02x13 - Family Business

[bunniefuu]

PERSON: OK, there's lots of
good Canadian music out there.

We're gonna do
a couple of songs.

Uh, for anybody from Alberta,
this is Four Strong Winds.

ALL: ♪ Four strong winds
that blow lonely ♪

♪ Seven seas that run high ♪

My name is Tamara Lee Reynolds.

ALL:
♪ Change come what may ♪

TAMARA: We've been playing
about ten years.

One of the ladies
in my book club

offered to teach us in her home.

So about seven of us signed up.

And then the class
kept getting bigger.

Bars and nightclubs
and, you know, whatever.

Yeah, Jimmy Fallon
might get word of us.

[laughs]

[cheers and applause]

That was fun.

[light music]

♪ ♪

I'm the proud mother
of four boys.

This is Ryan.

This is Jeffrey,
Terry, and Patrick.

Ryan kind of was an old soul,
and I

always say that I think
he brought himself up.

You know, he had the example
of the older boys,

who kind of looked out for him.

And, um, he just had,
um, some wisdom about him.

But it was not easy growing up
as Jim Reynolds' sons.

Sometimes Jim was not...
Like, a lot of times...

Not emotionally available.

So I... my role,
as far as I can see it,

was to be emotionally
available for the kids.

Um, that was a tough time,

and it was very hard for me

because I could see he was
overdisciplining the kids.

But he didn't know
any differently.

He would just explode,

occasionally, you know,
throw something

against the wall
that had to be fixed after,

and then he went, damn,
I got to fix all this now.

And I went, yep.
[laughs]

You know, I think he kind of
forgot to have fun

with them too.

♪ ♪

When he was diagnosed
with Parkinson's,

it was a downward journey.

It was a tough situation.

♪ ♪

Ryan would love to have Jim here

to see how well he's doing,

as would the other boys.

Jim did the best he could
with what he knew at the time.

His emotional kit was a little
lacking, not quite adequate.

I'm pleased as a mom
to see all four boys

reconciling the past
in a way that works for them.

They know that Jim would
have been so proud of them.

♪ ♪

SINGER: ♪ Don't forget
where you came from ♪

♪ Don't forget
what you're made of ♪

♪ The ones who were there ♪

♪ When no one else
would care ♪

♪ Don't be afraid to cry now ♪

♪ Even when the world
comes crashing in ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Don't forget to sing
when you win ♪

♪ ♪

♪ Don't forget to sing
when you win ♪

My relationship with my father

was almost exclusively
tethered and held together

by our mutual love of sports.

Kind of everything, you know,

the only thing we talked about,
so it was just so much.

It was such a harbor
in the tempest

there for so many people.

It's a safe place
to always return to.

- Yeah.
- So no matter what happens,

no matter how frayed
or fractured

your relationship might be,

it's a common ground
that you can always...

Yeah.

Come back to
and reset and restart.

This is a generational experience.

Um, and there are so many
things that we pass on...

That we inherit
and that we pass on.

When I think about this
experience with Wrexham,

I try to think of all
the wonderful things

that were passed down to me.

And I try to take the best
parts of those things

and give those to my children.

My kids are obsessed
with Wrexham.

They're obsessed with Wrexham.

[upbeat music]

[crowd cheering]

CROWD:
Wrexham! Wrexham!

Wrexham! Wrexham!
Wrexham! Wrexham! Wrexham!

Come on, Ollie.

OLLIE: Very fortunate
to have a father

who's very much in my life
and my kids' lives.

And, you know, to have a great
relationship with him is...

Is fantastic
for me and... and my kids

because, you know,
I... I say to people,

he's like one of my
best mates, you know.

Oh!

Oh, for... come on.
What? Tozer.

Oh, no, I was just...

When you become a parent,
my first thought was,

what a w*nk*r I used to be.

Wow.
- What do you mean, used to be?

Yeah, so I just felt like
I had so many thank-yous

to give to my parents.

And I... I was kind of in awe

of what they'd done for me
growing up.

I think, with me, though,
I'm not really

spending much quality time
with my children,

apart from on a Sunday.

CHILD: Daddy.
OLLIE: What?

CAITLIN: Ollie,
do you want coffee or tea?

