Wrexham

Wrexham FC 

Ground: Racecourse Ground

Capacity: 10,771

Club Founded: 1864

League: EFL Championship (current level)

A proud historic club, Wrexham AFC enjoyed some glory days before the club and town were transformed when new owners arrived, with promotions won and profiles enhanced beyond all recognition through a TV series.

Club History

The Early Years

Wrexham AFC is the oldest football club in Wales, founded by members of Wrexham Cricket Club seeking winter recreation. The Racecourse Ground was inaugurated in 1872, when meetings were held next door at The Turf Hotel. The 1877-78 season saw the inaugural Welsh Cup, with Wrexham winning the final against Druids. 

The club played friendly games apart from the cup for the next decade, lifting the trophy once more in 1883. The club was briefly disbanded after crowd trouble marred the FA Cup tie against Oswestry the same year, before a new outfit, Wrexham Olympic, took their place, reverting to the original title three years later.

The Racecourse Ground in the early 70's
Image taken from the Football League Review

Football League Members

Wrexham moved out to the Rhosddu Recreation Ground for a couple of campaigns before returning, while changing their name to Wrexham Athletic for one of them. The club joined the Combination League in 1890, remaining for four years before becoming members of the Welsh League, which they won before returning to the Combination. 

After winning the title four times, Wrexham's next port of call was the Birmingham & District League, from where they won the Welsh Cup six times to take their tally to twelve. In 1921, the club was elected to the newly formed Division Three North. While success in the league was blank, Wrexham had won the Welsh Cup fifteen times by World War II.

The 1955-56 season saw Wrexham reach the fourth round of the FA Cup and face Matt Busby's Manchester United at The Racecourse. The 5-0 defeat attracted a record attendance of 34,445 to the ground. Three more Welsh Cup victories had been accumulated by the time Wrexham were relegated to Division Four in 1960.

The Turf Hotel

The John Neal Years

Two seasons later, the team was promoted under the stewardship of player-manager Ken Barnes. Unfortunately, after just two campaigns at the higher level, finishing in ninety-second place in the league in 1965-66. John Neal arrived at the club as manager in 1968 to oversee the club's most successful period.

Promotion was secured in 1969-70, and after another Welsh Cup win, they reached the second round of the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1971-72 with Arfon Griffiths orchestrating the midfield. The Racecourse was improved with the construction of the new Mold Stand.

Neal's team, featuring a young Mickey Thomas, went all the way to the sixth round of the FA Cup in the 1973-74 season before going down at Turf Moor to Burnley, where 20,000 away fans travelled with them.

After the twentieth Welsh Cup victory, Wrexham went all the way to the quarter finals of the Cup Winners' Cup in 1975-76, where competition winners Anderlecht ended the run. The season ended in anti-climax as The Reds needed just three points from the final four games to be promoted to the League's second tier, but they somehow failed.

My drawing of the Racecourse Ground, with some former Wrexham team kits.
Click on the images to enlarge them.

Promotion and Cup Runs

John Neal departed for Middlesbrough with Griffiths taking over as Player Manager for the memorable 1977-78 season. The team was promoted as champions to Division Two, while the cups also brought great reward. Wrexham reached the last eight of the League Cup before losing out 3-1 at home to Liverpool. 

Greater acclaim came in reaching the same stage of the FA Cup. Wrexham faced a daunting trip to St James Park to face Newcastle United. They came away with a 2-2 draw before hammering the Geordies 4-1 in the home replay. The draw for round five saw them matched with giant killers, Blyth Spartans. 

Terry Johnson's goal looked to have put the part-timers through until late drama came when a debatable twice-taken corner kick allowed Dixie McNeil to fire home. The replay was played at a sell-out crowd at St James Park and saw Wrexham win 2-1 to break the hearts of non-league fans everywhere. Arsenal ended the magnificent run with a 3-2 win in North Wales.

Wrexham v Blyth Spartans in the FA Cup

Back down the Divisions

Further FA Cup followed before Griffiths departed in 1981 to be replaced by Mel Sutton. The team dropped back to Division Three a year later. Bobby Roberts was next in the manager’s chair, as most of the talented playing staff, including the legendary Joey Jones, were sold off owing to financial problems. A second successive relegation followed.

