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Nearly two years ago, I wrote on here about the Wrexham Gateway project, its key stakeholders The Welsh Government, Glyndwr University, Wrexham County Borough Council and Wrexham Association Football Club and its prospects of actual delivery.

News this week about the requested required extra funding from the Governments notorious ‘Levelling Up’ exercise being turned down for the second time comes as no real surprise to the inhabitants of Wrexham as it appears to be a very strong statement by the Tories that they will reward an area that actually votes for it, while denying funding to areas where electoral success will not be theirs. Wrexham’s inhabitants, who voted for a Tory MP last time round based apparently mainly on the ‘misleading’ Brexit information supplied have made it very clear that this mistake will not happen again, and it does appear that the area has suffered because of that. I have no doubt that the decision not to give funds to Wrexham had already been made, but they’ve just delayed releasing the information to concerned parties as long as they can.

In essence, the Wrexham Gateway project is around £60 million short of the amount required to complete the whole project. With Welsh Government already committing £25 million to the project, which has enabled purchase and clearance of a large swathe of ground, the visible footprint of the development is there, added to with the recent demolition of the Kop stand at the Racecourse.

So where does this leave us? Strangely, it has been the Football Club that has been first to speak up and set out a stance, with a statement that ‘Plan B’ will now come in to action. What Plan B actually consists of is open to speculation at this moment and will undoubtedly be revealed over the coming weeks, I have no doubt the Kop will be built, but in what timescale, what form, and financed by who is unclear at the moment.

The problem now is what happens to the Gateway group and hence the development if any one of the concerned parties decide to go their own way? As Glyndwr still own the land at the back of the Kop and showed chagrin when the plans for the new Kop were approved as it affected their own plans for another block of student accommodation on that space, they could, and within reason, now press ahead with that build subject to planning permission and make the building of the Kop in the proposed form difficult, if not impossible. Welsh Government also own the old Dickens garage plot of land, so basically, the ground could now become landlocked.

If Plan B cited by the Club is the build of the new Kop stand, without agreements with the footprint landowners, the stand will be of a reduced size, with only the original footprint of the former Kop stand immediately available to them, and access to the site for construction purposed limited to the goodwill of the owners of the Turf.

Raising money for a new stand is another issue. I have no doubt the Club owners will employ an expert in such matters to do this, and I have no worries in that direction, it’s just how fast they can raise the money. The Club owners don’t have bottomless pockets, and they have done well funding the Club so far, but they may not want their money tied up in real estate that may not be returned to them until the Club gets sold on at some point in what I hope is the far future. So maybe a way of quickly raising collateral would be to remortgage the Racecourse, and pay that back off over time, which would explain why the Club came out chasing the WST to collapse the lease this week, they would need that out of the way to smooth the process.

For those not aware, when Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took the Club over, the property owning structure was different, with Glyndwr University owning the Racecourse, and WST Assets Limited, a sub-company of Wrexham Supporters Trust (who previously owned the Football Club) owning a 99-year lease on the ground. Subsequently, R & R purchased both the Club and the Freehold of the Racecourse, but still had to pay ‘rent’ to WST Assets Limited, for the Club to play at the ground the Football Club owners actually own!

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In my opinion, I think the best way forward would be to bring in a new investor, not just a sponsor, to cover not only the new stand construction, but the purchase of the two plots of land adjacent to Crispin Lane, which, apart from facilitating the original plan for the new stand to go ahead, would also allow the Club expansion room for Club offices, retail and match day catering facilities, such as the provision of a Fans Zone. With the panic not so long back by a lot of fans with the news that Ryan Reynolds was getting involved in the Ottawa Senators Canadian hockey club, my own take on this was that maybe it was a move to involve some very heavy rollers in his own project over here and bring them on board. In fact, a Tweet I put out suggesting that was ‘liked’ by Ryan himself, so maybe there is some traction in this thought.

Although the funding news comes as less of a shock, I still believe we will get there in the end. I would like the club and their partners to put out an indication of what direction we’re heading in so we can all get back to concentrating on the excellent football team we have!