No, I won't have
any caffeine till the game.

I'll have tea...
Actually, do you know what?

I think there's more caffeine
in tea than there is coffee.

CAITLIN: So do you want
a coffee or a tea?

OLLIE:
Yeah, f*ck it.

So a coffee or A tea?

OLLIE: Yeah, I'll have
a coffee, please.

It's been hard for me because
I've been away from my family.

VINNY:


OLLIE: If we could move
Wrexham down to London,

that would be ideal scenario.

But that's unfortunately
impossible, so yeah,

we've just got to keep...
Keep going,

making it work how we are.

And we've kind of found
a bit of a middle ground now

with how I travel up
and staying up here

and getting home and being at
home at the right times and...

It's been
over a year now since...

OLLIE:
Yeah, it's been over a year

since I've actually been
at home on a match day.

Yeah, this is as normal as...
And as homely

as it would get, I guess.

Isn't it?

Sometimes my wife says,
you know, this isn't...

This isn't what married life's
meant to be like.

But what is it meant to be like?

I don't know.
I don't know.

You've got to make do,
and you've got to work things

out and, uh, make sacrifices.

And she understands that,

and my kids are learning
to understand that.

Or was it Mummy?

I am actually missing that...
His football,

which is
our biggest passion together.

You know, he gets upset
about me not being there.

My dad was away a lot.

And, um, for me,
that was always exciting

to have my dad
at football games.

I remember I used to be like,
yes, Dad's here,

because it wasn't
an everyday occurrence

because you had work.

[groaning]

Oh!

I've always wanted
to be a policeman.

And that's what I aimed to do
and actually got in at 18.

As time went on, I went
into Royalty Protection.

I worked with various members
of the royal family,

queen being one of them.

And then my last six years
of my, uh, service,

I was personal
protection officer

to the Prince of Wales,
who is now Majesty the King.

I mean, there are huge moments.

You know, there's
going down the Thames

on the royal barge
for the Jubilee

or Remembrance Sunday

or even the Royal Albert Hall,

uh, Royal Variety Performance

with Dame Edna Everage
in the royal box,

which is a good clip.

[laughter and applause]

To be part of all
those big events,

you know, such a privilege.

But it entailed going away
for two or three days a week

or even two weeks at times.

Come on, Ollie.
That's it.

Control it.

There were times when they were
younger when Ollie's got a...

You know, he's in the semifinal
of a cup match

or a school play.

Or you've organized to go out
and do something,

and all of a sudden, the day
before or two days before,

it's totally rearranged,

and... and you disappoint
the family

um, that you're not
gonna be there.

I mean, you have to ask Ollie
how many times I've...

I've disappointed him
over the years,

together with his brother
and sister.

[crowd yelling]

OLLIE: My mum and dad,
obviously, divorced

when I was about 11 or 12.

I was very happily
married to Ollie's dad.

Um...

we had a... I thought we had
a great marriage.

And we had three
wonderful children.

I was very confident
about the future

and, um, loved our family life.

But then Andy left.

[somber music]

I was devastated
because I always thought

that I would always
be married to Andy.

I, you know, loved him a lot, um,

so I suppose it... it...

blew my world apart.

ANDY: Any marital split-up
with... with children involved

is a huge upset.

That was a very difficult time
for me personally.

How do I go about telling
my three children,

who I love to bits, that...

That Daddy is not
gonna be around anymore

and Daddy's gonna
move out of the house?

That was, like, a really
f*cking hard day. Um...

It's more... it's more the
arguing of my mum and my dad.

That's what I really remember,
just sitting in...

In the study...
ANDY: Yeah.

And hearing you two
arguing in the dining room.

And then we was all crying.

Yeah.

It wasn't an easy divorce.

I'll put it that way.

At that point in time when...
When he left, we didn't know.

I didn't know the reason.

Um, kept thinking
it was another woman.

I didn't find out the truth
until months later.

ANDY:
Well, it took a long time.

It didn't... it wasn't
an overnight decision.

It was months and months
of deciding

of what route do I take,

and how do I go about
telling my children

their dad is also gay?

