We started off well this season.
We've only lost-- is it two games away,
Chesterfield and Notts County?
We are contenders for automatic promotion.
But Notts County will have something to say to that.
I mean, you can't be calling it just yet, can you?
It's a way to go, a lot of points to play for.
Well, February is a massive, massive month for us,
absolutely enormous.
And unfortunately, we've got ourselves into a situation.
Overnight, we've had temperatures of minus 8, 9.
Pitch has failed a pitch inspection,
so we've lost the game tomorrow.
To pay tribute to the late Queen,
there will be no football matches this weekend.
We had a pretty damn great run in the FA Cup.
But, um,
we had to postpone league matches every time
that we advanced in the cup.
This month is where that cup success
really, really bites us in the ass.
At such a busy time, as well, we've got games back to back
- now over the next few weeks-- - Yeah.
Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.
Yeah.
It couldn't be a worse time.
And that's when injuries creep in,
when they're playing so many games close together.
It puts terrific strains on players
to keep going week in, week out.
It's difficult to be able to give players the breather
that they want.
Jordan, you know, Jordan being out.
Oh, yeah.
Well, at least we've had people
to come in and take his place.
Each game kind of rolls into the next one.
And you've got to be relentless if you're going
to get to where we want to be.
There is no time to have a break, mentally or physically.
That comes at the end of the season
when we have a couple of months off.
It's about mentally being ready.
So fingers crossed everyone stays safe
for the next few weeks.
Yeah.
♪ Don't forget where you came from ♪
♪ Don't forget why ♪
♪ You're made of the ones who were there ♪
♪ Well, no one else would care ♪
♪ And don't be afraid to cry now ♪
♪ Even when the world comes crashing in ♪
♪ Don't forget to sing when you win ♪
- Hi. - Good morning.
- Great haircut. - Oh, thanks.
Yeah.
Let's hope Phil will be in his office when we get there.
There he is.
Oh, yeah, nice to meet you.
How are you? Pleasure.
Yeah, that was another kind of surreal day, really,
when Will Ferrell came in me office.
And we had a chat.
You should be able to handle them today, I think. Yeah.
We know what we've got to do. Right.
We know what we-- - Sorry, gaffer.
Oy. - I just brought my son in.
Let's get a picture with Will Ferrell and you, mate.
Is that all right?
Let me take it of all you guys.
There we go.
Oh, you're going to love this one.
Let me get one more.
You doing selfies?
He's doing selfies on my phone.
Say 1, 2, 3, cheese.
Cheese.
Oh, Brilliant.
Will Ferrell is an absolute superstar.
But you know, he walks around in the dressing room,
talks to each of the players, got them completely at ease.
- Sam. - Nice to meet you, Sam.
- How are you? - Hey.
Hey, Anthony. Yeah, pleasure.
- You guys are famous. - Yeah.
I just started laughing.
Like I just couldn't believe it.
He was like, oh, you guys are famous now.
I was thinking, no, we're not, Will.
You're the famous guy.
Do you guys like Ryan and Rob, or not really?
You can be honest.
It's all right.
Rob is good.
Ryan--dodgy Canadian, yeah.
It's just quite surreal in the best possible way.
It's a bit of a circus.
You never know what's going to turn up next.
Oh, look at that.
That is a beefy thigh there.
Yeah.
Get in there.
That's like a ham hock.
Now, is that relaxing or painful?
- A bit of both. - Or both, yeah.
OK.
You need a rub down?
- Come on. - You sure?
- Come on. Throw it out.
Throw it out.
These hands.
These are magic hands.
I like the joking about.
And--but then when it's time to get my head down and focus,
we're all focused.
Welcome to the Racecourse Ground
for this afternoon's Vanarama National League clash
between Wrexham and Wealdstone.
With the free kick out on the left-hand side, Elliot Lee.
Against the crossings there, and Mullin's there.
And it's in for Wrexham, Paul Mullin.
Kick it!
Wealdstone just switched off from the set piece,
a great cross from Lee.
