Wrexham A.F.C.

Association football club in Wrexham, Wales

football golf club
Wrexham Association Football Club ( welshman : Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Wrecsam ) is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1864, [ 4 ] they are the oldest club in Wales and the fourthly oldest professional association football team in the world. [ 5 ] Wrexham ‘s home plate stadium, the Racecourse Ground, is the universe ‘s oldest international stadium that still continues to host external games. [ 6 ] The record attendance at the ground was set in 1957, when the club hosted a pit against Manchester United in front of 34,445 spectators. [ 7 ]

Reading: Wrexham A.F.C.

The club initially participated in friendlies and cup competitions, and foremost entered a league by joining The Combination in 1890. They spent 13 seasons in the Combination and two seasons in the Welsh Senior League, winning four combination titles and two Welsh Senior League titles. They entered the Birmingham & District League in 1905, where they would remain until becoming inauguration members of the Football League ‘s Third Division North in 1921. They spent 47 years in the Northern section until they were placed in the re-organised Third Division in 1958 and then relegated two years former. Wrexham were promoted out of the Fourth Division in 1961–62, lone to be relegated again two years late. Another promotion followed in 1969–70 and they reached the moment tier for the first time after winning the Third Division championship in 1977–78. Two consecutive relegations saw them back in the fourth tier by 1983 and they took until 1992–93 before seeing another promotion. Relegated once more in 2002, they gained immediate promotion in 2002–03, before worsening fiscal problems resulted in another relegation and then administration in December 2004. It took 18 months for the club to exit administration and the club ‘s descent on the lurch continued, as they dropped out of the Football League in 2008. Since then Wrexham have had four unsuccessful play-off campaigns in the Conference and National League. Wrexham ‘s honours include winning the Welsh Cup a record 23 times, the Football League Trophy in 2005 at the Millennium Stadium and the FA Trophy in 2013 at Wembley Stadium. The club are besides commemorate winners of the ephemeral FAW Premier Cup, winning it five times out of the 11 years of its tenure, participating against colleague Welsh clubs such as Cardiff City, Swansea City and Newport County. however, their biggest rivalries are with English clubs, Chester and Shrewsbury Town, with games between the clubs known as the Cross-border bowler hat. In 1992, Wrexham upset the reigning english Champions Arsenal in the FA Cup. They besides scored a 1–0 victory over FC Porto in 1984 in the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup. Wrexham were eligible for the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup ascribable to winning the Welsh Cup ; their first european link was against FC Zürich of Switzerland in 1972 and their final was played in Romania against Petrolul Ploiești in 1995 .

history [edit ]

