Wrexham A.F.C.

Wrexham A.F.C.

Wrexham Association Football Club is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. The team compete in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1864, they are the oldest club in Wales and the third oldest professional football team in the world. Wrexam’s home stadium, the Racecourse Ground, is the world’s oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games.

About Wrexham A.F.C. in brief

Summary Wrexham A.F.C.Wrexham Association Football Club is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. The team compete in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1864, they are the oldest club in Wales and the third oldest professional football team in the world. Their 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. In 1992, they upset the reigning English Champions Arsenal in the FA Cup. They also scored a 1–0 victory over FC Porto in 1984 in the European Cup Winners’ Cup. Wrexam’s home stadium, the Racecourse Ground, is the world’s oldest international stadium that still continues to host international games. The record attendance at the ground was set in 1957, when the club hosted a match against Manchester United in front of 34,445 spectators. The club was a supporter-owned football club, until it was taken over by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in August 2011. From August 2011 to November 2020, the club was owned by a consortium of Welsh businessmen, including the former chairman of the Welsh Football Association, David Davies and the former chief executive of Cardiff City FC,  Paul Davies. The current owners of the club are Welsh businessman and former Cardiff City City FC chief executive, David Davies, and his wife, Carol. The ownership of the club has been confirmed at £1.5 million. The first game was played on 22 October 1864 at the Denbigh County Cricket Ground against the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade.

In 1876, the newly formed Football Association of Wales saw Wales play their first international match, against Scotland at The West of Scotland Cricket Club, Partick, featuring Edwin Cross and Alfred Davies. In the 1877–78 season the FAW inaugurated the inaugural Welsh Cup competition, on similar lines to the English FA Cup, where they defeated Druids F. C. 1-0 in the final of the competition. The next year, 1883, they were defeated 3–4 at home by Oswry Oswry in the second round of the tournament. The Welsh Cup final was played at Acton Park, with James Davies being credited with the goal that saw them win the competition, but they did not receive their trophy until the next year. For their first decade, Wrex Ham mostly played friendly matches against both Welsh and English opposition, providing most of their competitive football. They entered the Birmingham & District League in 1905, and won four Combination titles and two Welsh Senior League titles. 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 later. In 1921, they became inaugural members of Football League’s Third Division North in 1921. In 2002, they gained immediate promotion in 2002–03, before worsening financial problems resulted in another relegation and then administration in December 2004. In 2008, they dropped out of the football league in 2008.