Filming Welcome to Wrexham: ‘Parkinson and the players have had to trust us'

New York Times

5 days ago

As Wrexham embark on a first season at Championship level in 43 years, a familiar dressing-room face will be missing.
Patrick McGarvey, co-executive producer on Welcome to Wrexham, is moving on after three years helping to uncover the stories and characters that have turned the documentary chronicling Wrexham's historic promotions into a global hit.
Advertisement
He leaves with a wealth of memories to go with the eight Primetime Emmy awards that the show has already garnered for co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
'The last three years have been so special,' the 46-year-old Irishman tells The Athletic. 'I've made friends for life since coming to Wrexham and I've shared in so many great moments.
'Obviously, the three promotions stand out. The open-top bus tour (that followed winning the National League title in 2023) is something I'll never forget until the day I die.
'I was on the bus with the women's team that crazy, crazy evening, plus Rob and Ryan. Seeing the colour in the town and the happiness on people's faces was amazing.
'I've also got a photo I love, taken from behind Phil (Parkinson, manager) and Steve (Parkin, assistant) after the first promotion: looking out over the fans as they invade the pitch, with both Phil and Steve taking it all in.
'I look at that picture from time to time as it brings home the privileged position this job has put me in — to see what it all means, not just to them but their families and an entire community.'
When the call first came in 2022 about joining the Welcome to Wrexham team, McGarvey was already an experienced sports producer who had covered everything from three World Cups to a European Championship and several Olympic Games for a variety of channels, including the BBC and ITV, and RTE in his native Ireland.
The first series, charting the opening months of the new Hollywood owners and culminating in losing to Grimsby Town in the play-offs, had already been shot but was still to air on either side of the Atlantic. It meant that the global whirlwind that has so transformed this previously provincial club had yet to gather pace.
'I didn't know a huge amount about the project at the time,' McGarvey admits. 'Probably been to the (Racecourse) ground a couple of times, when previously working for ITV.
Advertisement
'I'd also been to Wrexham for a few cycling events and had friends from university (in Manchester) who lived in north Wales, so I knew the area. Anyway, we had a conversation over the phone and then I came down for a couple of days, just to meet people and for them to see what I was like.
'You've got to be the right fit for a football club.'
McGarvey has certainly proved to be that since first joining the documentary team in September 2022. Initially, he worked for a year alongside Milos Balac, the show's first co-executive producer on the ground in Wrexham.
Then, after Balac returned to his native New York, McGarvey stepped up from his role as supervising producer to spend the last two years leading a small but dedicated team in the UK featuring Claire Sarsfield, Matt Hopwood and Gareth Roberts.
'Wrexham is a very different club today to back when I first started,' he says. 'But what hasn't changed is what makes the show such a success: great storytelling. Rob always says to the crew: 'Everyone has a story to tell. What is that story and how best do we get it on camera?'. That's the key.'
After more than two decades in the business, McGarvey recognises what makes for great TV.
So, when filming co-chairman McElhenney's now-famous motivational speech to the Wrexham squad during last season's run-in, the County Tyrone-born freelance producer knew straight away what the show had.
'We were in the Bamford Suite at the ground and the players had just finished their lunch,' he recalls. 'Rob started speaking and straight away the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up, just listening to the words as I film the room.'
McElhenney's emotional words later became the focal point of a truly stunning series four finale, with his message about the need to play with the freedom they had enjoyed as youngsters forming the backdrop as goal action from the promotion-clinching win over Charlton Athletic was interspersed with footage of the players as kids.
Advertisement
It made for wonderful TV and will surely be rewarded with another slew of awards when the Emmys next come around.
'Rob deserves the credit for that; inspired stuff,' McGarvey says about the montage. 'My role was to be the one on the ground, liaising with the players, collecting all the footage. Some was easier than others, with Max Cleworth's mum simply sending me clips from her mobile phone.
'Others were a bit more difficult, as the footage came in many different forms and had to then be digitised. Matty James had to go through the family archives, same with Ollie Palmer.
'Sam Smith's footage (as a toddler kicking a ball in the hallway at home) was probably the hardest to get but it was also maybe the most iconic, due to Sam scoring twice that day.'
Working on Welcome to Wrexham can be demanding, especially for the team on the ground in Wales. A typical working week during the season can be between 60 and 70 hours, and sometimes more with travel if, say, there are back-to-back away games, such as last season's long-distance double-header against Exeter City and Cambridge United.
High-profile matches demand a full turnout from the UK crew, including three members of staff in the dressing room — McGarvey as producer, regular soundperson Hopwood and a camera operator.
Other fixtures might seem less promising on paper but football's ability to throw up a surprise when least expected means every game has to be staffed, particularly when it comes to shooting the all-important dressing-room footage that has become such a cornerstone of the show.
'An element of familiarity is key,' he says when asked about the scenes featuring Parkinson famously letting rip at his players. 'There's times, as a crew, when you need to be able to fade into the background, almost not be noticed. That can only happen if Phil and the players have trust in who is there in the room.
Advertisement
'It's why we've gone with familiar faces when it's a chosen game and three crew members are needed in the dressing room. Other times, it'll be me filming in there on my own. It probably isn't my greatest strength but this is live sport, so there's always a chance of something big happening. You have to be there, just in case.'
This near-constant presence in the dressing room makes us wonder what it's really like when Parkinson launches into those now-famous tirades, complete with plenty of swearwords.
'The funny thing is you 100 per cent know when something is documentary gold, such as when Phil or Steve are saying something,' adds McGarvey. 'But you can't let on, can't even flinch.
'That's what I mean by not being noticed, that need to be able to fade into the background. You can't even get your phone out to type in a note. Just store it away in your brain and then, first chance you get after things have calmed down, take a note.'
McGarvey is certainly going out on a high after three promotions in three years working on Welcome to Wrexham. The show is also up for another three Emmys in September, including the Outstanding Unstructured Reality category it won in 2024.
'That's what makes all the sacrifices worthwhile,' he adds. 'When you get recognised with an award like that, there's not a higher award I could get.'
A desire to spend more time with his young family — wife Annie, plus sons Thomas, 14, and Jack, seven — and wanting to explore other projects, including some possible World Cup 2026-related work, explains the move.
There's no doubt, however, that Wrexham has left an indelible mark on the Irishman and in particular, how so many, both inside and outside the club, were willing to open up their lives on camera.
'The James Jones story was one of the most moving,' he says about the episode in series three when the midfielder and wife Chloe spoke so candidly about son Jude's ultimately successful fight for life after being born 15 weeks prematurely. '(We're) really honoured they let us tell their story.
Advertisement
'Same with Paul Mullin being so open (about son Albi being diagnosed with autism). Seeing this guy who is so adored on the terraces as a great family man at home reminds you sometimes that there's more important things in life.
'There's so much I'll miss. Rob and Ryan have been great; just genuinely nice lads who I've learned so much from. Fantastic storytellers. Then there's Humphrey (Ker, community director) and (director) Shaun Harvey. Both became great friends and real confidants.
'Telling the story of the Gresford disaster (when 266 lives were lost) with one of the victim's daughters was another privilege. Likewise, getting to know Arthur Massey (Wrexham's oldest fan who passed away at the age of 100) and his family.
'All special in their own way, especially as what I take most pride from the show are the stories where you've gained people's trust and, hopefully, justified that trust.'
(Top photos: Left, Patrick McGarvey and Matt Hopwood, and right, James McClean; Patrick McGarvey and Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)