The Turf Hotel, the build in which the club was founded in 1864 The club was formed in October 1864 by members of the Wrexham Cricket Club who wanted a clean activity for the winter months. This makes them ( after Sheffield, Cray, Hallam, Notts County, and Stoke City ) the sixth oldest football team, the third oldest professional club and the oldest in Wales. [ 8 ] Their first game was played on 22 October 1864 at the Denbigh County Cricket Ground ( The Racecourse ) against the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade. [ 9 ] As the rules of football were hush slightly fluid at the time, early matches featured teams with up to 17 players on each side ( 16 players when playing the Provincial Insurance Office and Chester College, 15 players against the Volunteer Fire Brigade ). In these early years Wrexham were leaders of the campaign to restrict teams to having just 11 players on the slope at any one time. [ 10 ] In 1876, the newly formed Football Association of Wales saw Wales play their beginning international equal, against Scotland at The West of Scotland Cricket Club, Partick, featuring Edwin Cross and Alfred Davies as the first of many Wrexham F.C. players to play for Wales. [ 11 ] In the 1877–78 season the FAW inaugurated the Welsh Cup rival, to run on similar lines to the English FA Cup. The first Welsh Cup Final was played at Acton Park. Wrexham got to the concluding of the inauguration contest, where they defeated Druids F.C. 1–0, with James Davies being credited with the finish. [ 12 ] [ 13 ] Because of a miss of money at the fledgling FAW, Wrexham did not receive their trophy until the adjacent year. For their beginning decade, Wrexham largely played friendly matches against both Welsh and English opposition, with the Welsh Cup providing most of their competitive football, Wrexham winning it again in 1883. 1883 besides saw Wrexham ‘s foremost appearance in the FA Cup, when after receiving a bye to the second round of the contest they were defeated 3–4 at home by Oswestry. Crowd perturb at the game led to the cabaret being expelled from the Football Association, leading to the clubhouse being reformed in 1884 as Wrexham Olympic. Olympic was dropped from this club ‘s name in 1888. [ 14 ] Thanks to a challenge with their landlords, who had raised the rent of the Racecourse Ground to £10 a year, Wrexham played their home games in the 1881–82 and 1882–83 seasons at Rhosddu Recreation Ground ( changing the golf club ‘s name to Wrexham Athletic for one season ), before moving back to the Racecourse Ground for the 1883–84 season, where the golf club have played their dwelling games ever since. In 1890 Wrexham joined The Combination league, playing their first game against Gorton Villa on 6 September 1890, with Arthur Lea scoring Wrexham ‘s alone finish in a 5–1 defeat. Lea played for the club despite merely having one weapon [ 15 ] as did playing colleague James Roberts. Wrexham finished the temper second base from penetrate in eighth set in the first temper. Wrexham played in the Combination for four years before a rapid increase in costs resulted in the cabaret joining the Welsh League in the 1894–95 season. Wrexham won the Welsh League both years that they were in it, but they then decided to return to the Combination, as despite the reduced hold they received, the savings made on their travel expenses outweighed the decrease in gate gross .
Chart of annual postpone positions of Wrexham in the English football league system The club remained in the Combination league until 1905, by which time they had managed to win the league four times. After several unsuccessful attempts Wrexham were last elected to the Birmingham and District League in meter for the beginning of the 1905–06 season. Wrexham ‘s first ever match in this league was at family against Kidderminster Harriers at the Racecourse, and two thousand spectators witnessed Wrexham win the peer 2–1. Wrexham finished sixth in their first base season in this league. During their time in the Birmingham and District League, Wrexham won the Welsh Cup six times, in 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1914–15, and 1920–21. They besides reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time in the 1908–09 temper before losing a play back 1–2 to Exeter City after extra time. In 1921 Wrexham were elected to the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League. Their first gear League game was against Hartlepool United at the Racecourse in front man of 8,000 spectators. Playing in bluing shirts, Wrexham were defeated 0–2. The workweek after this get the better of Wrexham travelled union to play Hartlepool and managed to get their revenge by beating them 1–0 in a hard-earned victory. It was during this particular season that Wrexham achieved many “ firsts ” in the club ‘s history, such as when Ted Regan scored the club ‘s inaugural always hat-trick, and besides Brian Simpson became the first Wrexham player to be sent off in a League bet on when he was ordered from the field of play against Southport in January 1922. Charlie Hewitt was the baseball club ‘s foremost ever director during this period. In the 1926–27 temper the cabaret got past the first base round off of the FA Cup only to be knocked out by Rhyl. The surveil season Wrexham fought their way to the one-fourth round before they lost 0–1 to Birmingham City. A record 32 league goals from Albert Mays helped Wrexham to get to third base stead in the division in the 1928–29 season. And later in that season Tommy Bamford made his first appearance for the club. He went on to score 201 League and Cup goals for the clubhouse during his clock time at the Racecourse. During the 1929–30 temper the cabaret recorded their best ever league winnings to date when they defeated Rochdale 8–0. Wrexham enjoyed their best always Third Division North season in 1932–33, when they finished runner-up to Hull City and won 18 of their 21 home games during the course of the season. This was the first season that the club appeared in their now-familiar loss and white strip for the inaugural time for the ephemeral 1939–40 season. During the second World War years, when long cross-county trips were impossible due to the war, Wrexham played in the Regional League West against local teams from Merseyside and Manchester, amongst others in the north west region. Wrexham ‘s military position as a barracks township meant that the team could secure the services of many celebrated guest players such as Stanley Matthews, Stan Cullis, and others. In the first base post-war season Wrexham equalled their best always position when they again finished third base in the Third Division North. In the summer of 1949 the club made its first ever tour overseas when it played three games against the british united states army in Germany. The baseball club reached the fourthly round of the FA Cup in 1956–57 where they played Manchester United ‘s Busby Babes in front of a crowd of 34,445 people at the Racecourse, which still remains a club record. The 5–0 kill did not spoil the occasion for the big base push, and late that season Wrexham managed to win the Welsh Cup for the beginning fourth dimension in 26 years .