*UPDATE*  Monday 17th Jun 2024

After what feels like a long hiatus, the Club has issued what is to degree an update on ‘progress’ on the developments at the Racecourse. In effect, nothing is currently happening as regards actual work commencing, nor are any dates for its commencement as yet available. Instead, there are behind the scenes discussions ongoing apparently changing the focus of making the Racecourse a non-match day facility as well as the home of Wrexham AFC on match days.
The Club issued a public statement stating;

, “Wrexham AFC can share several exciting updates regarding the ongoing development of the StōK Cae Ras, driven by our evolving vision for the Club’s future.

First, we can confirm the extension of the temporary stand, which will accommodate approximately 3,000 seats. This temporary solution will remain in place until the Kop Development begins.

The Club and Wrexham Council have also reassessed the stadium development plans, particularly the new Kop, to ensure they deliver the best possible fan experience and provide the most value to the community. We plan to focus on making the stadium a year-round destination, not just a match-day venue, which will drive significant economic impact for the city of Wrexham.

The Club has agreements in principle to purchase the land required for the Kop development’s footprint. In the meantime, the Club is working closely with Wrexham Council to review the terms of the Grant Funding Agreement to ensure it aligns with the future needs of the club.

We deeply appreciate the ongoing partnership and support from Wrexham Council, Wrexham University, the Welsh Government, and the FA of Wales as we work through these developments. We will be having regular planning meetings with partners to move forward the work and will provide regular public updates on progress.”

The Kop temporary stand

In between the previous statements regarding progress on the new stand, Rob and Ryan publicly stated that they were looking at increasing the capacity of the ground to 55 thousand, which, to many would seem quite excessive even with a VERY successful football team, but looking beyond just football usage for the stadium, and the success of the various concerts held there in recent years, it would seem a natural progression for a town trying to be a city, and could attract investment outside of the current grant funding available to realise the stadiums growth. Indeed, with the North Wales Crusaders Rugby League team having been taken over by a financial company from Dubai, we may also see them attempting to move back to the Racecourse and contribute to development costs. Then again, considering that the purchase of the original Crusaders and their subsequent move north was funded at the expense of Wrexham AFC by a loan taken out against the Racecourse by the then owners, Moss and Roberts, resulted ultimately in the loss of the ground, they may not be so welcome by the Wrexham public.

The current pause and reassessment of how the ground will be redeveloped will obviously have several facets contributing to both its design, and, just as importantly, funding, where I believe the main hold up may be. Aspirations, no matter how wide ranging and beneficial, need to be funded, and as already mentioned, public money (with over £17.83m of money already allocated) may go some of the way towards this, but ultimately private investment, and no small-scale investment should the possible plans go ahead, will be necessary.

So, what happens now? Well, in the short term, the Club has confirmed the extension of the Kop temporary stand to approximately 3,000 seats – up from the previous 2,289 capacity. This would suggest that whatever the changes in planning, work will not be commencing in the near future. The Club had intended to build a 5,500-seat stand on the Kop area for the start of the 2024-2025 season and had even appointed Morgan Sindall Construction as the main contractor for the project. This obviously never happened and is now on hold.

One interesting point is that the Club has stated that it has agreements in principle to purchase the land needed for the project, although not specifying whether it was land owned by the University or the Welsh Government, or both. It would be quite satisfying to see the student flats being either demolished or brought back under the control of the Club given the history behind them, and that land may be crucial in fully developing the potential of the Racecourse footprint. I would suggest keeping an eye on the Wrexham Planning Portal for developments that may not be announced in the press. The current plans for the stadium are still available HERE on that site.

A worry is now that the grant funding agreement with Wrexham County Borough Council may be at risk as the conditions attached to the funding offer can’t currently be fulfilled. Could this lead to the loss of funding, especially in the current financial climate and Council deficits a matter of concern to the residents of the town.

There appears to be a lot of work to be done before any major changes happen at the Racecourse, and the shape of those changes will be dictated by the availability of funding, possibly tied in also to the necessary extra funding required to continue the progression of Wrexham AFC.

