Inside the Edit Bay: How the “Welcome to Wrexham” Team Crafts a Global Sports Phenomenon

What happens when Hollywood stardom meets a scrappy football club and a passionate community? You get Welcome to Wrexham—a docuseries that’s as much about heart as it is about goals. Editors Michael Oliver, Steve Welch, and Mohamed El Manasterly sit down with ProductionHUB to share how they weave together celebrity, sports, and community into a compelling narrative that resonates with fans around the world. From balancing story arcs and managing remote workflows to taking creative risks and embracing AI tools, the trio gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the editing process powering one of the most beloved sports series on TV.

PH: How do you balance the sports, celebrity, and community elements to create such an engaging story arc in “Welcome to Wrexham”?

Michael Oliver: Balancing the sports, celebrity, and community elements in our show is mostly easy. The hard part is that we have so many good stories and moments that we don’t have time for so it's hard to make the cuts for time. The main thing is to balance everything for the audience. Not too much of one thing or we tend to lose a certain audience. If we're just doing the sports part then we will start to lose the non-sport audience members and vice versa.

Steve Welch: Honestly, a lot of times those things all balance out pretty naturally. It’s almost eerie sometimes. There are so many good stories to tell and we are all interested in all those aspects and everyone on the team can tell when the balance is off.

Mohamed El Manasterly: This storytelling formula was established back in Season 1. From the start, we aimed to strike a careful balance between the different narrative threads—sports, the fans, and the Rob and Ryan storyline. We were always mindful of how to weave these arcs together in a way that felt fluid and cohesive. I often think of it like skipping a rock across water — it needs just the right speed and rhythm to glide from one point to the next. That’s how we approach the structure of the show, moving between threads without lingering too long in any one place. Over time, this rhythm has become the blueprint — the storytelling ‘bible’ of Welcome to Wrexham. It’s what gives the show its unique energy and emotional range.

PH: What is your workflow for collaborating with such a high-profile cast and crew, especially with remote contributors and executives?

MO: We all work remotely, but we have multiple weekly meetings to make sure we're all on track and the stories are tracking through every episode. When we feel the episode is getting close, that's when we share it with the main executives to see if we're going down the correct road. We all truly work as a team and we all want the best show possible. If we have out-of-the-box ideas, they always tell us to go for it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but the executives do give us a lot of creative freedom with the edits.

SW: Each episode gets conceptualized based on the footage we are getting and what is currently happening with the team, but while games and town stories are constantly flowing in, it can be hard to secure time with our main spokesfolks, and so often we do have to take a bit of a guess as to what they may have to say about things. Obviously some of the sillier stuff is pre-planned, either by them or by us, but a big part of the show is hearing from members of the team and staff and town that we have all come to know. And while we know what questions we want to ask them, obviously we don’t know what their answers will be. So it can be a bit of a gamble and a bit of a scramble building out the episodes. We always know many of the things we’ve done will have to be adjusted, and if whomever initially assembled something has moved on to something else when new stuff comes in, then another one of us picks it up and starts running. I’m mixing sports metaphors now.

MEM: When you’re working on a show of this scale — with a large filming crew and an equally robust post-production team — clear communication becomes absolutely essential. One of the unique challenges of Welcome to Wrexham is that it’s serialized; each episode builds on the previous one. That means a change in Episode 1 can ripple into Episode 2 or 3, so it’s critical that everyone has a clear understanding of what’s happening across the entire arc. The key is finding that balance,ensuring the team is aligned and informed without falling into the trap of constant, time-consuming updates. It’s about communicating the right information at the right time, so we can stay efficient while preserving the continuity and integrity of the storytelling.

PH: Can you share a moment in the edit where you felt the story “clicked,” or when a creative risk paid off?

MO: In our Season 4 finale, we all had this idea of using a very inspirational speech Rob made to the team before the match. We wanted to intercut it with the match as well as footage of the players when they were kids playing the sport of football (soccer). Once we got all the footage in and I went through everything, I knew exactly how I wanted to execute these ideas and make a real fun, inspirational, and emotional match. Building it was so easy for me as I had it all visualized in my head before I even made the first cut, and in the end I can say that is something I am most proud of.