1960 saw the club relegated to a lower tier for the first time in their history, and they dropped into the newly created Fourth Division. But their performances improved following the appointment of Ken Barnes as player-manager. He led Wrexham to promotion to the third division in his first season in charge and oversaw the 10–1 flog of Hartlepool United, which is distillery the club ‘s record league victory. Two years after their promotion, Wrexham were relegated to the Fourth Division again, and in 1966 they finished reduced at 92nd in the Football League after an extremely disappointing season .
With Welsh clubs immediately able to qualify for the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup by winning the Welsh Cup, Wrexham played their inaugural address match in Europe against Swiss side FC Zurich in Switzerland on 13 September 1972, the game finishing 1–1. In the return stage Wrexham won 2–1, advancing to the second orotund with a 3–2 win on aggregate. The second turn drew Wrexham against Yugoslav side Hajduk Split. Over the course of two games the grudge finished 3–3 on aggregate with Wrexham matching their more illustrious opponents, but they were knocked out of the rival due to the away goals rule. The 1972–73 season saw the completion of the newfangled Yale stand, with a capability of up to 5,500. Including the terrace helped to comprise the bottom tier of the point of view. The 1973–74 season saw Wrexham change their badge from the Maelor crest to a brand new badge that had a fortune more resemblance to the Welsh roots of the club, with three feathers on the top of the badge and two dragons, one on either side of the badge and confront inwards. This is distillery the badge for today ‘s team. This season besides saw Wrexham reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in another cup guide. After victories over Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Southampton, their cup run finally came to an end with a loss to first division side Burnley at Turf Moor, with equitable over 20,000 Wrexham fans salute to watch the equal. besides that season Wrexham just missed out on the promotion spots, finishing in 4th rate at the end of the season. 1975–76 saw John Neal ‘s starlets captained by Eddie May, again shocking the football earth by reaching the quarter-finals of the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup after another sparkling cup play and defeats of several higher quality opponents. In the first round Wrexham perplex Swedish team Djurgårdens IF 3–2 on sum. They then managed to knock out polish side Stal Rzeszow 3–1 on aggregate. Wrexham played belgian champions Anderlecht in the quarter finals and narrowly lost 2–1 to the eventual winners of the contest. The 1976–77 season saw Wrexham again beat First Division opposition in both Cup competitions as they went on another cup guide, defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the Football League Cup and Sunderland in the FA Cup. however, the league season was a traumatic one as the golf club, on the brink of promotion to the second division with only four matches left to play, needing barely three points to reach their goal, incredibly missed out after a inadequate tend of form. Arfon Griffiths took over as player-manager for the 1977–78 season. They reached both the League and FA Cup quarter-finals that season, and Wrexham finally clinched promotion to the second division when they beat Rotherham United 7–1 at a tamp down Racecourse, and Wrexham went on to win the Third Division Championship that year. In the 1978–79 season Wrexham made it to the one-fourth round of the FA Cup, where they narrowly lost to Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 in the replay after the first crippled finished 3–3. The Spurs team had stars amongst their ranks such as Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, and Glenn Hoddle, and Wrexham were unfortunate to get knocked out. Following Arfon Griffiths resignation from the coach ‘s position in 1981, his adjunct Mel Sutton was put in charge, with a memorable third base circle FA Cup win over Brian Clough ‘s Nottingham Forest in another cup run, the foreground of the temper .
The summer of 1982 see Bobby Roberts appointed the club ‘s new director. Relegation meant the clubhouse had awful fiscal problems, resulting in the sale of many of the club ‘s experience and talented players. Frank Carrdus, Ian Edwards, Mick Vinter and Wayne Cegieski had already left during the summer, Steve Fox, Joey Jones, Dixie McNeil and Billy Ronson soon followed. Wrexham were again relegated to the Fourth Division after plummeting from apparent mid-table security. The golf club ‘s slide continued into the follow season, and only goal difference prevented Wrexham from being forced to apply for re-election to the League. The 1984–85 season saw Wrexham take on FC Porto in european rival. Wrexham won the home leg with a 1–0 victory, but in the second peg Porto showed their classify and were 3–0 up after 38 minutes, however Wrexham pulled goals back and the game finished 4–4 with Wrexham advancing on away goals. The second orotund draw was to pair Wrexham with italian AS Roma, managed by Sven-Göran Eriksson. Wrexham lost 3–0 on aggregate over the two legs. Their league performance was even more desperate than the previous year, and by the time Bobby Roberts was finally removed from his post, Wrexham were reduced of the stallion Football League. erstwhile Racecourse front-runner Dixie McNeil was appointed caretaker coach, and immediately inspired a revival that saw Wrexham win 7 of their end 10 matches and comfortably finish clear up of having to apply for re-election, which earned him the job on a permanent footing that summer. His beginning season in charge saw the team finish mid-table position in an median temper, he led the team to a Welsh Cup concluding acquire over Kidderminster Harriers. 