Coaching a professional soccer team comes with challenges.

Coaching a professional soccer team that鈥檚 the subject of an Emmy award-winning TV show brings a whole other degree of difficulty.

Phil Parkinson has embraced the task as head coach of Welsh club Wrexham AFC, the subject of the show 鈥榃elcome to Wrexham,鈥� and encouraged everyone around the team to balance soccer with stardom.

鈥淚 always say to the lads, 鈥楻emember, we鈥檙e representing a working-class town in Wrexham. And the performances have got to reflect that,鈥欌�� Parkinson said on a video call Monday.

鈥淲e鈥檝e embraced all the extra demands on the players, whether it鈥檚 cameras around them or other commercial activities. But we never lose the focus that the most important thing we can do is win on a Saturday afternoon at three o鈥檆lock. And all our energy goes into that, really.鈥�

Wrexham exploded into the spotlight in 2020 when actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney announced they were buying the club and planning to film a documentary about it. The show premiered to solid reviews in 2022 and is currently in its third season.

Now Parkinson and his team are preparing to play in Canada for the first time. The Vancouver Whitecaps will host the Red Dragons for a friendly on July 27 in the final game of the Welsh club鈥檚 pre-season tour.

The game will be critical to Wrexham鈥檚 preparation because it will come just before the team kicks off the English Football League regular season, Parkinson said.

鈥淏y then, we鈥檒l be looking to get as near as we can to full fitness. So it鈥檒l be interesting in terms of playing (a Major League Soccer) team, the standard,鈥� he said. 鈥淪ometimes it鈥檚 difficult to judge different leagues around the world. But I鈥檓 sure it鈥檒l be a great game for us and for them to test ourselves.鈥�

The friendly will be a special game for Reynolds, who was born and raised in Vancouver, and comes after the Red Dragons played a friendly in McElhenney鈥檚 hometown of Philadelphia last summer.

The game 鈥� a 1-1 draw against the Philadelphia Union of MLS 鈥� was punctuated by a thunderstorm that elongated halftime, but overall provided a good measuring stick, Parkinson said.

鈥淚t was very competitive. I was impressed with Philadelphia. It was a tough game,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he players were really fit and obviously in the middle of their season.鈥�

鈥淚 expect the Vancouver game to be very, very similar in terms of the physicality and the running power and the athleticism of the players in the MLS. And that鈥檚 great for us, because that鈥檚 going to be a real test.鈥�

Whether Wrexham鈥檚 celebrity owners will be in the stands at B.C. Place remains to be seen, said Humphrey Ker, the club鈥檚 executive director.

鈥淚 hope Ryan (Reynolds) is going to be there, because he鈥檚 promised to pick us all up from the airport in his uncle鈥檚 minivan,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o if not, the team will be stranded at the airport.鈥�

Fans hoping to glimpse the players they鈥檝e been watching on the show will likely be in luck.

Parkinson said he鈥檒l be taking his whole squad on the West Coast tour 鈥� which will also see the club take on AFC Bournemouth in Santa Barbara, Calif., on July 20 before facing Chelsea in Santa Clara, Calif. on July 24 鈥� and expects to field a 鈥渟trong team鈥� in Vancouver.

鈥淎ll the players will be there,鈥� the coach said. 鈥淎ll the key players who鈥檝e been on this journey with us will figure into that game, because it鈥檚 an important match for us.鈥�

Cameras will certainly be rolling when the Red Dragons visit Vancouver, but how fans will have to wait to see how the match figures into 鈥榃elcome to Wrexham.鈥�

There are a team of producers who determine the storylines for the show based on what they film along the way, Ker explained.

鈥淭o be honest, it鈥檚 sort of a case of, they trawl a big old net behind the team and behind the season, and they catch all sorts of amazing, interesting things in it,鈥� he said.

鈥淎nd I think that there鈥檚 really almost an inexhaustible supply of interesting stories around a football club like Wrexham, because the size of the club is such and the size of the fan base is such that there will always be interesting things happening.

鈥淭here鈥檚 always kind of these incredibly human moments that occur around it.鈥�

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