The second season of Welcome to Wrexham is about to drop on Disney+, recounting the historic Welsh football club’s latest season under new Hollywood owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.
The new series follows on from the hugely successful debut season, which followed the Welsh club and its new owners as they go on a journey of football discovery in the fifth tier of the English football pyramid.
The documentary is the latest fly-on-the-wall documentary series going behind the scenes in professional sports. Amazon Prime has followed Arsenal, Tottenham and Manchester City in their ‘All or Nothing’ series, while shows like Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’ and ‘Full Swing’ have followed the main starts behind sports like F1 and golf.
But what if we could go back? Prior to the advent of these shows and capture behind-the-scenes footage from historic football moments and seasons. Here are four we wish we could have seen.
2004/05 Premier League - The ‘special one’ and pizzagate
When Jose Mourinho uttered those infamous words at his first press conference, nobody could have possibly predicted what the Portuguese manager would go on to achieve. In his first season at Chelsea, the former Porto boss would dominate the league, keeping a record 25 clean sheets and conceding just 15 goals all season as he guided the Blues to their first Premier League title.
Mourinho has already been the subject of a behind-the-scenes documentary during his ill-fated spell at Tottenham, but the chance to have seen the three-time league winner up close during his first spell in England would have been must-see TV.
What’s more, that season also saw the infamous ‘pizzagate’ incident between Manchester United and Arsenal, which saw a young Cesc Fabregas hurl a pizza at Sir Alex Ferguson in the tunnel after the match. Let’s hope the cameras were still rolling.
A young Jose Mourinho would have been must-see TV— (Getty Images)
2007/08 Premier League - Record low points for Derby County
This one is more in the mould of a ‘Sunderland ‘till I die’ rather than Manchester City’s title-winning season captured on All or Nothing. The 2007/08 season was a historic one for Derby, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The club slumped to a record-low points total, accruing just 11 points before being officially relegated by the end of March that season.
Paul Jewell endured a tough season in charge of Derby— (Getty Images)
Their tally of 11 is four less than the second worst points tally in Premier League history - Sunderland in the 2005/06 season - and featured just one win all season - a 1-0 win at home against Newcastle in September. It might not have been a series that many Derby fans would have fancied watching, but it certainly would have made for an interesting, if not slightly bleak, watch.
2011/12 Premier League - 'Agueroooo!'
To be frank, this series would have been worth the watch for just the final few moments as Sergio Aguero slammed home the late winner to beat QPR and secure Manchester City their first league title in the club’s history.
But trawling back through the archives and there was a host of great moments that would have made for an engrossing series. There was Carlos Tevez’s failed bid to leave the club at the start of the season followed by his subsequent return and infamous golf swing celebration. Or how about Mario Ballotelli setting off fireworks in his own house a few days before playing and scoring at Old Trafford as Roberto Mancini’s side won 6-1 against Manchester United. What an episode that would have been.
Joe Hart captured his first Premier League title with the club that year— (Getty Images)
2015/16 Premier League - 5,000/1
The TV producers would have been pretty chuffed with their decision if they had chosen to follow Leicester City at the start of the 2015/16 season. The Foxes were bottom at Christmas the campaign before and entered that Premier League season at odds of 5,000/1 to win the league having just stayed up after a superb run of form in the second half of the prior season.
An unforgettable season for Leicester City— (Getty Images)
What transpired over the next nine months was barely believable as, under the tutelage of former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, Leicester defied all odds to mount a title-winning campaign with a squad everyone tipped for a relegation battle. The season saw the breakthrough of future Premier League stars like Riyad Mahrez, N’Golo Kante and Jamie Vary, with the latter breaking the record for consecutive games with a goal in the Premier League (11).
The unlikeliest of stories that would have, without doubt, made for some of the most gripping television.