SW: This show is remarkable in that so much has played out in reality almost perfectly from a storytelling standpoint, in the first two years particularly. I can even remember Rob saying the first season that while he badly wanted the team to get promoted, from the perspective of the documentary losing the way they did was almost better. But then there are lots of little things, like Jordan Davis’ child being born the day of the promotion parade in season two…it’s a tiny part of the show but it has such a massive impact and it comes in the middle of a sequence that is already ridiculously triumphant and elevates it even more. That just happened for us, and it’s just one example. It’s happened many times now. As far as a creative risk, I think the whole show started out as one. It’s really one of those cases where we knew we’d like it, but really had no idea if anyone else would care. Especially here in America where we largely don’t care about football/soccer, and in the rest of the world where people care deeply about their own teams and basically slag off everyone else. I don’t think any of us would have been that surprised if it had gone completely ignored.

MEM: Having edited so many seasons of the show, you develop a strong instinct for what’s going to click and what won’t — just from experience. But the real challenge is always: what’s new? How can I tell this story in a way that feels fresh, without straying from the core identity of the show? I’m constantly looking for new tones, new angles, or stylistic twists that can bring a different energy to a scene, while still fitting seamlessly into the overall texture of Welcome to Wrexham. That’s what I strive for. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, but what matters to me is that I keep pushing and trying something new.

PH: How do you decide what footage best humanizes the athletes and community members featured?

MO: Sometimes it's not about the best shot, it’s about the body language and the emotion the character’s face is portraying. We ask ourselves what mood or feeling we are trying to portray and then look at the footage we received from the field and match it with some music that fits it.

SW: The community members tend to come off as human quite frankly no matter what we do, in a way that often surprises me. I mean, even Wayne who is well accustomed to playing to the camera by this point…he’s not putting in airs, he really isn’t. He’s just being Wayne. The team members can be more guarded, understandably. Sometimes it’s more fun to see them in groups having fun together, messing around. Or sometimes we have them shoot stuff themselves and I think many of them are more comfortable with that. And oftentimes it can be the little moments that in real time seem insignificant where they really show themselves, when they are doing something that it seems crazy would ever make the show. Going way off topic, just messing around. Trying to calm their own nerves. Stuff like that we can all relate to and we try to find moments like that to put into the show.

MEM: It all depends on the scene and what we’re trying to achieve with it. For example, if we’re exploring a character’s backstory, we might lean on archival footage to help bring that context to life. If it’s a moment that’s unfolding in real time—and we’re lucky enough to have captured it—we focus on shaping that raw material into the most compelling version of the story. Sometimes, we have to get more creative. If there isn’t direct coverage—say a character is sharing a traumatic memory from their childhood—we might use more reflective, atmospheric shots instead. Just seeing them walking in silence or lost in thought, paired with their voiceover, can be a powerful way to convey that emotion. It allows the audience to feel like they’re inside the character’s mind, witnessing that inner reflection. In unscripted storytelling, the deeper your relationship with the characters, the more they open up—and the more meaningful the story becomes. That’s why we always strive to be delicate and truthful in how we portray them. These are real people trusting us with their stories, and that trust is something we take very seriously.

PH: What are your preferred tools for editing large-scale docu-series, and any favorite shortcuts or plugins?

MO: My favorite tool that helps us out the most on Welcome To Wrexham is the multicam. Without multicam the edit would take so much longer. On average we have around 10 cameras at a match, which doesn’t include the fancams we have the fans film. We don't take any of the line cut from the production of the broadcast so stitching a play together heavily relies on multicam so we can easily switch between cameras.

SW: I second the multicam answer. And a big monitor because my eyes aren’t what they used to be. Obviously it’s by now a basic part of it but the ability to network all of us, editors, assistants, and producers all together on the same project, I don’t even know how many of us it is, makes the whole thing possible. As well as the ability to work remotely. As for plug-ins, we do have a dedicated reverb track which saves a good bit of time. And my personal favorite shortcut is a button I’ve programmed that turns all tracks on or off en-masse because the timeline gets huge and it’s a pain in the butt to be constantly scrolling up and down making sure there isn’t a stray activated track somewhere in the pile.

MEM: I work across all major editing platforms—Premiere, Avid, and DaVinci. At the end of the day, it’s all about storytelling. The tools are just there to support the process. For me, it’s always about telling a deep, personal story, and whichever NLE I’m using is simply a means to that end. Most editing platforms are more alike than different, and I think it’s a huge asset to be comfortable working across all of them.

But if I had to highlight the most important ‘tool’ in my workflow, it wouldn’t be a plugin or shortcut—it would be organization. For me, the real shortcut is taking the time to think through and structure the story on paper before jumping into the edit. Having a clear plan—knowing the emotional arc, tone, and purpose of each scene—saves an incredible amount of time and leads to stronger storytelling in the long run.