Now we’re finally back to the status we had when the dark shadow of scammers, property developers and generally bad people sought to kill the Club off for their own greed, I thought it would be time to assess (from my own point of view, obviously!) what has happened, were we are now, and what the future may hold.

There are many others who have their owns views, their own take on all of this, and they are more than entitled to their opinions, what follows is mine, and could change as things progress. The last thing anyone should have is a fixed view of what is, that leads to obsession and intractability, and eventually conflict with others that don’t share the same outlook, even if the same connection with the subject is there. EVERYTHING evolves when human interests and ambitions are involved, and I’ll probably be writing something completely different in a few years’ time (if I’m still around of course).

So where were we? Well, back in the early 2000’s we were a smallish football club plying our trade in between the (then) 3^rd and 4^th divisions of what was then the unbranded Football League (now the English Football League \ EFL). As with most small clubs of that era, it was very much a hand to mouth existence, with a few highs for a dedicated fanbase of around 3000 (which, as always been, grows enormously when the ‘glory’ matches happen – as with every team in the world!). I’ve detailed  The Lean Years  already on this website, so I’m not going to retread that narrative, but to this day I fail to understand how those at the FA that contributed to Wrexham AFC’s fall from the League by awarding us a 10 point penalty ( the first ever awarded to ANY club by the way) could not see that what was happening was a deliberate attempt to kill the football club off to obtain vacant occupation of the Racecourse ground for redevelopment, thus lining the back pockets of the various villains that passed through the club  as ‘owners’. Still, I guess common sense and running the football infrastructure in the Football League (and to a degree the Football Association of Wales (FAW)) can appear to be mutually exclusive sometimes.

And from those dire years, we emerged with a Club that refused to die, a mindset that came from the people of the Town who had also seen their entire employment infrastructure disappear under the destructive rule of Westminster and the Thatcher years that took away steelworks, coal mines and any semblance of industry from what had traditionally been a blue collar, hardworking work force who had that fierce identity of self that such an environment grows. We, the fans, took over the bare bones of the Club, and, although building what we could, we would forever be treading water at a level that we did not really belong, and seeing other, less storied, smaller and suddenly rich clubs (in some cases from dubious sources) pass us by on the way to a much-changed Football League status. Money has become even more a king of football, and without it, there is no way but down. However well run a club is, there is always the hunger for success in the fanbase, but, in spite of the constant criticism, we were an attractive going concern that attracted a number of possible takeovers, but not from the right type of possible owners, most, if all, just seeing the Club as a means of making money but with little or no regard of developing it for those emotionally intwined in it, the fans. Eventually, the patience we showed gained its reward, and we are now in a unique position where the world of football is literally at our feet.

So where are we now? I’m not going in to the details of the takeover, nor dwell on every interaction between owners and fans, but I will pick out the detail that makes up the framework of the club, and how successful that may be.On the field, things are obviously going fantastically, with a back-to-back promotion for the first time in our long history, with a turnover increased in 3 years from around £2 million to over £23 million pounds. This is quite an amazing return, due to the team that the owners have put in place behind the scenes, and, of course, the leverage of their own Hollywood personas and the much-lauded documentary series Welcome To Wrexham. This has attracted the big-money sponsorship from mega-corporations such as TikTok, Hewlett Packard and United Airlines. We can now go in to League 1 with confidence we can attract players that are of a standard to maintain us in that league, and build even further for an eventual attempt to reach the Championship.

So what are the obstacles to the continued rise of the club back to a level that we have only reached once, and for only a few seasons?

Firstly, finance. Whereas we will definitely be more than capable of funding campaigns at League 1 level, the step up to the Championship will involve budgets up to 10 times what we can provide now if we were to aim for the Premier League. And what is the point of reaching the Championship if not to progress to the EPL? Obviously, the Club owners do have finance behind them, especially Ryan Reynolds with a growing highly lucrative portfolio of businesses. However, these funds are finite, and no successful businessman is going to cross fund to a notoriously ‘black hole’ of finance, a football club. So, being the excellent businessman he, and Rob McElhenney are, have started showing moves to dilute their own investment in Wrexham AFC, and sold 5% to an investor group that includes Eva Longoria amongst their numbers. This same high value investor group own Club Necaxa, a very large Mexican football club, and Rob and Ryan have joined the investor group as shareholders. Ryan and Rob have been rubbing shoulders with billionaires across other sports, such as F1 and Canadian ice hockey, and undoubtedly this type of deal will see even more shares in the club being sold to such money sources to aid the continued rise of the club.