[upbeat music]

On my agenda:

uh, players' house,
match-day travel,

program, safeguarding,

match confirmations
to other clubs,

match officials, scouts,
um, a bit on medical.

Mitch, can you speak to Lee

about, um, menus
for next season?

MITCH:
Yeah.

FLEUR: Uh, and then just
some practical bits

around training schedules, really,

so everybody's aligned.

So yeah, a bit varied,
in no particular order.

[chuckles]

Every day is different
within a football club.

Particularly here,
over the last two years,

it's... we've seen such a growth.

It's definitely
a daily challenge. [laughs]

PERSON: It's like you've got
a castle of gin.

I know.
I haven't got tempted yet.

[laughs]

I'm sure I will
at some point, but not yet.

For the family, it's, you know,
the people who don't see you,

you know, for six days a week

and phone calls on Christmas Day

or in the night
and all sorts of things,

but, you know, that... that's
what you take on

and that's what
you love, really.

Yeah, I think, to get me here,
there's not been any sort of,

you know, one defining moment.

I think it's many years of, um,
probably working

in a family business
and working for my father,

where there is no favoritism
or anything like that.

You have to work harder
than everybody else

to prove yourself.

And, uh, that put me
in good stead

for, you know,
what I'm doing now.

Then, father originally
was at Burton Albion.

I think he started
as a commercial manager

and then was a chairman
first time round.

So when I was a child,
I can remember

sitting with the tea ladies
in the tearoom

and then, after the matches,
sitting in the changing rooms

while my dad spoke
to the manager

after the game, which I have
very vivid memories

of the...
The old-style baths there

with all the dirty water in it

and the smell
of liniment everywhere.

But, uh...[laughs]

Well, when you're a child,

you don't think about it,
do you, particularly?

You just, you know, go with
your dad to watch football.

And... but now I look back,
you know,

we've had some very special
times together

and, uh, you know, moments that,

you know, last forever, really,

creating those moments.

So it's been great.

And that's... that's the only day
I've seen you

with tears in your eyes,
on the day, uh, I left.

I've learned everything,
you know,

from working with my dad,
you know,

from the values
that he brings, you know,

that community engagement,

which has always been
the... the main priority.

You... you create
the right culture

within your environment.

He's the oldest kitman
in the country.


- 3.


How long you been here, Rocky?

- 29 years...
- 29.



FLEUR: My dad's starting life
was... was challenging,

you know, with his
circumstances with his...

You know, his mom bringing
him up as a single parent.

And, you know,
that's created my dad

to be the person
that he is today,

and that... that's filtered
to myself.

BEN: Fleur's made a massive
contribution to where...

To this club's success
and journey

over all those years, you know.

My problem now
is getting ahold of her.

She's so committed
and focused on Wrexham

that it probably takes her
two days to ring me back,

you know,
so that's the downside.

- Thank you.
- [chuckles]

[crowd cheering]

ANDY:
My life was Andy Palmer,

the heterosexual married man,

three children, um,

being a police officer.

Um, and now all of a sudden,

the people
that thought they knew me,

suddenly they know
a different person.

Yeah it was a shock,
shock to my system.

And I wished I'd found out
when it happened

and that he was honest
and truthful with me.

And we sort of kept it
from the children.

Uh, and that wasn't my choice.

We ended up telling them
about 18 months later.

ANDY: They don't write books
about how to go about it.

And you never know how your
children are gonna react.

[somber music]

I think my oldest child
found it the hardest,

but Ollie took it
in his stride, really.

He seemed to accept it,

accept the situation
that we were in.

My dad didn't really ever
express himself as a... as a...

As a person, as a dad.

He didn't let us know
how he was feeling.

And we spoke about that
when I got older.

We spoke about why
he kept things back.

We spoke about why he made
some decisions that he made.

You know, he mentioned
that he wanted to keep

his feelings to himself

because I was not old enough
to understand them.

I was... that's OK.
That was his choice, you know?

Do you know what I found
really comforting

is that we did have
a good marriage,

and actually, he didn't
leave me for another woman.

Um, he actually left me
for another guy.

And I can't compete with that.

And he did say to me, you're
the only woman I'll ever love.

And I always get
a lot of comfort from that.

[cheers and applause]

I'm getting emotional now
because I've never

spoken about it.