1986 saw Wrexham make a return key to European football with a first rung pull against maltese side FC Zurrieq, whom they beat 7–0 on aggregate to earn a second gear round necktie against Real Zaragoza which they drew 2–2 with on aggregate but they went out on away-goals. Following the Bradford City stadium fire in May 1985, legislation on ground safety at all football grounds was brought in effect, this finally led to the closure of the Mold Road stand because it did not reach the necessity base hit standards. Led by Dixie McNeil, Wrexham reached the Fourth Division play-offs in 1989, having finished seventh in the league. Wrexham beat Scunthorpe United in the semi-final 5–1 on aggregate, but narrowly lost to Leyton Orient 2–1 in the final. After Wrexham started the following season with merely 3 wins from 13 league games, Dixie McNeil resigned before his inevitable sack. He was replaced, initially on a temp footing, by Brian Flynn, but his appointment was made permanent a calendar month late. however the club continued to struggle domestically, and Flynn was forced to make three significant signings in Mark Setori, Eddie Youds and Alan Kennedy which saw the team finish up in twenty-first stead, consequently avoiding delegating. The 1990–91 season it was announced there would be no relegation to the Conference Premier as a team had already voluntarily left the league. That temper Wrexham were to finish in ninety-second place. Wrexham were knocked-out of the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup in the second round by Manchester United 5–0 on aggregate, who finally went on to win the trophy. The 1991–92 season saw Wrexham still in a poor fiscal state, as they continued to struggle on the field. With the club knocked out of the League Cup and struggling in the league, it was left to the FA Cup to keep the season alert. Having beat Telford United and Winsford United they were drawn to play the previous season ‘s First Division champions and Arsenal. Wrexham produced one of their most memorable nights to beat the Gunners 2–1 after being behind, with a deafening Mickey Thomas rid complain and a Steve Watkin goal. They lost in the next turn to West Ham United 1–0 in a replay after the beginning game had finished 2–2 .
In an attack to change the fortunes of the club after several seasons in the stagnation at the penetrate of the football league pyramid, the 1992–93 season saw Wrexham director Brian Flynn make a astute sign when he enlisted the services of Gary Bennett, who soon settled and helped Wrexham into the forwarding rush. Wrexham ‘s season came to a head on 27 April 1993 when with two games left they travelled to Northampton Town requiring a succeed to gain promotion to the adjacent tier of the English football. The game ended with a 2–0 victory to Wrexham and the 5,500 travelling “ Reds ” supporters there were exultant when forwarding had ultimately been achieved. The 1994–95 season would see Wrexham achieve more achiever in cup competitions, this time going on a campaign through the FA Cup. Having beaten Stockport County and Rotherham United, they faced Premier League side Ipswich Town at the Racecourse, with Wrexham running out 2–1 winners thanks to goals from Gary Bennett and Kieron Durkan. In the following round, Wrexham were drawn away to Manchester United and despite taking the lead at Old Trafford, United went on to win 5–2. The 1995–96 season once again witness Wrexham in european action, with their confrontation this time coming in the form of romanian team Petrolul Ploiești ; the home leg ended in a 0–0 draw but Wrexham lost 1–0 in the away branch, with the Romanians scoring the merely goal of the peer, and Wrexham were subsequently knocked out of the tournament. The 1996–97 season saw Wrexham set off on another amazing run in the FA Cup and beating more top flight confrontation. Following wins at Colwyn Bay and Scunthorpe United, they were drawn to play West Ham United at home, the game ending in a 1–1 draw on a snow-clad pitch after a well earned describe. The replay at Upton Park ended in a shock 1–0 win to Wrexham as Kevin Russell scored in the dying minutes to send Wrexham into the fourthly round. [ 16 ] After besides beating Peterborough United and Birmingham City in the following rounds, they played Chesterfield in an all-Division-2 FA Cup draw final examination, Wrexham narrowly losing to the Spireites 1–0. June 1997 was the date for the official open of Colliers Park, which was Wrexham ‘s new trail land and was situated precisely away Gresford on Chester Road. It was built at a price of £750,000 and is wide regarded to be one of the best prepare grounds outside of the clear flight. It has been used for training by many visiting teams that play at a higher standard over the years. The 1999–2000 season saw Wrexham again beat a top-flight team in the FA Cup, this clock time in the determine of Middlesbrough. The final score of the meet was 2–1, with the second half goals coming from Robin Gibson and Darren Ferguson after being behind to the Premiership equip. Wrexham went on to win the FAW Premier Cup in May 2001 .
5 May 2007 : Ryan Valentine scores the goal against Boston that keeps Wrexham in the Football League 5 May 2007 : Scoreboard showing the final score of bet on that kept Wrexham in the Football League and condemned Boston United to the conference At the startle of the twenty-first century the golf club was dogged with many problems off the pitch, including then chair Alex Hamilton, attempting to get the club evicted from the stadium so that he could use and sell it for his own exploitation purposes – the saga involved the sale of the Racecourse Ground to a separate company owned by Hamilton immediately after he became the club ‘s president. In the summer of 2004 Hamilton gave the clubhouse a year ‘s notice to quit the reason. [ 17 ] The club ‘s fans developed an affinity with the fans of companion football league baseball club Brighton & Hove Albion, who themselves had managed to successfully depose their chair and keep control of their stadium after he had sold the flat coat for development purposes in about the lapp circumstances. On 3 December 2004 the clubhouse was placed in fiscal administration by the high Court in Manchester as the club owed £2,600,000, including £800,000 which was owed to the Inland Revenue in amateur taxes. Wrexham became the first League club to suffer a ten-point discount under the fresh principle for being placed in administration, dropping them from the center of the League One table to the relegation zone after the charge tax write-off, and subsequently condemned Wrexham to relegation. Despite their fiscal troubles, Wrexham went on to win the 2004–05 Football League Trophy by defeating Southend United 2–0 after extra time, in Wrexham ‘s first appearance at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. It was Southend ‘s second consecutive frustration in the Football League Trophy concluding. The winning goals were scored by Juan Ugarte and Darren Ferguson as Wrexham ran out winners in presence of over 20,000 Wrexham fans. Wrexham still retained an outdoor casual of escaping the drop in the 2004–05 season following an end-of-season winning streak ; however, their faint hopes of staying up were ended with a 2–1 home loss to Brentford on 3 May 2005. The 10-point discount proved decisive in determining Wrexham ‘s destine, as the clubhouse finished with 43 points compared to 20th-placed Milton Keynes Dons ‘ 51 – a final points match of 53 after tax write-off, which had condemned them to relegation. In October 2005, Birmingham High Court decided that Alex Hamilton ‘s company CrucialMove had improperly acquired the freehold of the earth and the decision went against him. Hamilton then took this