I was literally texting Ryan--
At the same time. - As they scored.
Strong tackle
on James Jones.
We've got an injury.
We've got a fucking injury. Yeah.
down on the far side as well.
Oh, fuck, Tommy's feeling his hamstring.
Oh, fuck. Where's Matt?
Hell, man.
Yeah, we need another physio on the pitch.
On your go.
A couple of questions to think about
for Phil Parkinson.
All I was thinking was, who are we going to get in
to replace those two players?
Tommy, are you all right or not?
What have you done? What have you done?
So yeah, it was a setback in the game,
but whew, did we respond.
James Jones, can it be three?
Save, Dalby.
Yes!
Phil Parkinson said many times
how important using this squad will be
during this busy month.
And two of the substitutes
have got on the score sheet today.
And that is the final action at the Racecourse Ground.
This is the hardest step to get
out of the National League.
This is the steepest hill to climb.
Yeah, you can just feel now there's stakes here.
You know, injuries in those games or increasing the volume
of games and fatigue can be damaging
and potentially game-changing for us.
There's no medals ever being given out
with eight games to go.
It'll only really be worthwhile
if we get over the line at the end of the season.
OK, so today, I am getting someone's garden
ready for the summer, oiling all the furniture up
and just getting it ready so it protects it from the sun,
and it brings out the grain a little bit more.
You know?
I still hate painting, but it's my trade,
and it allows me to earn money
for me and the boys, doesn't it?
Dad's got to pick up a paintbrush, go to work,
and earn that money.
So that's why.
I don't think anyone really likes their job,
unless you're Ryan or Rob or--because, you know,
you'd love that.
Or footballer or-- but most people,
tradesmen, we don't really like our jobs.
And anyone who does say they like their job,
well, let me tell you they're lying, because they don't.
I'm a lot more recognized now.
I get a lot more love.
I certainly get a lot more hate, people digging at me.
But what you saw in the last series was the real me.
It was just ultra Shaun. That's me.
I wasn't pretending to be anything I'm not.
I was just me.
So if you think you've seen the good, the bad.
I think you've seen all five sides of Shaun.
But, um, I love it.
Can I get a photo of you--
You certainly can, mate. - For me mother-in-law?
You know, I love interacting with people,
and I love talking to people anyway.
She said you're better looking in real life
- than on the program. - Hey, I wish my ex said that.
I did. I said that.
Aw, thank you very much.
So obviously, I opened up about my life.
How I was feeling then, which was dark.
Some things I'm not proud of.
Did you find Spencer was a little bit of a weasel?
I did not.
No, I found him to be really-- a lot of integrity.
When you wake up, are you in a full sprint?
Or are you still lying in bed?
Sometimes the idiot inside me can take over a bit too much.
But the only way I can let that idiot out
is by getting one too many drinks down me.
So I'm trying never to let him out again.
I'm just going to really get after this now.
And I'm hoping never to drink again.
- Good on you, fella. - Yeah.
- Cheers, mate. - Woohoo.
Appreciate it.
- Cheers. - Come on, Wrexham.
Yay!
As ever, a fantastic
crowd here at the Racecourse.
Well, I think they're going to actually
try and keep the singing going for the whole game
tonight is what they're trying to do, the fans tonight.
Yes?
Frankly, they need it because, well, this is February.
Yeah.
And it's Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday,
Saturday, Tuesday constantly.
I think that any little lift they can give the team
is fantastic.
It certainly looks like, to win the league this year,
you're going to have to get well in excess of 100 points.
Because it's a two-horse race.
Both Notts County and Wrexham are phenomenal,
just keep winning hand over fist.
But again, there's just that remarkable tense sense
that we can't afford to make any slips at all.
It's this wonderful who blinks first,
spaghetti western scenario, ain't it?
Sweeps it into the near post.
Had to go across the face. And drill it in!
And Woking take the lead in the seventh minute.
Fucking hell.
What a fucking start that is, by the way.
Forde steps up and drills it.
