About 3,000 miles separates Neponset Avenue in Dorchester and Wrexham, a city of some 61,000 residents in the northeast of Wales, but on days when the Wrexham Association Football Club is playing its English Football League (EFL) Championship games, that span means little to a passionate group of the team’s supporters who now call McGonagle’s Pub in Dorchester their home base.
The Red Dragons have gained a massive fan base in large part due to the FX docuseries “Welcome to Wrexham,” which has followed the Welsh club’s ups and downs since it was purchased by the actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021 for $2.5 million.
Three fans from Boston—Wayne Cram, Brit Garner, and Tom Vezeau, who met via Facebook—formed the Boston Reds, the official Wrexham AFC supporters’ group for the greater Boston area last year.
“I’m a lifelong sports fan but I was introduced to the joys of UK football through the documentary,” said Cram, who has been to Wrexham four times since discovering the series. “The documentary told the story so well that I was not only captivated by what I was seeing on the screen but also really compelled to know more, to learn more, to travel to Wrexham.”
He added: “Supporters groups are a thing. Once you get into the culture of these football clubs, you understand that these folks who want to represent their love for the club do so through this kind of gathering.”
The group’s first gathering was in Jamaica Plain, but they’ve made the official move to McGonagle’s due in large part to the owner, Oran McGonagle.
In 2022, another one of McGonagle’s Boston bars, The Dubliner, became home to Manchester United FC fans, so collaborating with another football team’s fans came naturally.
“Oran McGonagle, he’s been a terrific guy to meet and get to know,” said Cram. “We were kind of overwhelmed with his enthusiasm and embraced it 100 percent.”
Since the team is not yet into season play, the Reds have spent the past few Thursdays hosting watch parties for the docuseries.
“When we saw McGonagle’s, it’s clearly a gathering place, it’s not just a bar or a pub,” said Cram. “The combination of Oran’s entrepreneurial zeal and our enthusiasm for all things Wrexham and Wrexham AFC, and the fantastic space, we have all got our thinking caps on in terms of what special things we can do.”
He contends that Boston can appreciate “the celebratory aspect of finding this working-class town that had a very strong foundation and that, with just the right amount of care and love and tending and investment, could resurrect.”
For his part, Vezeau was drawn to the Wrexham team by its “Cinderella story.” Founded in 1864, it’s the oldest club in Wales, the third oldest professional football team in the world, and has as its home field the Racecourse Ground, the world’s oldest international stadium in host international games.
The English Professional Football System consists of four tiers, with the Premier League at the top, followed by the Championship League, and then League One and League Two. Teams can move around tiers through promotion and relegation.
When Reynolds and McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC, the club had spent the previous 14 seasons playing below this system in the fifth-tier National League, the lowest level of professional football in England.
In the first season under the new ownership, Wrexham finished second before losing in the playoff semi-finals but reached the 2022 FA Trophy final, which they lost to Bromley. This was just the beginning of the “Cinderella story” that entranced Tom Vedeau.
During the 2022-2023 season, the team was the only one from the National League to make it to the fourth round of the FA Cup. That same season, Wrexham secured its first league title in 45 years and was thereafter promoted to the League Two tier.
Wrexham secured promotion to League One the next year, then competed in the third tier for the 2024-2025 season. On April 26, Wrexham defeated Charlton Athletic, earning promotion to the Championship level, one slot under Premier League.
During those four seasons, Wrexham became the EFL first team to achieve three consecutive promotions. In August, they will return to EFL Championship competition for the first time since the 1981-1982 season.
Brit Garner says that Wrexham reminds her of Dorchester.
“Almost anyone you talk to who fell in love with Wrexham through the documentary fell in love with Wrexham, the town, and people as well,” she said. “Wrexham is a working-class town; it is a smaller place. It is maybe something overlooked. I think that Dorchester itself has some alignment there.”
She added, “There is something about that that felt mirrored. I’ve only lived in the area a couple of years, but it felt familiar in this way of values and what sports and community gathering can mean.”
Garner likes to watch the women’s games too, admiring players like Lili Jones, who she described as “fearless” and a reminder of the “ferocity” of the women’s game.
Supporting the women’s team will resonate well with other Dot residents, as their own soccer team, the Boston Legacy, will be calling the neighborhood home soon.
In general, the Boston Reds hope to bring together soccer (or football) fans, from all walks of life and to build community through sport. Though that community is small right now, Vezaue and Cram know it will continue to grow.
Vezeau recalls a time when “we were sitting at the back of McGonagle’s by the stage. Oran was super nice, put it on the big screen for us, and it was like we had our own little corner of the world. Behind us, the entire bar was packed, and the two of us were living the dream watching this TV show wearing our Wrexham jerseys.”
The Reds will host another gathering at McGonagle’s on June 26 to watch the newest season four episode of “Welcome to Wrexham.”
For more information, visit https://bostonredswrexham.com/ or check out the group’s Instagram.