But, you know, you're
the strongest person I know.

And I love you very much.

And thank you for always
being there for me.

- Oh, thank you.
- And you're the best.

You're the best mum
I could have asked for.

I love you too. Gosh.

Here he comes.

Holding up the traffic?

ANDY:
Just a typical...

ANDY:
Yeah.

This is all he's done for work,

really, last 20 years.

I appreciate that, actually.

Must have been an extremely
tough time for you, you know?

You had a...

Certain job.

Certain job which come
with a lot of coverage.

Yeah.

And also,
you had parents who were...

What's the word?

You know what my dad
said to me when I told him?

No.

He said, can you go...
Go to the doctor

and get any tablets for it?

So... but that's... that's what
the people of my dad's era

would think, that you could
just go to your local doctor

and get a cure for it.

But this is the thing, right.

As I speak to people openly
about you being gay,

by telling them,
they go, my brother's gay.

Well, they feel
more comfortable in your...

This is what happened with...

This is what happened
with Rob McElhenney.

Yeah.

OLLIE: You came to the...
To the Racecourse.

To Wrexham, yeah.

I said to Rob, this is my dad.

This is his partner, Mark.

And then we traveled
down to the game,

and he traveled with us.
ANDY: Oh, OK.

And I said, that wasn't his
business partner, by the way.

He said, I did have an idea.
I was like, why?

[light music]

Hi, my name
is Helena McElhenney.

My son is Rob McElhenney.

And this is his other mom,

my wife, Mary Taylor.

I'm in the same position
as Ollie.

My parents got divorced
when I was eight or nine.

And as an adult, we can both
look back at our parents

and recognize
the amount of courage

that it took for them
to do exactly what they did.

HELENA: I was afraid
not only for my children

but for myself.

ROB: I have so much
empathy for her

in that situation because
it was a different time.

And anybody
who's over the age of 35

who's watching this
can understand.

And I think one
of the beautiful things

about our culture right now is,
anybody under the age of 35

might not even know what
the f*ck I'm talking about.

I get asked, uh, a lot

about what it was like
to have two moms.

And the truth is, I don't know
anything different.

Um, it was pretty great.

It definitely shaped my view
of... of the world,

my perspective.

We had to recognize
that not every family

looked exactly the same.

Uh, and yet we had nothing
but love and support

and compassion and empathy.

I felt like, growing up,
I was the only kid

in the world with a...
With a gay dad.

I'm open about it now.
- Yeah.

I... I tell people.

Uh, I mean,
I don't talk about it

like it's a... a big event.

But, you know, if someone says,
oh, um,

is your dad married?

And they say, oh,
is she coming to the game?

I'm like, yeah, he is.

[laughter]

HELENA:
If I could go back,

I would tell me
to not be afraid,

to be strong and know that
because you are who you are

and you have a loving family
that they'll support you.

It's been great,
really, and I wish

we probably did do it more.

But again, we're both
really laid-back.

We probably don't speak
about our emotions

as much as what we should.

And that's just who we are.

But as long as my dad
knows that I love him

and I know that he loves me,
then I'm happy.

Mm. Love you too.

- Don't cry.
- [chortles]

[laughs]

No, we're fine.

All good.
- Yeah, we're good.

Love you.
- Yeah.

[chuckles]

[rock music]

♪ ♪

PERSON:
All right, simple. Good.

Go ahead, have a f*cking...

So every football team
is a... is a tapestry

made up of all
the different players,

but they're united
by the same goal,

which is that they want to win.

They want to do well
for this town, this team,

and get out of its league.

Elliot was a... was a player
we'd looked at

and we chased the hardest
because he had a lot of clubs

wanting to sign him.

SINGER:
♪ Here we go again ♪

♪ Here we go again,
yeah, yeah ♪

HUMPHREY:
He's another great character

and a very gifted footballer.

ELLIOT: Said to my agent...
When my contract ran out

at my last club, I said,
I want to be part of something.

I want to be part of a project,
something that... that...

That's bigger than myself
and something

that actually
I'm passionate about.

Um, and that's when the phone
call from Wrexham came.

And I was like,
that's... that's sort of fate.

