Welcoming Wrexham in San Diego

 

So what is a fourth-division soccer club from Wales doing in San Diego, and taking the town by storm?
Well, it's the power of a good story...and Emmy-nominated TV.

This blog is about Wrexham playing the under-21 Manchester United squad at Snapdragon Stadium in Mission Valley. While Comic-Con was fun, even with 85% movie-hyping panels thanks to labor strife, this was the OTHER reason why I'm spending a week in San Diego. I filled in some time with a trip to Petco Park which turned out great (free baseball hit during batting practice, but $400 for a jersey? Please.). 

The team's staying at a Marriott near the stadium, and they are enjoying themselves. They'll also take in a baseball game before they wrap up the tour in Philadelphia. For now, they hope to do better than they did against Chelsea.

This is manager Phil Parkinson, who led the team to success in the National League and hopes to do the same in League Two. He's pleased as anyone people have embraced Wrexham, mainly thanks to the FX TV show and the owners, Ron McElhenny and Ryan Reynolds (Ron's in town while Ryan is doing acting stuff overseas...which is OK for now). 

He says the tour has been fun, and the team's stunned by the response. "The positivities is incredible in the way the success of the football club, the profile of the club is raised," he said, "spirits in Wrexham has been greated to be part of that, and long may it continue."

While some soccer reporters think the Red Dragons may win League Two thanks to the 111-point success the year before, he says the team still needs a few players to make it happen. Besides, Notts County almost did what Wrexham had done. He does admit the documentary and the interest it created in Wrexham (famous owners aside) caught him by surprise. Still, what's happened to this Welsh team just south of Liverpool has been a great story. 

It's also led to the team dealing with the new fame, but also staying focused. "The players in particular," he said, "have separated anything they've had to do they've had to do extra commercially with the nitty gritty of playing football in training or in a match day. We always speak to the lads about that. We are constantly in meetings we're mentioning that. We represent Wrexham, a working class town. When you put on a Wrexham shirt, I feel that lads have kept very grounded."

Then comes the game:

This is a very nice field located a few train stops away from a couple of shopping centers. Here's where I got to see it...

Thing is, it was sold as part of the Manchester United tour. The place was flooded with United fans, but there were SOME with Wrexham gear. I'm one of the baggier ones:

There should have been swag from both teams, to be certain. Ryan was in England, but Rob was there for the 3-1 win over those Premier League guys. It was quite the improvement from being clobbered by Chelsea. I think FX should have had a bigger presence within the stadium to plug the new season. Wound up missing out on the Welsh Rarebit.

Still, I managed to get one good picture from the game, which was Wrexham's first goal. 

Another thing that struck me is that MTS light rail got a workout transporting people to the game. Two trains were filled to the brim, maybe a third. It will also get big crowds when concerts, women's soccer and football happen, but it was quite the experience being a sardine.
(By the way, more picture are here.)

It was a great trip, experiencing some good European soccer in San Diego. The World Cup is three years away in the US, and I am still not sure if I can get to SoFi in L-A or Levi's Stadium. I may have to choose between this and Comic-Con. Since I'll be 67, though, maybe I could sit out something that happens more often than a World Cup. I know I can't go during a certain online sale.

So, back to the salt mine...until I try to go to a homecoming like no other.