Yeah!
Brilliant goal by Anthony Forde!
Mullin takes a deep breath on the edge of the area.
Steps up, right-footed.
Scores!
Right in the goal corner.
And Wrexham have taken the lead.
This is such a test.
For now, the penalty, which Brown will take.
He stutters.
Steps up.
And scores.
And Woking pull themselves back into this game.
They've done a number on us here.
It's so alien now-- it's amazing to say that--
to see us looking second-best against anybody.
And that's the final whistle.
We dropped points for the first time
at the Racecourse this season.
Because of this kind of death struggle
we're locked in with Notts County,
draws right now feel sort of closer to defeat.
Yeah, we're disappointed with the way we played.
We didn't play as well as we can, in terms of on the ball.
It became just a scrappy kind of game,
which obviously Woking are very good at that.
We looked unbalanced tonight.
From set pieces, though,
we've got a plethora of options.
And tonight, we saw another one in Anthony Forde
with a brilliant free kick to get us back on levels.
Yeah, a great free kick from Forde, pleased for him,
stuck it in the top corner, gave us a great lift
going into halftime.
But we never really got to grips with the way
they played tonight.
Gonna look at that and make sure that, on Saturday,
you know, we're better.
I have to do an Irish brunch.
The UK do rashers OK.
But yeah, definitely the pudding, the good stuff.
I'm from a place called Ballingarry
in County Limerick in Ireland.
I ended up signing for Wolves
when I was 15, moved across to England.
The night we met, one of his friends was like,
oh, he plays for Wolves.
And I was like, what are they?
Yeah, so Laura has been, I suppose,
with me through the journey.
We got together when I was 18 when I went back home
for a summer on a night out.
And I keep telling her that she couldn't take her eyes off me
when I met her, but it was probably
the other way around, if I'm being honest.
But, yeah, we've been together since.
And it's been amazing.
Safe to say I've got to know a lot about football.
It's our life, I guess, you know?
So when you have good days, I have good days.
When you have bad days. I have bad days.
But thankfully, it's been really good
while we've been here at Wrexham.
Everything about here has been better.
It's not just playing, everything.
Yeah, it's a real team here.
And everyone has the same goal and wants to get promoted.
But yeah, we love it up here.
She's been an absolute rock.
I've been lucky to have her by my side.
Oh, you're tired after sleeping
for an hour and a half.
Oh.
Now, we've got little Patty here with us as well.
It brings you even closer together.
Hi, baby.
We're obsessed with him.
That's not a smile, Patty.
I think it was two weeks after Patty was born,
my brother rang me.
And he said that he'd been to hospital
and he'd got leukemia.
So that was a massive shock to us.
Then a few weeks later, Laura had an MRI,
and she had a brain tumor.
I knew something wasn't right.
And I persisted with the doctors and got my MRI done.
And yeah, now we're here.
It just didn't feel like it was--
it was real.
So yeah, one of the side effects,
my left arm isn't working so well.
So things like cutting, the simple task,
isn't as easy as normal.
It was obviously the worst day of my life and her life.
And football has been a massive part of our lives.
But when something like this happens,
it goes out the window.
And there's a lot more important
things in life, of course.
Football is our life.
And I had--in my head,
I was kind of thinking it would be a good distraction.
But some of our friends in football
kind of took me aside and were like, Laura,
if ever there's a time, it's now,
to step away just for a few weeks and just
deal with and process what's happening
to both his brother and to me.
How can I go out and try and perform
when I've got something so serious
in the back of my head?
It's unfair on myself and the team, like--
The support we've had from the club have just been amazing.
And we don't know the full results of things
at the moment.
So that's still a case of waiting.
Well, yeah, it's made me appreciate you a lot,
in terms of, like, you're a really good dad.
And no matter what happens, I know Patty's...
Really lucky to have you.
You're making us all cry now.
Sorry, everybody.
Come on!
Come on, mate, come on, mate.
Charlie, down the line!
Charles!
Brilliant that, mate, really, really good.
