the team falls to Eva Longoria, who further seizes the opportunity to reconnect with her Mexican roots. Apart from Mac and Reynolds's cameos, the series is told completely in Spanish – a language that Longoria, a Texas native who grew up speaking English, is openly self-conscious about speaking. The obvious play here is cultural representation, and it will surely find an audience in a league that was once more watched in the US than the Prem. Only one Wrexham knockoff really scores: ESPN+'s Running of the Wolves. At first blush the idea of a third-division Italian team owned by Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, daytime TV's impossibly good looking real-life married couple, couldn't seem more far-fetched. But Consuelos isn't playing a part here. In fact, he spent chunks of his formative years on the boot, grew up rooting for Juventus and speaks fluent (if heavily American inflected) Italian. It was in 2022 that he and Ripa joined the group that owns Campobasso FC, a properly downtrodden outfit. But you wouldn't know it from the way Consuelos cheerleads for them on Live!, syndicated TV's morning colossus. Campobasso is a real-life fantasy team for Consuelos. He bolts to Italy at a moment's notice to participate in personnel meetings and stir enthusiasm around town. ('Really good haircuts, great tattoos and they smell amazing!' was how he assessed the team after greeting them coming off the bus before a friendly.) When co-owner Mark Rizzetta rings long distance from Italy to strategize about acquiring a star player who once seemed out of reach, Consuelos doesn't hesitate to interrupt dinner at home with the wife to take the video call. Wolves doesn't just nod at Wrexham and open with Ripa and Consuelos interviewing Reynolds on Live! about the club. (That's as trash talk between Brady and Mac spices up a matchup between City and Wrexham … ) Wolves tweaks the Wrexham formula to more winsome effect over the course of its four hourlong episodes. Reynolds and Mac look like kings of comedy until they're set against two former soap stars closing in on 30 years of marriage. 'In my next life, I want to be an Italian football problem,' Ripa sighs as Consuelos and Rizzetta scramble to put a deal together at the transfer deadline. Throughout, Ripa makes clear to her husband that she'd have an easier time accepting the inconveniences if he'd just buy them a villa already. Where Birmingham City is just another mountain to climb for Brady, who never cottoned to the role of stay-at-home dad, Consuelos is at pains to make his football dream a family affair. After one Wolves win Consuelos dances with his daughter inside the team's rickety stadium, a far cry from the hallowed cathedrals of English football. (Square that with Brady mocking Birmingham City's much nicer but still humble headquarters as he's pulling up …) Consuelos attaches to players – not least Abdallah Soulemana, a lightly used Ghanan-American defenseman from the Bronx. In the pilot, Consuelos can't bear the idea of cutting Soulemana and losing out on his potential, so he arranges a loan to another team and makes the extra effort to seek him out on the field to gently break the news. Still, once you get past the game highlights and human interest stories, there will be no missing these Wrexham knockoffs for what they truly are – hackneyed exercises in marketing and self-promotion, with a bit more spit and polish. And there's no mystery to why American celebrities, masters of this dark art, are making reality TV the cornerstone of their global football exploits. Since Reynolds and Mac bought Wrexham, they've seen their initial $2.5m investment in the team mushroom into a roughly $475m asset and the town of Wrexham reborn as a global tourist trap. Talk about faking it till you make it. It's not hard to imagine Michael B Jordan (Bournemouth), Snoop Dogg (Swansea City) and more celebrity football owners getting into the international TV game. But it is hard to imagine them replicating Consuelos's genuine enthusiasm for the actual sport. You get the sense that if the day ever comes when he's forced to sell the family stake in Campobasso, it'll be to make way for owners with more cash to put them at the top of Europe's football table – or to score Ripa her dream villa. In all likelihood, their particular football problems won't feel quite so first world to sports fans who know from struggle.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
India vs England: Young squad shines after dramatic England Test series
The enthralling 2-2 draw for the Anderson-Tendulkar trophy between England and India provided a dramatic start to the new World Test Championship was an epic contest, each of the five Tests going into the final day, four in fact into the final session, providing some of the best individual and collective performances the five-day format has seen in recent score-line scoffed at projections made by former cricketers and pundits before the series, a majority of whom had predicted an easy win - if not a clean sweep - for aside England's home advantage, experts argued India's pre-series struggles made them easy targets - and with good 0-3 at home by New Zealand, followed by a 3-1 drubbing by Australia Down Under in two preceding series, India looked vulnerable and wobbly.A spate of sudden retirements and fitness issues left India without four key players - R Ashwin, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Mohammed Shami. Their absence was expected to place immense pressure on young Shubman Gill, leading the side in his first series as captain. India's squad had undeniable talent, but its inexperience - especially in batting under challenging conditions - was a Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rishabh Pant were seasoned campaigners in England, but Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudarshan, Karun Nair, Washington Sundar, and Abhimanyu Easwaran had never played at this level there