So I'm just making the list
of who needs to be in for a review today.
So we've got quite a busy morning.
How are you? You all right? - Yeah.
It's gonna be a busy morning.
- I know, yeah. I figured out.
I hope you've had your breakfast.
Yeah.
My name is Gemma Bamford.
I'm the first team sports therapist
here at Wrexham Football Club.
This is my sixth season,
but it's my first season with the first team.
Yeah, and no bleeding last night, this morning?
- No, no, fine. - Okay.
All right, that's fine. I'm happy with that.
Kevin's the head physio within Wrexham,
so I'm sort of just under him.
So we'll both do assessments, we'll both do treatments.
And we'll both do the rehabilitation side of things.
You got to come and speak to me, Rhys.
Look how many people I've got to see.
Still?
Don't get involved.
Go on, Gemma! Love that!
Being a female in a male-dominated environment
can be challenging at times.
You almost have to work a little bit harder
and say what you think,
even if you're disagreeing with someone.
At the end of the day, you've got a job to do.
Okay, next one on.
Certain times are not the nicest,
you know, dealing with feet.
I don't think anyone really wants to.
They're not the nicest area of the body.
It's like, you know, you just have to do it.
Past again. Davies takes a chance!
We're into March,
and Wrexham have just pulled off five straight victories...
Mullin one-on-one with the keeper!
Lifting them all the way to third place,
well positioned for the final stretch of the season.
As long as they can keep everyone healthy,
they should be challenging for a top spot come May.
- Rob Lainton,
he's been absolutely outstanding, hasn't he?
Yeah.
I don't think you'll get a better keeper, if I'm honest.
Punched by Lainton. Stretched really well there.
Back to Mitchell, great stop by Rob Lainton.
It bobbles around in the goalmouth!
Lainton stretches! That's a hell of a catch.
We got 18 games left.
We got 11 at home.
are we going up?
- Absolutely. - Thank you very much.
Yeah, pleasure.
So we went through the scan with you.
you have the back in the knee in the meniscus is stable.
- This one here?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
So if we won the league automatically,
I'd want to get it done straight away.
- Yeah?
And whereas if we get to the playoffs,
I'd want it done straight after the playoffs...
Get knocked out, or the final,
so that we can get you back in the quickest time
for next season.
Gone through a few years of bad injuries,
and stop-start, stop-start,
and I just want to enjoy it again.
You can't let your mind go,
otherwise you won't do your job to the best of your ability
when your head's not in it.
I won't stop doing the things I'm doing.
Where's Dibble? He's not got his coat.
Rob's absolutely brilliant.
I know people say
you're both fighting for the same spot, but,
you know, me and Rob are good friends as well.
- Sorry love, off, but--
Course you can. Just me on top.
- In here. - Go away, camera.
No, it doesn't matter.
- Doesn't matter-- - Go away!
- You can get me.
Sugar. Right.
- Oh, you're very tall. - Yeah, very tall.
Get one of them in there.
Look, he can-- - Who's he? Who's he?
Take a picture of the other goalkeeper.
There, that's Rob.
- He's the other goalie?
All right.
Oh, my grandsons will love this.
Rob Lainton, too.
There we go. And who's that in the front?
- That's Shaun. - Driver, driver.
- Oh. Is he a player? - He's a driver.
- He's both. - Track seat.
Is he a--
Shaun Brisley, yeah.
- What's--is he a player? - Shaun Brisley, yeah.
- I'm gonna get him.
Yeah, get him as well.
For my grandsons, season ticket holders.
They'll be over the--oh, he's a handsome one and all.
- Yeah, isn't he? - Too, this.
- Handsome one. Bravo. - You're all handsome.
- See you later.
You hear that?
- We're just doing team shape across the pitch, okay?
So Rob's going to go in that goal,
and we're gonna attack towards that goal.
I've had many setbacks in my career.
I've had--I've had bad spells in my career,
and here at Wrexham,
I just thought I was getting my chance,
but I'm just not playing.