When my lad Charlie's playing, I don't miss a game.
Do you know what I mean? I don't--I don't miss a game.
I make sure I'm always here for him.
And it's great 'cause I used to play.
And it just reminds me-- it's like, you know,
I live my life through his eyes now.
So, you know,, it's great.
Well done, Charlie lad.
Brilliant, son.
Right on cue that one, innit?
I went to watch Charlie play football.
And it was a sunny day.
And straight away, I was thinking, oh, my God, this--
I would kill for a Wrexham lager.
Oh, my God. And I was like--
and I--all day, I was fighting like you wouldn't believe.
Because I was mentally drained because I'd been just--
it was been torture all day,
fighting back and to, back and to.
Come on, mate. Come on, mate.
I almost went, man. I was like, don't mate.
You're not doing this.
Nice, Charlie. Brilliant, lad.
I started shaking.
I was like, I can't handle it, man.
And like it's happening a bit now.
And I remember just coming home and trying to put
my head through the telly.
Bad.
Come on, son.
Oh, get it there, lad!
But I did it, and I was super proud of myself.
But God, it's not easy, man.
It's not easy.
Put it there.
Yes. Brilliant.
Well done, yeah?
Great tackling, getting the ball, loved it.
Let's do your lace. Come here.
But I'm working on myself.
I go to therapy sessions.
I go to different people because
I just want to better myself.
I want to better myself for my boys.
And I don't think many people can put their hand on heart
and say they do as much to change their life
as what I'm willing to do.
Are we getting in the fun bus?
Fun bus, love.
Come on, kiddo.
About to get things underway
at the recreation ground.
Young steps up.
Swings it under the bar for Dalby.
Yeah!
Yes!
Wrexham did it right in the dash!
We have made changes today, and interesting ones.
The first one, Rob Lainton back in goal,
first league match since he broke his wrist at Bromley.
It's almost like each game
kind of rolls into the next one.
And Hosannah has gone down.
Too often, we are being forced to use up
substitutions for injuries.
Space to drive into.
Gets the crossway.
Looking for Mullin.
Gets in touch.
And the penalty's for Wrexham. And he does.
Davis lines one up.
Spill by Foster.
Miller strikes it.
But like every game, it is hard.
You've got to earn it.
And we had to dig deep as a team.
And it's just about keeping those wins coming in.
And we've done that tonight.
To our innocent American or North American eyes,
football may look like a dainty ballet with a ball.
But it's a contact sport.
It can be incredibly brutal at times.
It's super hard on the body.
And we've had some really bad injuries this season so far.
I just wish Notts County would have
some of the bad luck we've been having, isn't it?
I don't think they've had any injuries,
- have they, and we've-- - No, nothing, nothing--
There's been bottlenecks this season where
we've been playing two games a week.
Another game is next Tuesday,
as well, against Chesterfield.
Whew. Ooh.
That was fouled. Ref doesn't give it.
It looked like a poor challenge.
We've been dealing with illnesses and injuries
and really reacting and adapting to that.
Mullin finds him. Lee hits it.
Oh, what a goal!
Yes!
That was a lovely goal, wasn't it?
We just have to consistently worry about ourselves
and do what we're doing best on the field,
and not look over our shoulder over at Notts.
Into Elliot Lee, plays it to Mullin Lee
creating more space if he can find him.
Elliot Lee with a shot!
And Wrexham take the lead!
You have to grind every game.
You factor in how your body feels and your tiredness
and fatigue, then you have all the pressure of the game--
it's not easy.
And a brilliant roll, gets a shot away.
And he's in again.
And there is no stopping Sam Dalby at the moment.
Victory at the Racecourse Ground for Wrexham.
That win means that Wrexham--
Go top of the Vanarama National League.
Go!
You know, it's a 46-game season.
And that makes it unpredictable.
You know, there will be problems and challenges.
Our best chance of success is by depending on somebody
who would provide experience,
and a player who's calm and relaxed everybody.
And that is Luke Young.