The downside to this is obvious, the club will become increasingly corporate, a money-making machine with a growing degree of separation from its fans. However, this will pass as new generations of fans who have not lived through the bad times emerge, both locally and from growing international interest, who will supplant the old guard. Unfortunately, this is the reality of it, but we were given that choice when we voted for the takeover, and there is no second chance. And from my own point of view, that’s what I walked in to with both eyes open, I knew this is the path we are on, and I’m accepting it, we spent way to long just worrying we’d actually have a club to the position where, because of its potential, the club’s future is guaranteed. The usual barb from other, more jealous fans of other clubs that Wrexham will fold if Ryan and Rob leave becomes blunted with diversity of investment, millionaires and billionaires got to that level by making sure their businesses were successful, and now Wrexham AFC will be part of their portfolio going forward.

As for what the money will be spent on, obviously the football side of things, which is the Club’s real identity, will be taken care of to ensure the product retains, and grows, its value. However, it’s facilities will need a lot of investment to take it to the level necessary.

Firstly, where is the training ground promised? It’s now been over 3 years since the takeover, and still no sign of a permanent facility for the Club, with training taking place on pitches at the FAW’s Colliers Park (asset stripped from Wrexham AFC during the dark times, this still rankles with me), at Carden Park Hotel and on the Racecourse pitch itself. As always, the Club are keeping any plans they have close to their chests, but this is really something that needs sorting as soon as possible if they want to attract the calibre of player needed for progression. Various sites have been mooted on by fans across social media and bulletin boards, such as Stansty Park on Summerhill Road, a former training ground owned by the Club (asset stripped again!). Basically, this would now be too small for a potential Championship club, and the adjoining property which is a caravan park may be needed to be purchased to give it any real potential. But, given the price of land in the town with the disastrous LDP policy now taking effect, and every green space around the perimeter of the town sprouting unneeded shoebox houses, this may be a very expensive option, when you include the building of necessary facilities and the addition of quality pitches.

So, in reality, you would be looking at areas available in the Wrexham Industrial Estate, or possibly The Rock in Cefn and surrounding land. If feeling adventurous, offer to buy back Colliers Park from the FAW, who will be feeling the financial pinch of not qualifying for the European Finals, offering them free usage of the facilities when required as a sweetener on the deal and saving a lot of extra outlay on pitches and establishing the facility. Whatever way this may go, it should now be a priority for the Club, I can’t think that the constant moving around of training sites isn’t in some way contributing to the seemingly high level of injuries that the players seem to be suffering over the past few seasons.

Secondly, the Racecourse. As I write this, overnight there has been the release of an interview with Rob and Ryan, in which they state that they have a plan in place that would raise the capacity of the ground to between 45,000 and 55,000 fans. Currently the Racecourse has a 12,600 capacity with a redeveloped Kop stand with 5,500 seats already approved and now awaiting a start date. This start date is already over a year delayed from its first announcement, and a start date is still a matter of conjecture. To achieve such a large capacity on the current ground footprint would be a minor miracle, and would involve a process of replacing all the current stands, and a redesign of the promised Kop stand. And that’s before the considerations for transport architecture to get people in and out of the ground.

Whilst we were running the club, I looked in to what we could actually fit on that footprint, should we ever get to that stage where we needed increased capacity, and the best configuration that could be came up with involved turning the pitch around 90 degrees, and moving it further away from Mold Road and also closer to the Kop end, having demolished the offending (read the history!) student flats. This would involve also purchasing the former all-weather pitch behind the Yale Stand which is currently being used as car parking. These pitch movements would then allow a larger capacity Mold Road stand, a larger, wider capacity Tech End stand, a similar stand on the current Kop side, and a much-increased capacity Yale Stand. With the corners filled in, the capacity reached was around 36,000. To get an extra 10-15,000 on there would mean seating at a high level as seen in newer Premiership grounds, but, basically, this IS achievable (once the ‘bureaucracy’ and ‘hurdles for hurdles sake’ have been overcome possibly the biggest challenge!).