The twenty-second Welsh Cup win came in 1985-86 with former goalscoring hero O'Neil in charge of team affairs. Slowly, the team began to improve, leading to a place in the play-offs. O'Neil moved on after a poor run of form the following season to be replaced by Brian Flynn. In 1990-91, Wrexham were reprieved from relegation from the Football League.

Wrexham defeat Arsenal in the FA Cup

FA Cup Respite

Finances were extremely tight, but the following season, the team rewarded their loyal fans. Goals from returning veteran Mickey Thomas and Steve Watkin defeated Arsenal in the FA Cup. Flynn made a great signing in Gary Bennett for the 1992-93 season, whose goals led the team to automatic promotion. 

A tremendous FA Cup run in 1996-97 set up a sixth-round tie away to fellow third-tier side Chesterfield, where the Spireites won 1-0. At the turn of the millennium, Alex Hamilton became the owner of the financially troubled club. He immediately sold The Racecourse to a separate company, which he owned. 

Dubious Ownership

The club paid his company rent to play in their own home. Relegation came in 2001-02 back to the bottom tier. Hamilton gave the club a year's notice to quit so that he could develop the land where the ground stood. Fans protested as Wrexham were placed into administration in December 2004, with a sizable debt owed to the Inland Revenue. 

As a consequence, the team was deducted ten points, condemning the team managed by Denis Smith to relegation to the League's bottom tier. Wrexham won the Football League Trophy in 2005 after an extra-time victory over Southend United at the Millennium Stadium.

Relegation to Non-League

Respite arrived when it was found that Hamilton's company had illegally purchased the Racecourse. The club returned to administration before being sold to Neville Dickens and his associate, Geoff Moss. New manager Brian Carey was in charge as Wrexham's League status was saved on the final day of the season with a 3-1 home win against Boston United

Brian Little was in charge as Wrexham were relegated to the Football Conference in May 2008. Dean Saunders was appointed manager, while Moss and Dickens looked to sell the financially scarred club, with some of the names bandied around causing great concern. 

Supporters Trust

Local businesswoman Stephanie Booth and the Wrexham Supporters Trust became the preferred bidders. The two parties agreed, and the Trust eventually sealed an acrimonious deal with support from their local MP to become the new owners of the club before the start of the 2011-12 season.

A deal was done with nearby Glyndŵr University for them to become the new owners of The Racecourse Ground, with Wrexham becoming tenants at a fair price, with the university having use of the facilities. Saunders was replaced by new player-manager Andy Morrell. 

Wembley Appearances

He took the team to the end-of-season playoffs, but the side went out to Luton Town in the semi-final. Improvement came once more on the pitch in the 2012-13 season as Morrell's side went all the way to the FA Trophy Final for the club's first ever appearance at Wembley Stadium. Wrexham lifted the trophy against Grimsby Town following a penalty shoot-out. 

They returned five weeks later, which ended in heartache as fellow Welsh side Newport County won the final 2-0 to return to the Football League. Andy Wilkin arrived as manager, taking the Reds to the FA Trophy final, where they lost in an absolute classic in the 2014-15 season on penalties to North Ferriby United following a 3-3 draw after extra time. 

Sudden Transformation

Gary Mills, Dean Keates, Sam Ricketts, Graham Barrow, and then Bryan Hughes all had spells in charge of the team. The 2019-20 campaign saw the side avoid relegation by a point before Wrexham’s world changed very quickly a few months later.

The club was bought by RR McReynolds Company LLC, the company of Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds and American actor Rob McElhenney, with the Wrexham Supporters Trust passing the sale. They appointed Phil Parkinson as manager.

Welcome to Wrexham Trailer

Return to the EFL

He led the side to the 2021-22 FA Trophy final, which ended in a 1-0 defeat to Bromley. The playoff semi-finals ended in an extra-time defeat to Grimsby Town. A documentary called Welcome to Wrexham was produced, which became a big worldwide hit.

Paul Mullin's goals helped the side to the National League title in 2022-23 as Wrexham returned to the Football League after 15 years away. Promotion was won from League Two the following season. A third successive promotion in 2024-25 saw the club reach the EFL Championship, as work on a new Kop stand got underway. 