to the Appeal Court in London and it ruled on 14 March 2006 that the stadium must remain in the hands of the cabaret ‘s administrators. On 30 April 2006 the administrators reached an agreement with local anesthetic car dealer Neville Dickens, subject to agreement by the shareholders and creditors ( which was achieved on 30 May ), for Dickens to take over control of the club and all its assets. Had the clubhouse placid been in Administration by 3 June then Wrexham would have automatically been expelled from the League because of their fiscal site. Wrexham Football Club (2006) Ltd is the name of the “ phoenix ” company that took over the assets of the old Wrexham Association Football Club Limited – technically, the club is nobelium long known as Wrexham Association Football Club due to the takeover of the golf club by Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss and their associates ; this is reflected on new merchandise, although most fans will hush refer to it as “ Wrexham AFC ”. The 2006–07 season started well for Wrexham, as they went 8 games unbeaten, with included a 4–1 away win against Championship side Sheffield Wednesday and were in the play-off places after the addition of numerous new faces. unfortunately they were beaten in a electric shock 5–0 kill at Accrington Stanley on 13 September 2006, then followed by a 5–2 kill at Stockport County. Both of these teams were struggling at the foot of the mesa when these defeats happened, and Wrexham never fully recovered from them. This would begin the beginning of a long relegation struggle for Wrexham. Denis Smith was sacked along with his adjunct Kevin Russell on 11 January 2007 with Wrexham in the bottom half of the division and after a poor tend of results and was replaced by coach Brian Carey. Wrexham finished 19th in Football League Two and on 51 points after an impressive late carry of form which saw them win 4 out of their last 5 games, which included defeating local rivals Shrewsbury in the last bowler hat equal at Gay Meadow. Wrexham ‘s league status was saved on the last day of the season with a critical 3–1 victory on 5 May 2007 over Boston United at home which sent their opponents down to the Conference Premier ( they were belated demoted to the Conference North ) and ensured that Wrexham would stay in the Football League. Expectations were high for the 2007–08 season, as there had been the signings of players such as Anthony Williams, Richard Hope, Michael Proctor, Silvio Spann and Eifion Williams and a energy for promotion was expected by the fans after the disappointment of last season. But the temper started badly, with only three wins and 10 points by the middle of November and Wrexham rooted to the penetrate of the mesa. Brian Carey was finally sacked after Wrexham crashed out of the FA Cup in the First Round following a 4–1 get the better of against Peterborough United. On 6 November 2007 Wrexham Football Club released a instruction saying that the club were looking for an “ experience senior director ” to work aboard the current racetrack staff. On 15 November 2007, Brian Little was named as Wrexham ‘s new director and the surrogate to Brian Carey, who took the role of assistant coach. After a bright begin to his predominate, a run of 7 straight league defeats and a 4–2 frustration in the FAW Premier Cup at the hands of Llanelli, forced little to ring the changes and brought in 11 players in the January transfer window to attempt to change Wrexham ‘s fortunes. In terms of the offstage staff, he brought in former Port Vale boss Martin Foyle as first-team coach and several members of staff were told that they had no future at The Racecourse. With the raw players introduced Wrexham went a run of six matches unbeaten, which included victories against promotion candidates Darlington and Milton Keynes Dons and a 0–0 draw against Peterborough United. however, in the final months of the season many of Little ‘s newfangled players had become hurt and Wrexham suffered several defeats against chap strugglers in the league and were besides defeated 3–0 in a bowler hat match against Shrewsbury Town. Wrexham were last relegated following a 2–0 frustration away at Hereford United, ending the baseball club ‘s 87-year stay in the Football League .
The 2008–09 season started well, with a 5–0 home victory against Stevenage Borough, however a run of poor results followed, with Wrexham being left in the mid-table conflict, only four points above the delegating zone and only keeping two clean sheets all season. Following a 3–0 home kill against Rushden and Diamonds, and fans calling for his dismissal, Little left Wrexham by reciprocal consent. Since then, Dean Saunders has taken over the management of Wrexham, with his first game against Forest green Rovers ending in a victory. Wrexham ‘s beginning fully season in the Conference Premier ended in a disappointing tenth place. The succeed year, 2009–10, ended in a like fashion with Wrexham finishing in 11th stead, well off the pace of the forwarding conflict. In March 2011 the ownership of the clubhouse became subject to two bids : one from Wrexham Supporters ‘ Trust and another from local businesswoman Stephanie Booth. Wrexham ‘s MP and AM indicated that they would prefer Wrexham Supporters ‘ Trust to secure the bid. [ 18 ] A third command by and by came in, but after WST and Booth came to an agreement, their command was then reaccepted. In April 2011, the cabaret were served with a winding up club from HMRC, with an amateur tax bill of just under £200,000. The team finished the 2010–11 season in 4th seat, qualifying for a play-off spot, but were beaten 5-1 on aggregate by Luton Town in the semi-final. During the 2011–12 season, Wrexham FC were invited back into the Welsh Cup after 16 years, entering at the third round stage. New coach Andy Morrell guided Wrexham to a record tally of 98 points but this was not enough to gain automatic promotion, as they ended the season lone 5 points adrift of Fleetwood Town, who gained the merely automatic pistol stead. Wrexham lost in the play-offs to Luton Town again. Wrexham earned themselves places in both the FA Trophy concluding and the Conference Premier play-off final examination, their first base two appearances at Wembley Stadium in the club ‘s 150-year history to date, and within five weeks of one another. In the FA Trophy final Wrexham won on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Grimsby Town. A 5–2 aggregate winnings over Kidderminster Harriers in the two-legged play-off semi-final see Wrexham through to the concluding versus Newport County, the first play-off concluding to feature two Welsh teams ; Newport defeated Wrexham 2–0. In February 2014, Andy Morrell stepped toss off vitamin a coach. Billy Barr was appointed as interim director before being replaced a few weeks by and by by Kevin Wilkin. Wrexham finished the 2013–14 season in 17th place, the lowest position in the cabaret ‘s 150-year history.