modest overseas batting record fuelled doubts about his suitability for captaincy. Added worries over pace ace Jasprit Bumrah's fitness further dimmed India's the first Test at Headingley from a winning position, as England chased 373 in the fourth innings, confirmed pundits' India recovered from this setback in style to win the next Test at Edgbaston by a whopping 336 runs. The swift turnaround came not from luck but skill and relentless determination - qualities that defined India's performance for the rest of the three Tests that followed were bitterly fought, both teams raising the intensity and skill levels, matching each other sparked frequent heated clashes but also unforgettable acts of heroism, with players from both sides battling fatigue and injury to keep their teams in the aspects of what kept India in the fight right through the neck-and-neck contest comes through in the batsmen - Gill, Rahul and Jadeja - topped 500 runs in the series. England had one, Joe Root. There were 12 centuries made by India, England had nine. Mohammed Siraj with 23 was the highest wicket-taker from either side. The only bowler to take 10 wickets in a match was Akash were scant, heroes were plenty, but the pillars of India's extraordinary show in the series were Gill and in Bradmanesque form, made 754 runs, 430 of them coming in one Test. He failed by a mere 20 runs to break Sunil Gavaskar's record series aggregate, and was also second to Don Bradman (810) for highest runs made in a series by a be mentioned alongside Bradman and Gavaskar testifies to Gill's achievement and potential. His prolific scoring earned his team's full respect, and after a hesitant start, he quickly grew in confidence, showing fine temperament and smart tactics in tough situations. Siraj, who since his 2021 debut had lived in the shadows of Bumrah and Shami, emerged so spectacularly that he instantly entered cricket and indefatigable, he bowled with a lion's heart - steaming in at full tilt, sparing his body no mercy, embracing the spearhead's role in Bumrah's absence, and inspiring the other pacers to bowl out of their skins - earning universal awe and 23 wickets came at an average of 32.43, with an economy rate of 4.02 and a strike rate of 48.43 - hardly earth-shattering India's two victories, he was the decisive force. At Edgbaston, his six wickets in the first innings (seven overall) swung the match firmly in India's favour. At the Oval, he took nine wickets - four in the first innings and five in the second - turning the match on its India held their nerve for 25 days under immense pressure - driven by willpower, ambition, and skill - culminating in a thrilling final 56-minute comeback at the Oval to win and level the series, is one of Test cricket's most riveting also marked this Indian young team's transition from apprehension and misgivings one of rich promise fuelled by ambition and future looks BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Fans spot Liam Delap's telling reaction and say the same thing after Chelsea striker watched Joao Pedro's goal in win over Bayer Leverkusen
Footage of Liam Delap reacting to Joao Pedro's goal in Chelsea 's friendly victory over Bayer Leverkusen has caused quite the stir on social media. Enzo Maresca 's side cruised to a dominant 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge on Friday after wonderkid Estevao scored on his electric debut and Pedro added the second. All eyes were on Estevao after he tapped home when Cole Palmer 's effort cracked against the woodwork, but attention shifted to fellow new boy Pedro late in the second half, the substitute having doubled the Blues' lead on 90 minutes. Pedro was introduced in place of Delap, who was unable to find the back of the net. The frontman, signed from Ipswich this summer, was given his first home start and recorded two efforts on target. Just his second touch of the game saw him test goalkeeper Mark Flekken, who later spread himself to deny Delap in style. Pedro then showed the £30million man how it was done, composing himself inside the penalty area before coolly picking out the bottom left corner. Look at Delap's reaction😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 — CherkiSharingan (@pureballersonly) August 8, 2025 Chelsea fans spotted Liam Delap's reaction to Joao Pedro's goal against Bayer Leverkusen Delap was given his first start at Stamford Bridge but couldn't convert his two big chances Delap's subsequent reaction on the bench was caught on camera, and social media users were quick to have their say, insisting he was already regretting the move. 'Yeah, he's like, "Damn, it will take a little while,' said one user. Another added: 'He's starting to regret his decision already.' A third said: 'Guy knows he's second choice already.' However, other supporters believe Delap was right to remain stony-faced. 'Rather that than him cheesing,' added another. 'Knows he needs to step it up.' A fifth user agreed, saying: 'This is what we want, healthy competition in positions.' Delap elected to move to Stamford Bridge despite interest from both Manchester United and Newcastle, and signed a lucrative six-year contract. After scoring 12 goals in his 37 top-flight appearances last season, he was recruited to provide competition for Nicolas Jackson. However, it has since emerged that Jackson will look to leave this summer. As exclusively reported by Daily Mail Sport, Jackson was left out of the squad at Stamford Bridge and the club are now helping him secure a move away. We can also reveal Jackson trained solo at Cobham on Friday while everyone else's focus was on their 7pm clash with Bundesliga giants Leverkusen. It comes with the Senegal international having officially told the club's hierarchy that he is keen to explore a transfer elsewhere this month. Chelsea are currently in talks with clubs from the Premier League and in Europe and will sanction a sale if they deem it to be in the club's best interests.