PH: What advice would you give editors looking to break into sports documentaries with a narrative twist?

MO: My advice would be to practice editing sport videos first. Every sport has completely different editing styles and ways to work with it. If you come in blind and have never edited sports before, you will get very overwhelmed quickly. Editing sports is like editing a high-speed car chase in a movie. You need to know when to make fast edits and when to slow them down to get that feeling you are aiming for. Once you think you edited enough sports to try it out, reach out to someone in the sports field and have them look at it and see what they think, or compare your own edits to something you see on TV. Just like in sports, the more you practice, the better you will get.

SW: Don’t have much to add to what Mike has said. I’d just reiterate practice, practice, practice. And show other people when you practice because it always looks different when you do. On this particular show at least, a willingness to collaborate and be part of something way bigger than yourself goes a long way as well. Sports really are inherently narrative stories…I’m not a baseball fan at all, but I can listen to my friends who know baseball history talk about it for hours all the same. That aspect of sports that grabs us in that way is really all you have to look for.

MEM: The best advice I can give is this: always make it about the people. With most athletes, we’ve already seen the highlights — we know the stats, we’ve watched the games, and we’ve read the headlines. What we don’t often see is the personal journey behind it all. What drives them? What are they made of? What challenges have shaped them? The key to a powerful sports documentary is digging beneath the surface and telling a human story. It’s about uncovering what’s at their core — who they are beyond the field or the court. That’s what makes these stories truly compelling and memorable.

PH: How have fan responses influenced your post-production approach?

MO: The fan response to the show is amazing. I have never been a part of a show with so many fans reaching out and talking about how good the series is. It does add a lot of pressure for us editors, as we have to keep the bar level pretty high to keep our fans coming back for more. Once I get a scene, I really look at it with a fresh look and visualize how I can make the best story possible with the footage I have, and also keep the audience engaged in the story so they don't space off. I tend to over think things now, but in the end I usually go with my gut and just let the edit feel itself.

SW: Any time you are lucky enough to work on a show that rises to a level where you can actually hear the feedback, the immediate pressure is to keep that up. I keep going back to the feeling that this is not really a show that should be this popular for so many reasons, but we managed to break through and now…how do we keep the show feeling fresh when we are no longer just appearing out of nowhere? Thankfully that task falls on many very capable shoulders, but that aspect is always in all of our thoughts. We are at that point of the show where some fans are there because we still feel fresh, and others are there because we are also by now kind of familiar. The goal is to always try and service both as much as possible. We try our best.

MEM: Fans are a vital part of the voice and texture of our show. They’re not just background—they’re an essential narrative thread. We make a conscious effort to include their perspectives as much as possible, whether it’s their thoughts before a match, their reactions after a game, or their opinions on the state of the club. Their voices ground the story in authenticity. We always aim to reflect what the fans are feeling—about the team, the players, and the journey—because their connection to the club is at the heart of everything we do.

PH: Any tips for managing tight deadlines and high expectations on a project of this magnitude?

MO: For the tight deadlines all I can say is, trust the people you are working with and take a deep breath and just do the best you can do. The more you get stressed and angry, the more mistakes you will make. Just take one step at a time and just breathe and it will all come together.

SW: On this show there is a lot of stress, but the lovely thing is that a lot of it is self-imposed for all of us. There is a massive amount of trust given to us from higher up because they know how committed we all are and how professional we all are. We are all motivated by being a part of this team and this show. I guess in regards to stress I’d say pressure can be useful and focusing but it can also be oppressive and suffocating, and one of the tricks of this trade is being able to recognize which is which in any given moment. If you are riding a panic push and it’s got stuff flowing, ride it all night! But conversely if you are so freaked out you can’t even start, then stop, take a breath, take a walk. Go get lunch or dinner, come back to it later. The time spent getting it out of your head is likely to be less than the time you’ll spend pounding your head against a wall with nothing good happening.

MEM: Tight deadlines are part of every project, and I’ve found that handling them is really a matter of mindset. Staying calm, focused, and positive goes a long way. It’s important to be efficient and supportive of the team, but also to keep things in perspective—we’re making an entertaining show, not curing cancer. Maintaining a healthy attitude, bringing good energy, and doing your part to keep things moving smoothly can make a huge difference for everyone involved.