Welcome To Wroxham
Riot Labs has targeted non-league football to help people quit smoking - and make a tiny Norfolk football club famous in the process
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by Dave Cross
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Quit smoking missionaries, Riot Labs, have jumped onto the Wrexham AFC Hollywood success story by sponsoring the lowly Norfolk Isthmian league Wroxham FC to share their story of how they missed out on star-studded investment by just ‘one letter’. Wroxham FC, the non-league football club who claim they missed out on celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney by just ONE letter, have gone viral after a staggered release of their 3-part documentary sharing their unique story.
Riot Labs' campaign garnered the attention of international media, featuring on BBC Breakfast and even across the pond on ESPN - the makers of the original Welcome to Wrexham, who also posted the story to their 15 million followers on X.
It’s a story the club have wanted to tell for over three years, finally made possible thanks to new club sponsor, Riot Labs, who have invested in the club as part of a drive to help non-league football fans quit smoking.
As part of the deal with Riot Labs, the club has declared their iconic 50-person Kenny Cooke stand behind the goal “smokefree” for the rest of the season to encourage fans to kick the habit, leveraging the community spirit and perseverance in grassroot football clubs to reflect the journey of a smoker quitting. As part of the deal, Riot Labs have also led an on-the-ground activation at the stadium with their Riot Rehab programme to educate and provide samples of alternatives to smoking directly to fans.
The club released the trailer and series, aptly named, Welcome to Wroxham - and have since racked up close to a million views across social media, garnering thousands of comments from football fans, including many from Wrexham.
"It's less Paul Mullin and more Pulled Muscle" - Barry Letten
The series features wholesome characters from the Norfolk-based football club, including tireless cigar smoking 78-year-old Head Groundsman, Barry Letten, and club Chairman, James Blowers.
Riot led a guerilla marketing campaign by ‘accidentally’ plastering all the promotion for Welcome to Wroxham outside the Wrexham AFC stadium… in Wales!
Ben Johnson, Riot Labs CEO, commented: “It’s simply a great story that had to be told. We're always looking for new ways to help people quit smoking, and non-league football is a great audience to target.
“To be able to support the club and give them the platform and investment to share their unique story is an honour and the reaction has been brilliant - we hope it helps them attract future sponsors, and maybe even Hollywood owners of their own.”
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