How'd you feel?
- You see other people like your friends
doing well and winning.
- Right tomorrow, d'you know what I mean?
And then toes goes back.
It's--it's tough.
Why can't I play in that game?
I'm not gonna * play tomorrow.
For me, I just want to get back playing.
It makes me even more hungry to prove more people wrong.
It's science-based, innit?
- These two guys in it, look.
Don't worry about Cam.
- All three of us have been warriors
in FUT Champs on FIFA.
So you've got to play 20 games on the weekend,
and the more wins you get, the better packs you get.
But it's ridiculously stressful.
Never his ball.
Blow the * whistle.
As you can hear by Tyler.
- He's got a corner in the 122nd minute of extra time.
And you stay mentally stable, that's the main thing.
- Yeah, well, you're supposed to stay mentally stable.
Yeah, but it's hard
when you've got to sit in a room with these two,
'cause they can get * annoying.
My mental stability is next to zero.
Football plays obviously the biggest part in it.
And 22 years of age,
I don't appreciate people telling me white lies.
I'd rather people just be honest with me.
So he started me in the FA Cup game,
said I was one of the better players on the pitch,
and then I didn't start again.
He just brought me off the bench whenever we were losing.
And now it's like the transfer window.
I'm 22 years of age. I want to go and play football.
And I'm not being allowed to go out.
It's just--you know,
this job is so frustrating,
because you want to play football.
I don't care about money or anything like that.
I just want to play.
- You know, I do try and stay positive, lads.
Pressure is on.
Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!
Substitution of James--Jordan Davies.
The ball goes through to Coulson.
Lainton with an excellent save.
And Lainton again--and the ball's gone over the bar.
Rob Lainton
puts his body--
body on the line every single game.
Go, Wrexham!
Really taking one for the team there,
Rob Lainton.
Lainton's going to have to come off
in the 62nd minute.
This isn't good.
Christian Dibble is gonna be the man in goal for Wrexham.
Not one you want to see at all,
especially not for someone like Robbie.
Found it so hard to come by with injuries and luck.
Had a couple of times this season.
It's good to see that he's sat up.
But he looks in some serious discomfort.
And we wish Rob
a speedy recovery.
And Dibble making his way onto the field.
Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!
Wrexham!
Hey, guys.
Yeah, good. How are you, mate? You okay?
So I'll just go over
what you CT scan shows, Rob.
Essentially, you got a dislocated wrist,
um,
which is probably one of the worst injuries
- you can have in the wrist. - Okay.
The goals of the operation
are to assess all the injuries
and to stabilize the wrist,
allowing you to return to full play and full function.
- It is a potential
career-ending
injury.
- Yeah.
But if we do our best and it heals well
and you recover well, I'd be hopeful
of getting you back to play as soon as possible.
Maybe not that.
Maybe not that quick.
If you look at the evidence surrounding this,
I'll be hoping that we put you in a plaster cast
for your first eight weeks.
If everything goes to plan,
you come out and start your rehabilitation,
and I would hope that approximately
three months after,
you'd be looking at getting
the full range of movement and improving strength.
He's inarguably the best goalie
in the National League, a major asset.
Looks like it's going to be about four months of recovery
and it's devastating.
The reality in sports is that it's also an opportunity.
When Rob got injured, that was a blow
because Rob had been playing really well.
So Christian Dibble has come in,
and I'm confident in Dibbs anyway.
But there is a difference,
when suddenly,
you're now the man.
Dibbs has got an opportunity
to stake a claim for the shirt.
Good, Dibbs!
As a goalkeeper,
I think you got to be so strong mentally.
Last season,
I had a couple of bad games.
Which, you know, everyone's got--
like I said, everyone's gonna have 'em.
But it was just the manner of
some of the way the Wrexham fans were towards me,
sending me messages
on Facebook,
Instagram,
Twitter.
It got to a point where I didn't want to come into work.
Like,
I physically
dreaded playing in every game.