I'm Luke Young. I play midfield.
I'm the team captain,
which was a massive, obviously, honor for myself.
Young, he's a, um...
a quiet guy, but does his talking on the pitch.
Oh, what a ball, son.
Brilliant.
What a fucking ball that is.
Other side, Elliot Lee.
Youngie, what a ball, son.
I admire Youngie because he comes in, does his work.
He works so hard.
But I've certainly been at the wrong end of the table.
I never take anything for granted.
I never took anything for granted growing up.
And there's people out there that
will give their left arm to be in the position that I am.
So I'm still grateful for it, and I'm still
working harder, if not as hard,
to carry on that journey as a footballer.
He probably goes under the radar a little bit.
But he just consistently gives everything
for the football club.
He's a--he's a fantastic captain.
He's got plenty of assists
this season from corner kicks.
He'll do whatever it takes
to be victorious on the day.
And that breathes through the squad, you know?
That's what captains do.
They lead by example. And Youngie, he epitomizes that.
Young, early ball. That's right, good idea.
Mullin, right side of the box,
cutting inside, running at his man.
It's a left-footed shot!
Luke Young is the unsung hero
of this entire organization.
Luke's position in midfield is just
one of those workmanlike gigs that you just--isn't flashy.
You just don't hear his name that often.
But he's controlling the game.
Quick free kick taken, Luke Young.
Absolute thunderbolt!
How much of a workhorse is Luke Young?
Well, using this gorgeous HP laptop and information
from our friends at STATSports,
we've broken down Luke Young's performance
using the GPS tracker that he wears during the game.
Those are those sports bra-looking things
the guys wear.
They're also, of course, for support.
They're very supportive.
Luke Young runs an average of 8.2 miles
a match while running 145 yards per minute.
His average heart rate
is 175 beats per minute, which is insane.
And his dynamic stress load is 897.
What is dynamic stress load, Rob?
Yeah, no idea,
but I mean, that just sounds super intense.
And I got to believe 897 is super high.
So I have just started coaching Lenny's team.
And I love it.
It's something I've always wanted to do, mate, always.
Whoa!
Come here.
Laces.
How many goals are you going to score tonight?
I wanted to do it for Charlie's team,
but I wasn't in the right place to do it.
I couldn't commit to it.
Now I'm at a stage of my life, and, listen, let's commit.
It doesn't matter how many touches you take.
I just want you getting used to the ball at your feet.
Even when it's running fast, yeah, the ball's always here,
always glued to your foot.
Yellow!
His mind seems to be in the right place now.
He's focused.
Driven is probably the better word for it.
Mate, did you see that tackle you made?
I think you took-- that was awesome.
Obviously, getting away from the drinking
and everything that was wrong in his life,
because, obviously, it can take over your life.
And it was with him.
Obviously, he had a hard time last year.
Obviously, he loves his kids and to play football with them.
Let's go on, buddy.
You were absolutely fantastic last time, you know?
Yeah, he's jumped at it and took it onboard.
And he's changed dram--
drastically, I'd say.
So if you watched football on Saturday,
did you see the whole Wrexham team going towards the ball?
No.
No, you wouldn't have seen that, would you?
Alls I want you to do is get space.
You get space, and I promise you,
the ball will come to you.
This is what I'm really proud of.
The day I die, whether it be tomorrow
or whether it be in 60 years' time,
you know what they're going to say about me?
He was one spot-on dad.
He was always there.
Oh, look at the score, yeah?
So go get that ball. Go and score.
Go, go, go, Lenny, go!
I want my boys to be ultra proud of me and be like,
you know what, look what my dad's achieved in life.
Look how my dad's changed our lives because he had
the bottle and the courage and the openness
to go after it, to change it for us.
Go on, guys. Well, thank you for today.
Go and find your parents, and I'll find you next time.
Yeah? I'll see you next time.
See you next time.
Yeah, up and under towards Mullin!
Oh, Paul Mullin!
Can Wrexham see this through, or, well,
will there be a twist in the tale?