2020 onwards : new owners [edit ]

In November 2020 Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds and American actor Rob McElhenney, through the RR McReynolds Company LLC, announced that they would be taking over the club. The deal received the back of 98.6 % of the 2,000 members of the Wrexham Supporters Trust, [ 19 ] [ 20 ] and was completed in February 2021. Following the new ownership, a documentary called Welcome to Wrexham was in production [ 21 ] for FX with Boardwalk Pictures. They were included in FIFA 22 as contribution of the “ Rest of World ” section, becoming the first non-league team to be featured in the series. [ 22 ] They were last in FIFA 07 when they were relegated from League 2 to the National League .

stadium [edit ]

The Kop End and Mold Road Stand ( foreground ) Since 1864 Wrexham have played their home games at The Racecourse Ground, situated on the Mold Road, which is the main through road heading into Wrexham, it is opposite the residential area of Maesgwyn, situated between Glyndŵr University and Wrexham General railroad track place. In August 2011 Glyndŵr University purchased the stadium and the club train facilities in Gresford. Since then, they have added their identify to the stadium for it to become The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium. Subsequently, in 2016, Wrexham Supporters Trust secured a 99-year lease on the ground, and the mention has reverted to the Racecourse Ground. The capacity is 10,500, making it one of the largest stadiums in the National League .

trail anchor [edit ]

Wrexham ‘s train footing was the purpose-built Colliers Park, in neighbouring Gresford. When the construction had been completed it was officially opened in June 1997, at a build monetary value of £750,000. It is wide regarded in british football as one of the best training grounds outside of the top flight and one of the best never to have been used by a top-flight team. [ citation needed ] The England national team, Barcelona, Rangers and the Wales national team have all used it for training purposes. Colliers Park continues to be improved ; a run hill, vitamin a well as all-weather pitches and a humble stand have been constructed since the facilities opened in 1997. Colliers Park is now owned by Glyndwr University as part of their leverage of the Racecourse Ground assets. For the begin of the 2016–17 temper, Wrexham moved back to their erstwhile training footing at Stansty Park. This is besides the home of Welsh National League side Lex Glyndwr. Wrexham did however retain the use of Colliers Park for Youth and Reserve fixtures. After one season prepare at Stansty Park, Wrexham announced they would be moving to a newly train anchor at Nine Acre for the begin of the 2017–18 temper based near the town center. Wrexham are presently training at their early locate, Colliers Park .