You had 5,000 fans on a player's back
every single week,
and he wants to go out and do his best.
And he's got that in his head
every time he steps on the football pitch.
It's not easy.
The season, the gaffer, he said, "Look, come in.
Be number two and give good competition to Rob."
And
once my opportunity comes around, I need to take it.
So I'd like to think
there isn't a number one at this club
who is going to start every game.
But obviously, the manager gave that shirt to Rob,
and then obviously when he gets injured,
I'm coming in and
I'm fighting for that shirt.
I did start fresh to start the season.
But I had to do that, because if I didn't do that,
then I probably wouldn't be playing football anymore.
But it just *ed the life out of me, really.
Would have killed me, but
I went into this season
knowing what I needed to learn
from the season before.
It started to get better
because I felt more confident in myself,
you know, in terms of the fans.
I personally think this season,
I really have shown quite
a few of them what I can do,
and I've hopefully changed their mind a little bit.
Well, here we go. Match day 34.
Wrexham squaring off against the worst team in the league,
Dover Athletic.
They've been truly awful this year.
Serendipitous opposition for Christian Dibble today
as he continues to gain his sea legs for the first team.
On the current run of form,
this game should be a confidence builder
for the new Wrexham's number one.
- Prediction for today.
I'm hoping for 3-0.
- 4-0. - 5-0, Wrexham.
This is Rob.
This is Ryan,
co-chairman of Wrexham AFC.
Wrexham has been doing so well recently,
we've decided to call this game against Dover Athletic,
which is the worst team in the league.
And we are of course joined by
the incomparable voice of Wrexham AFC, Mark Griffiths.
- Right, we're about to get cracking.
Just six minutes in, Mullin blasts one in.
Another Mullin special!
Followed by James Jones, who makes it 2-0, Wrexham.
Very cool finish by Jones.
I love this game.
Well, Mr. Co-Chairman,
it looks like we have this one in the bag.
What a goal!
Oh, the Wrexham fans are all applauding that,
which maybe shows that
we think this game is not that challenging.
2-all!
Unbelievable!
Wrexham are 3-2 down.
Tozer has it-- he's in trouble here!
Dibble--it's going to be 4-2.
Dibble punched Tozer. 4-2.
And now the anger comes.
I can't believe what I'm seeing here.
Cross comes in!
Gyasi, five. Hat trick for Gyasi.
Dover
jumps ahead
by three goals.
What just happened?
Wrexham are falling apart.
Christian Dibble looks lost out there.
Dover Athletic haven't scored five goals this calendar year.
But I'll tell you what,
they just scored their fifth goal in this match.
Wrexham trail the worst team in the league 5-2.
My word.
In a radical act of self-care,
I'm ending this episode early.
But now I'm getting texts to turn it back on.
Goes back and that's a goal!
Wrexham pull one back.
It's getting the fans going,
and they're responding in fair play.
I think we're going to let Mark
take it the rest of the way,
but we do want to introduce this decibel meter
for no specific reason.
Just a reminder, this is Mark.
Here's Jarvis, running at his man,
cutting in the box, squares it up,
chance at a shot, driven--yes!
It's in!
What a brilliant finish by Palmer!
He toe bolted it! A toe-buster!
This is madness!
We're back in this game!
Oh, well.
Davies steps up, sweeps it beyond the wall.
Yes! Yes!
Gareth Bale!
We've got Jordan Davies!
Come on!
Five-all!
We've got six or seven minutes to play.
Wow.
Well, we are attacking.
What am I going to say if we get another?
It's the 97th minute.
It's another corner.
Young under the bar, it's side--
flicked on!
Yes! Yes! Yes!
Yes!
Yeah!
Just in case you haven't realized,
Wrexham have scored!
Can't compete with that!
Everybody in the Racecourse is on their feet!
And I think that win's in.
Oh, my God!
Wild afternoon!
It's Always Sunny in Wrexham!
Oh, yes!
There's that final whistle!
Wrexham have won this.
I love football.
Oh, my God.