Chasing and he got there!
Oh!
What a huge moment,
both in this game and the title race!
They come away with a point,
but this will feel like a loss.
Well, lucky for us, Notts County also drew
1-1 at Bromley, so we didn't drop points,
which was very, very un-Wrexham of us.
On to Dag and Red.
Kick it to Lee. Sweeps, and it's nicely done.
He delivers a header!
Yes!
Oh, I'll tell you what, Wrexham are on fire here.
So finally, we got to the end of this brutal month-long slog
of nine matches in a month.
And we were just about clinging to top spot.
But things aren't always that easy.
So just in time for our final game, here comes the snow.
And boy, did it come.
Obviously, quite freakish kind of weather conditions.
The snow was, yeah, very deep on the pitch.
I thought, oh, that's going to be a big challenge.
The weather was absolutely foul.
But the real problem we had was there's
no other date for this game if it doesn't get played today.
And Chal, the groundsman, said, well,
I'm gonna get 50 people in to help move it.
And I thought, that's going to take a lot of effort.
Starting the epic snow removal.
I think we've got till 12 o'clock
really to make sure everything's finished.
It's a bit frozen at the moment, so it's tougher going.
But the sun'll come up in a bit
and start to give us a hand as well.
John had mentioned they needed help at the ground
to get the snow off the pitch.
And it was a straightaway yes.
No one was paid to be there to do that.
It was all for the love of the club.
And that's just a community feeling.
That's always been around here,
but it's definitely upped.
If we win, we're 7 points clear of Notts County
before they kick off tonight.
So I think it's getting the points in the bag as well.
- ... - 2 and 1/2 hours now,
so it's pretty tiring.
But we need to get this game on.
I must admit, when I turned up when I did,
I thought, there's no way this is getting cleared in time.
But gradual progress, eh?
This is some effort by everybody, by the way.
There's only so many people you can actually get to do it.
And listen, this has surpassed everything
you could ever dream of.
What you're actually seeing here, though,
is everybody coming together, from club staff,
management, fans, together.
And you know, everything looks good.
This was a push for the whole community.
There is a lot of pressure on us to deliver for the town.
You know, we need to win this game.
We was expecting the worst here,
like when we saw the pictures yesterday.
But fair play.
Wrexham have got the pitch cleared,
and the game goes ahead, so well done to them.
We're going to win 1-0
because we can only score one goal.
I'm going to go for 2-1, Southend.
- Two goals? - Yeah.
Where are we gonna get them from?
I don't know. But they're going to go in.
Oh, OK then.
It's pulsing here.
Here the ball stopped,
and we have got a game on our hands.
Here we go, Wrexham against Southend United.
It was always going to be different type of game
because of the conditions.
It was very, very tough.
It looks like a clash of heads
between Jordan Tunnicliffe.
But they both look quite hurt.
That's not good, is it?
A hard game, a hard slog.
Tunnicliffe is sprinting off the pitch.
Give him stitches, I guess.
So down to 10 men,
but still trying to push on.
And we just had to roll our sleeves up
and dig deep as a team.
Getting over the line in challenging seasons,
you need players to say, yeah, look back in years to come,
what about that contribution?
We dug fucking deep today.
We dug fucking deep.
When the season comes to the end,
we'll look back at today at, they're the fucking
wins which fucking matter.
Let's go!
We'd all like to win 5-0.
But 1-0 is a fucking fabulous result, lads.
Fucking brilliant.
Brilliant, fucking good.
Phil, I think, yourself, the staff,
and the fans have earned a Wrexham Lager tonight
after getting that game off.
That was a huge effort from everybody.
And yeah, it just--
it kind of gave me a huge lift.
Today means a lot because, you know,
it's just a performance where I just
feel that everybody in the club really pulled together.
I said to the lads today that we looked at today's game
as the end of a run of a lot of fixtures
in a short period of time.
Next week is going to be about really
recharging the batteries and getting ready to go again.
Captioned by 3Play Media