Like, this is probably one of
the best projects in football.

PERSON:
Good boy!

[hammer banging]

There you go.

- Yeah.
- Is it straight?

- Yeah, that's all right, that.
- There you go.

I was originally born
in Newcastle

'cause obviously,
my dad played football.

So, um, he was playing
for Newcastle then.

ROB LEE: My one and only
game against Wrexham

must have been 30 years ago.

And that's the only time I've
ever played at the Racecourse.

But again, had huge support.

My dad's had
a really successful career.

He's got 21 caps for
the national team for England.

HUMPHREY: What a cap signifies
is the number of times

a player appeared for his or her

national football team.

So if you played a match
for England,

for example,
you receive an honorary cap.

So in the case of Rob Lee,

he's played for England


and he has 21 caps.

ROB LEE: Don't drop that.
ELLIOT: It's all right.

You got 20 more, don't you?
ROB LEE: Yeah, I have.

Yeah, you're right.
Yeah, you're right.

ELLIOT: So obviously,
when you're growing up

and you're seeing your dad
do stuff like that,

it's... it's only natural
to think, wow, one day, I...

I want to be doing this

and I want to be playing
in front of these crowds.

To become a footballer,

but I think seeing
your dad do it

and play at the level he has
is, uh...

Was sort of a driving force
in me and my brother.

And we'd get home from school,
straight out in the garden,

me and my brother just
playing football all the time.

I think I'm sometimes known
as the son of Rob Lee.

Yeah, I get a good reception
every time I go back.

Mind you, if you start
playing badly,

I... I probably won't, but...
[laughter]

Neither will I.

Uh, maybe taking Wrexham
to the Premier League.

[laughs]

Me and Ollie Palmer
went for a... for a drink

a few weekends ago.

And I don't think
we paid for one drink, so...

I haven't paid for one
for 20 years.

[laughter]

[light music]

OLLIE: Everything I do
is for my kids.

They're... they're
my absolute world.

And I... I feel so lucky
every day to... to have them.

CAITLIN:
He is always...

He's just always with the kids,

just always
playing with the kids.

- Whoop!
- Good boy.

Doing everything he can
to get out of laundry

or cooking a meal.

Whoa-ho-ho!

Um... oh, I don't know
why I'm crying.

He's just really,
really caring, um,

does everything for the kids

and for me and just for us.

Everything he does is for us.

Snuggies! Mm!
[child giggling]

[funky music]

♪ ♪

And now I've been
dragged into it.

[laughs]

[laughter]

OLLIE: Just want to be
a fun dad that my kids

can look back on memories

and just be there
and be present and...

And them just know
that I was always around.

VINNY:
Bye, Daddy.

Bye, mate.

Love ya.

[spacey music]

♪ ♪

PERSON 1: Ooh, a shark's come
to say hello.

PERSON 2:
Mummy's waving.

PERSON 3: Here, Vinny,
come see Mummy and Daddy.

I have a policy with
my children, and it's honesty.

I think, growing up,
I was a little bit scared

to go to my parents to say

if I'd done something wrong.

That's probably because
I'd done a lot wrong.

So I wouldn't tell them
the truth,

and... and problems
wouldn't get resolved.

PERSON: That is a queen
triggerfish in the wild.

They don't really like divers,

but Freddie's quite used
to us now.

OLLIE: Probably
very similar to my dad

in ways that I probably
don't want

to be because I want
to be able to come out

and talk about things.

Filming with you lot has been
like therapy at times.

[laughs]

Chatting with my dad,
never done that,

never spoke about things
growing up.

Same with my mum.

It's been great.

It's been great to open up.

It's been great
to hear them say that

they might have
done things differently.

But for me, what's done is done.

You know, you can't rewind.

That's what I say about life.

The most precious, expensive
thing that we all have

is time, and...

it's how you spend it.

[laughter]

[uplifting music]

[laughter]

My date tonight.
This is my mom.

PERSON: Aw, that's perfect.

♪ ♪

[laughter]

SINGER:
♪ Time to wash away ♪

♪ Memories left behind ♪

♪ Stars can be revealed ♪

♪ When the skies clear ♪

♪ Voices raising up
generations ♪

[child giggles, seagull cries]