I'm absolutely buzzing.
What--I'm hoarse.
What a game that was.
Hey!
I picked a bad time to stop biting my nails.
I'm telling you,
they're never going to survive to the end of the season.
They got to be down to my knuckles by then.
Oh, dear.
And we beat Chesterfield.
I think that's
when we started to believe
- that we had the chance. - Yeah.
Hang on to that for the playoffs, belief.
- And how many goals have we scored this season
in the last minute?
- Or in injury time. - Yeah.
- Which just goes to show that we just don't give up.
- They've battled and battled back,
and the excitement, we got to win now.
And especially last minute like that, it's like whoa.
- And isn't it lovely to see all the people
waiting outside the club
to get autographs?
I mean, we didn't used to have that.
They'd all be gone.
And seeing children around Wrexham
with Wrexham shirts.
Yes.
Not Chelsea or Man United.
Or Liverpool.
- Wrexham, yes. - Yes.
It's been a lot more
popular with the students.
There's more now deciding, the younger ones,
that are going to be Wrexham fans.
What do you think about Mullin?
Super Paul Mullin.
It's
cracking play, I think.
The support
is just brilliant.
It's a whole mindset, isn't it,
of everybody's got the same goal?
There's a good rapport now
between the players and the fans.
I think on our day, we can beat anybody.
It's just belief, I think.
I think it's belief in being able
to
work together as a team,
seeing that they put the effort in,
seeing that
they play together,
seeing
that they care.
They've got heart.
It's a difference.
In football, it is super tough,
because it's so cutthroat.
So you can be really close to somebody,
and then
all of a sudden, they're gone.
He's gone from one end of the country
to the other end of the country.
And then you could probably never see them again.
I think that's why sometimes
footballers don't get emotionally attached,
because there's so many
ups and downs with teammates,
with fans, with a bit of everything, really.
Like again, getting attached to a club, it's the same.
You get attached to a club,
and then all of a sudden,
you're never going to play for the club again.
So it's tough.
Certainly, it's tough.
With the players who've been part of this journey,
they've been part of something special
in terms of the ownership of the club,
the TV documentary,
some of the fantastic games you've had.
Yeah, watching each other's back,
looking out for each other is important.
As a manager, you kind of
guide that and oversee it.
And you try and make sure that they move on
to the next challenge, you know,
knowing that we've looked after them
or looked out for them.
Yeah, from my point of view, Campbell,
you've been great as a lad
and we're sorry to see you go,
but I think we both know you're frustrated, aren't ya?
- Yeah. - And you need to play.
You know, we don't give up anybody
because we can't do loans.
We want to keep everyone 'round.
But for you,
I think with the career you've had up to this point
where you've not had enough minutes of football...
For sure.
- I feel it's unfair to stop you having the opportunity,
'cause that's what you need.
I appreciate that.
I think you're a talented player.
You don't want to be the perennial sub, d'ya?
No.
- And I think that you know you're in the position
of that could happen to you.
And I think
because of your age, you need to play.
- No, I appreciate that.
- So that's why we've decided to let you go.
No, I really appreciate that.
So I wish you all the best.
- Wish you all the best, my son.
Stay in touch. We'll be watching you closely.
- Nice one. Take it easy.
The best.
Make sure you do it.
- I'm going to try. - You take care.
I will.
- Do not take that smile off your face.
I'll try my best.
See you later, guys. - I know you're off.
All the best, too.
He's going to his car.
Yeah, it's mixed emotions.
Obviously excited to go home, see all my friends,
and play football.
But obviously, I'm going to miss Giles, Frenchie,
living with them, winding people up.
And the staff and the players.
They're a good group of people here,
and it's just a shame I can't be a part
of getting them promoted now.
But I've got to be a bit selfish
and think of me, to be honest with you,
so that's the plan.
I'm going to miss you, too.
Good luck, mate.
All right.
We're going to just watch you drive off into the sunset.
- Yeah? Cool. Cheers, guys. See you later.
See ya.