My visits

Wrexham 1 Scarborough 0 

Division Four - Saturday 31st October 1987

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 1,860

Scarborough had reached the Football League, and along with my brother Nick, I had started travelling regularly to away games with Mick and our driver Doomy. We headed over to North Wales after finishing early morning shifts at work. We went into a pub a couple of miles outside Wrexham, as it was in the days when it was still a little dodgy as an away fan.

We were put into a small terrace behind the goal at The Racecourse with the seated Border Stand behind us. To our left was the Yale Stand. The far end was taken up by the Kop, a terracing with a decent-sized roof at the rear. 

The right-hand side was a real mixture, partly closed to spectators, with three seated stands and the famous old Turf pub from where fans watched out from the balcony, all with terracing at the front. It had changed since I first saw it on TV. Back then, the end where we stood was an open terrace, and the Kop was roofless.

It had a strange raised stand in the middle with a seating deck, but it was deemed unsafe after the regulations became more stringent. It was a sort of nothing game with not a lot happening. The home side scored the only goal at the far end. Boro didn't really look like equalising.

Wrexham 0 Scarborough 2 

Division Four - Saturday 20th January 1990

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I decided to travel to this encounter on the Supporters Club coach with Bob, a drinking pal from the Gas Club. It was a pleasant day, and we were rewarded with a decent Boro performance. 

After soaking up all that Wrexham had to show in the first half, a Steve Richards goal from a set piece and an absolute beauty from outside the box from Martin Russell sent us back to the coach happy and dreaming of our first pints back in Scarborough.

Wrexham 0 Bristol Rovers 0 

Football Conference - Tuesday 2nd December 2014

👨‍👨‍👧‍👧 2,608 🎟️ £19

Over the years, as a regular at the Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes, I have become good friends with Hagar, a Wrexham fan and chief umpire. For long enough, I promised I would pay a visit to watch a match with him at The Racecourse. Once my quest to complete the '92 was done, I paid attention to it.

The fixture against Bristol Rovers was perfect. Two historic clubs, I was off work for a couple of days, and Hull City were playing at Everton the following evening. Following a much-needed siesta in my Chester hotel, recovering from my night shift, I took the train to Wrexham General and then walked to the famous Turf Hotel, where the club was formed.

My mate arrived a minute or so later and soon re-introduced me to his brother-in-law, Neil, and Rhys, another Red Dragons fan. The beers flowed as did the conversation. Despite the lack of hand pumps in the Turf, everything else was pretty much spot on. The staff were friendly and hard working, but the crowning glory was that all match-day pints were £2. How nice it was to see somewhere encourage fans rather than ripping them off.

As is often the case, we could have easily stayed and laughed all night, but there was a football match to watch. We went out into the cold night air and paid the rather expensive £19 admission. At least I knew that the money was going back into the club, as Wrexham were owned by the supporters.

Our view was excellent up at the back near the halfway line. The Racecourse had changed since my previous calls. The stand we were in was raised in the centre but ran the full length of the pitch, replacing the three old wooden stands and terracing. Two sides were now all seated. The magnificent Kop was closed for safety reasons.

The game was a tight afair on a pitch showing signs of overuse from summer rugby league. Chances were at a premium throughout the first half, even though the standard of play was high. A couple of incidents just before the interval could have affected the game.

In the forty-second minute, the Rovers goalkeeper Steve Mildenhall had to go off with a knee injury. As the visitors didn't have a keeper on the bench, the centre back Mark McChrystal took over between the sticks. A few minutes later, Wrexham were reduced to ten men after referee Ross Joyce appeared to react late to the injured player's reaction from a tackle from Rob Evans. 

Hagar and I thought it harsh. Rhys didn't. He had more experience, officiating as a linesman in the Northern Premier League. He certainly knew the game. The second half was also short of any clear-cut chances. The sending-off and injury had cancelled themselves out. I was surprised more shots weren't sent in at the understudy in the away goal.

A draw was a fair result. It was good to get back to the Turf to warm up and have another beer before my train. Results elsewhere had been kind to me, and I actually got an accumulator bet up. All home fans were most welcoming. My train home was delayed because a vehicle had hit a bridge. This was the second time this had happened to me in a couple of weeks!

I got back to my room ready for a really good sleep, but as so often happens after night shifts, it was pointless. I was wide awake at 5am. I sat and watched the terribly sad but moving funeral of Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes on my iPhone. That really did put sport into perspective.