Honours [edit ]

domestic [edit ]

league [edit ]

Football League Third Division North / Third Division / Division 2 / League One
Fourth Division / Division 3 / League Two
Conference Premier/National League
The Combination
Welsh Senior League

Cups [edit ]

Football League Trophy
FA Trophy
Football League Cup (North)
Debenhams Cup
Welsh Cup
FAW Premier Cup
Supporters Direct Cup

player records [edit ]

team records [edit ]

Players [edit ]

current squad [edit ]

As of 27 November 2021[25]

notice : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

luminary early players [edit ]

For all players with a Wikipedia article see Wrexham A.F.C. players

hall of fame [edit ]

The following are members of the Wrexham A.F.C. Hall of Fame. [ 26 ] Entry is not restricted to players ; anyone who has made a big contribution to the golf club in any capacity, from administrator to coach to supporter, can be considered .

actor of the year [edit ]

Young Player of the year [edit ]

The following players have been named Wrexham A.F.C. Young Player of the Year. [ 27 ]

Steve Edwards Goal of the Season Award [edit ]

top scorers [edit ]

Goal counts are formatted with the league total first, and the total for all competitions in parenthesis.

PFA Team of the year [edit ]

The following have been included in the PFA Team of the Year whilst playing for Wrexham :
The following have been included in the Conference Premier/National League Team of the Year whilst playing for Wrexham :

Non-playing staff [edit ]

Role

Name

Manager

Phil Parkinson

Assistant manager

Steve Parkin

Goalkeeping coach

Lee Butler

Sports scientist

Owen Jackson[30]

Head physiotherapist

Performance analyst

Kyle Crutchley[30]

Chief scout

Andy Kidby[30]

Kitman

Iwan Pugh-Jones[30]

Centre of Excellence manager

Dan Nolan[30]

Youth team physiotherapist

Gemma Bamford[30]

Club doctor

Dr. Nathan Sznerch[30]

Board [edit ]

managerial history [edit ]

european phonograph record [edit ]

European Cup Winners’ Cup:

Supporters and rivalries [edit ]

support [edit ]

In August 2011, Wrexham were faced with being expelled from the Football Conference, [ 31 ] fans rallied and raised £127,000 in one day [ 32 ] to help pay a bond, so they could secure football for the extroverted season. A month subsequently the Wrexham Supporters ‘ Trust ( WST ) took over daily run of the club. [ 33 ] Fan possession of Wrexham was finally ratified on 12 December 2011. [ 34 ] As of May 2015 the WST had 4,129 adult members and joint-owners of the clubhouse. [ 35 ] a well as the town of Wrexham, back is drawn from the surrounding towns and villages of the zone, such as Gwersyllt and Rhos, [ 36 ] [ 37 ] the Flintshire towns of Mold, [ 38 ] Buckley, [ 39 ] Holywell [ 40 ] and Deeside. For the 2013 FA Trophy Final coaches of Wrexham fans came from many North Wales towns including ; Bala, Bangor, Caernarfon, Colwyn Bay, Denbigh, Flint, Llandudno, Prestatyn, Rhyl and Ruthin. [ 41 ] Additionally, many Wrexham fans reside in Shropshire. [ 42 ] Exiled supporters clubs can be found in South Wales, [ 43 ] Manchester and London. [ 44 ] Over the past 15 years, even as a lower-league side, Wrexham have been able to attract gates of 11,000+ for big games at the Racecourse. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] celebrated Wrexham fans include canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, [ 47 ] former Royal butler Paul Burrell, [ 48 ] actor and television receiver donor Tim Vincent, [ 49 ] actor Llŷr Ifans, [ 50 ] actor and Comedian Ted Robbins, [ 51 ] Sweet guitarist Andy Scott, [ 52 ] Lloyd Roberts of rock band Neck Deep, [ 53 ] 2012 exceeding weightlifter Gareth Evans, [ 54 ] Sky Sports reporter Bryn Law, [ 55 ] Rugby World Cup Referee Nigel Owens [ 56 ] and former footballers Neil Roberts, [ 57 ] Robbie Savage [ 58 ] and Mark Hughes. [ 59 ]

competition [edit ]

