The “Welcome to Wrexham” docuseries became a global sensation in its first season, highlighting a men’s soccer team owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney that found its way back to EFL League Two after 15 years.

And now the sixth episode of the series’ second season is shining the light on the Wrexham FC women’s team, an amateur team that features stories previously untold. If you ask McElhenney, there’s a reason they decided to feature the women’s team in the new season.

“It’s not just an ethical responsibility, but also a huge business opportunity,” he said.

Women’s soccer has been experiencing an uptick in popularity – particularly in the United Kingdom, as England won the Euros for the first time in 2022 and made it all the way to the World Cup final in 2023.

Upon taking over the club, Reynolds and McElhenney invested in Wrexham’s women’s side to the tune of $60,000. The team won a Tier One license and was promoted to Adran Premier, a semi-professional league that tops women’s soccer in Wales.

While players previously had to buy uniforms and equipment themselves, they no longer have to do so under the new ownership group.

“In terms of change of ownership and what that’s brought, that’s basically given us a platform to be able to increase what we’ve wanted to do, it’s allowed us to reach the ambitions that we set for ourselves,” Gemma Owen, Wrexham’s head of women’s football, told the LA Times.

“Barriers have been commonplace in women’s sport, and particularly women’s football, in the U.K. for many years. We want to get rid of as many of those barriers as possible.”

The women’s club will continue to be covered on the docuseries as it looks to win a playoff and earn promotion. And while some of the team’s players still need to take on second jobs, there is more of a focus on soccer than there was before.

“We’ve had to work harder to kind of get where we are. But I think that adds to the togetherness and the family that we have at Wrexham,” Lili Jones said. “We’ve all got different skills and different things that we’ve learned from having to work. It’s just a part of the women’s game.

“Eventually that will die out and I’m so excited for future generations to get the chance to be professional footballers. That foundation is set now for the future of Wrexham Football Club to be part of something very special.”

Two games into the best-of-five 2024 WNBA semifinals, and the back-to-back defending champion Aces are staring down elimination while the Lynx evened the score last night.

With Friday's Game 3 offering a venue change, Las Vegas will need every ounce of their home-court advantage to continue their playoff run, while Minnesota's aim will be to silence the Connecticut crowd.

Aces on the brink of elimination after Game 2 loss

Tuesday's second-straight loss, an 88-84 defeat by the No. 1 seed Liberty in Brooklyn, has No. 4 seed Las Vegas on the brink of playoff elimination. The Aces are now the first reigning champions to ever fall to a 0-2 deficit in a WNBA playoff series.

Las Vegas has yet to conquer the Liberty this season, falling a franchise record-tying five straight times to same opponent, all after defeating New York in the 2023 WNBA Finals.

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New York's Sabrina Ionescu and Las Vegas's A'ja Wilson led their teams in scoring with 24 points each, while Liberty guard Courtney Vandersloot provided a crucial spark off the bench. 

Should Las Vegas turn things around when the series moves back to Nevada on Friday, they'd become the first team to ever bounce back from 0-2 to reach the WNBA Finals.

Aces guard Chelsea Gray put a positive spin on the challenge, saying "I love being in the history books, so might as well try to start there. That's going to be our mentality."

Lynx level up with Game 2 semifinal win in Minnesota

No. 2 seed Minnesota evened their semifinal score with No. 3 seed Connecticut on Tuesday, earning a 77-70 win in Minneapolis to send the series back East at one victory apiece.

Courtney Williams led the Lynx in scoring with 17 points, while a physical Minnesota defense held the Sun to less than 40% shooting from the field.

In the loss, Sun forward DeWanna Bonner became the third all-time leading scorer in WNBA postseason history. She also inked her name into the league record books as the player with the most appearances in playoff history at 83 games and counting.

Friday kicks off a guaranteed two-game run in Connecticut, with the home side on a mission to reach the Finals for the first time since 2022.

How to watch Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals

Las Vegas and Minnesota will look to pick up critical wins in Friday's Game 3, with the Aces facing a must-win scenario in front of what promises to be a rocking home crowd.

The Lynx will travel to Connecticut for a 7:30 PM ET tip off on Friday, October 4th, followed by a Liberty vs. Aces showdown in Las Vegas at 9:30 PM ET. Both games are scheduled to air on ESPN2.

In this week's episode of The Late Sub, host Claire Watkins takes a look at the first games of the 2024 WNBA semifinals, discussion whether or not Aces and Lynx fans can find the silver lining in their teams' respective shortcomings heading into Game 2.

Then, she shouts out the big winners and losers of this weekend's NWSL's slate, including this season's historic Golden Boot race and the competition to clinch one of the final playoff spots.

The Late Sub with Claire Watkins brings you the latest news and freshest takes in women’s sports. This is the weekly rundown you’ve been missing, covering the USWNT, NWSL, WNBA, college hoops, and whatever else is popping off in women’s sports each week. Special guest appearances with the biggest names in women’s sports make The Late Sub a must-listen for every fan. Follow Claire on X/Twitter @ScoutRipley and subscribe to the Just Women’s Sports newsletter for more.

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On Monday, the WNBA announced that the expansion draft for incoming 2025 franchise the Golden State Valkyries will be held December 6th.

This will mark the league's first expansion draft since 2008, when the Atlanta Dream joined the league.

League sets draft limitations on 2025 expansion draft

Per the rules, the WNBA's 12 current teams can protect up to six players each, with all others available for selection. Those available for selection include all athletes each franchise holds rights to as of the end of the 2024 regular season. Accordingly, that pool spans both active players and those on suspended, retired, core, draft, or reserved lists.

Current teams must submit full roster lists showing all players — including those protected — to the league by a yet-to-be-set deadline. That deadline will likely fall around 10 days prior to the expansion draft.

In the expansion draft, the Valkyries will be able to pick a maximum of one player from each team. They can also choose only one 2024 unrestricted free agent.

Valkyries trade window could spur strategic WNBA moves

Perhaps most interestingly, once all roster lists are submitted, Golden State will be allotted a short pre-draft trade window to broker deals.

During this window, they can negotiate with teams to select, or purposefully not select, certain athletes. Golden State can also pick a player with the express purpose of trading them to another franchise.

Expect more WNBA roster shake-ups next season

The league has yet to announce if Golden State will be granted 2025 college draft picks, but has said the Valkyries will be eligible to participate in February’s free agency period.

With two new WNBA franchises in Toronto and Portland slated to begin play in 2026, Golden State's draft will likely be a preview of more expansion drafts to come next year.

While December 6th's proceedings will air live on ESPN, other aspects of the expansion draft will not be made public, including the current teams's protected players lists.

Welcome back to Fast Friends with Kelley O'Hara and Lisa Leslie!

In today's episode, our hosts cover the 2024 WNBA semifinals, including the New York Liberty's Game 1 victory over the Las Vegas Aces and Connecticut Sun guard Marina Mabrey's impressive playoff run.

"There is a player, Marina Mabrey... How she got out of Chicago, I will never know, mid-season," Leslie says on the episode. "But that is a game-changer."

Also on today's docket? Kelley's NWSL end-of-season table predictions and much more.

Coming off the success of JWS's Olympic commentary show The Gold Standard, Fast Friends features two legendary athletes serving up insider insights and unique takes on the biggest stories in women's sports every week.

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