Wrexham has a boisterous competition with Chester, [ 60 ] [ 61 ] the clubs are just 10 miles apart, but are Welsh and English respectively. The two contest the Cross-Border Derby, the first pit was held in 1888 with Wrexham running out 3–2 winners at Faulkner Street, the former family of Chester City, the last bowler hat, to date, was played at the Swansway Chester Stadium where Wrexham won 0–1 on 8 November 2017. [ 62 ] Wrexham lead the tete-a-tete competition with 67 wins compared to Chester ‘s 50. Games between the two are classed as “ high gamble ” [ 63 ] for potential of perturb and are broadly moved to early kick-offs with a large police presence to prevent it, [ 64 ] though arrests do still occur for diverse offences surrounding the fans of both clubs. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] [ 67 ] former Chester City player Lee Dixon said of the bowler hat “ I ‘m telling you, Chester versus Wrexham was a substantial bowler hat ! It ‘s difficult to compare if you ‘ve not played in each one but there ‘s something particular about any derby at any level. I played for Chester vanadium Wrexham and that could get ferocious, It lost nothing in ferocity compared to Arsenal volt Spurs “. [ 68 ] Former Wales and Liverpool striker Ian Rush who played for both clubs, said in 2013 the Cross-border bowler hat between the two clubs is “ angstrom acute as they come ” and “ It is like Wales v England actually, it is incredible ”. [ 69 ] Wrexham besides have a boisterous rivalries with Shrewsbury Town, [ 71 ] Tranmere Rovers, and Stockport County [ 72 ] due to geographic proximity. The games are often moved to early kick-offs, in accord with police, to minimize the electric potential of fuss as has happened between clubs previously. In 2003, 32 hooligans were jailed after a Tranmere v Wrexham pit at Prenton Park [ 73 ] and trouble was again apparent when the two clubs met in a 2013 friendly at the Racecourse Ground. [ 74 ] Though not equally acute as they once were, due to divisional differences, Crewe Alexandra, Cardiff City, Newport County and Swansea City are besides classed as rivals. [ 75 ] [ 76 ] [ 77 ] Wrexham has a bully gang of supporters that go by the name of “ Wrexham Front Line ” and have been involved in major disorder around Britain since the early 1980s. [ citation needed ]

team mascot [edit ]

Wrex the Dragon Wrex the Dragon is the official team mascot of Wrexham. The mascot, along with the team dub “ The Dragons ”, was introduced in 2001–02 by the Commercial director following a vote of fans to help increase sponsorship and promote the club ‘s Welsh trope whilst besides providing a more master dub as Bristol City, Swindon Town and Cheltenham Town besides use the dub of ‘The Robins ‘. ‘Wrex ‘ wears a loss face and Wrexham F.C. shirt wearing the number “ 1873 ” .

Reserves [edit ]

between 1988 and 1995 the reserve team of Wrexham played in the Welsh football leagues. [ 78 ]
In the 1994–95 season they won the Cymru Alliance League Cup .

literature [edit ]

Wrexham related books

Wrexham FC 1872–1950 by Peter Jones and Gareth Davies
Wrexham FC 1950–2000 by Peter Jones and Gareth Davies
Wrexham – A Complete Record 1872 – 1992 by Peter Jones
Wrexham; The European era by Peter Jones
Wrexham; Through The Trap Door by Peter Jones
Wrexham FC, An A-Z history by Dean Hayes
The Racecourse Robins from Adams to Youds by Peter Jones and Gareth Davies
The Giant Killers; a Wrexham fan’s view by Richard Partington
Wrexham Football Club Pen-Portraits by Don Meredith

The Wrexham football team plays a significant role in the 1994 Peter Davies bible Twenty Two Foreigners in Funny Shorts which was written for the World Cup in the US. It besides profiles the Robins ‘ ongoing and ultimately successful promotion campaign .

Kits [edit ]

Wrexham ‘s home kit is loss shirts, ashen shorts, and white socks. The club have played in a predominantly crimson kit with egg white features since the late 1930s. The away kit is white shirts, crimson shorts and crimson socks. In 2014–15, to celebrate the club ‘s hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary, Wrexham wore a loss and blacken hoop Nike base shirt as this was the club ‘s first ever recorded home shirt. [ 79 ] Macron have been the kit supplier of Wrexham AFC since 2016 and helped arrange a pre-season aim camp for the beginning team in pre-season 2017 in Portugal where over 600 supporters travelled over to support the team in a 2–1 win over Louletano. They still visit Portugal each summer. In April 2011, Wrexham signed a biennial sponsorship cope with Greene King brewery. This was cancelled in September after Glyndŵr University bought the Racecourse, as the university had an exclusive deal with another brewery. [ 80 ]