But the question is, do we actually need a stadium of that size? Well, if we were to reach the promised land of the Premier League, I have no doubt that, for one season, we could comfortably fill the seats to a degree that it wouldn’t become a white elephant, like what happened at Darlington, or at MK Dons, but I don’t think that would be sustainable unless we really prospered. I think the acid test for the club’s popularity will be the coming season as we hopefully consolidate, and the Welcome to Wrexham series 3 comes to an end. Even with the high profile of Rob and Ryan, without constant exposure, where will our ‘new’ fans come from? The population of Wrexham will be growing due to unrestricted house building growth, but the vast majority of those new people will be commuters, with no actual attachment to the town or club, but they could still be a contributary number. We will still be looking to our traditional catchment area of North and Mid Wales, and the Marches, with a population of 750k to draw on, and I estimate that we could, with the right levels of sustainable success, average 25k. Whatever happens, I don’t expect to be alive by the time we have a stadium holding 45k in the town.

One thing I’ve avoided mentioning is the possibility of moving the club to a new, purpose-built ground somewhere within the 2-mile limit set in the takeover documents. The groundwork for such a move is already in place, with the same documents saying that we won’t be moving UNLESS it becomes necessary to accommodate crowds. Well, we’ve been at that level for a couple of seasons now, so basically the club could, if so inclined, announce today that they are building a new stadium on the Industrial Estate and selling the Racecourse to pay for it. I would think this is unlikely in the extreme, but, at some point, this thought has occurred to the owners, otherwise, why was that clause in the takeover documents?  Where else could this be situated? Personally, I’d have used the land off Ruthin Road now earmarked for a 3000-house development but that option is gone, and, as mentioned during the search for a training ground, land is scarce in the town for such a large development. Stranger things have been known to happen though personally I hope this never does, the soul of the club is at the Racecourse, moving it would turn us in to something that is just a business, not a living, breathing (and singing!) representation of who we are, Wrexham AFC and the Racecourse represents our people’s history and our never say die character.  

One area I will finally mention, the culture at the club. This has changed more than any other facet, with what seems almost a revolving door of club employees and volunteers. In my opinion, this has been the most painful part of the club’s regeneration, with many familiar faces no longer in the places you’ve seen them for so many years. I’m in no way criticising the club business management, the level of success we’re looking at demands a ruthlessness that fans ownership just would not permit, we were much too much a part of the fanbase to take the hard decisions necessary to highly change (I won’t say improve yet!) the business environment. What we have now is a full-on business approach that, while many may criticise, is not set by individuals, but by the demands of success and the steps necessary to get the best people for the jobs. In order for any club to be successful, there has to be a degree of separation that allows those decisions to be made without being influenced by sentiment. Basically, this is what we voted for, and its being delivered – unlike previous promises!

It’s great to be back in the League! Although we’re obviously extremely happy to be back where we believe we belong, but I have noticed a lot of fans of other clubs, and certain ‘reporters’ taking time out to criticise our success. Most of these people are obviously VERY jealous of us, that is impossible for them to hide, but a lot of their criticism is because of ignorance of what we’ve been through to get to this point, and also the reality of modern club football. Whether this ignorance is deliberate so they have a reason to spout off, that is debatable, but here are just a few points and observations around Wrexham AFC, its finances, and its future.

Undoubtedly, having famous owners has boosted the club well beyond anything that could have been achieved under fan ownership, which has a glass ceiling in modern football which is dictated by finance as to how high you can aspire to. Ethics are great ( and I’m a ‘traditional football’ fan), but if you want to progress and grow you have to have cash.

• The new owners have already stated that they intend to be around for decades, not just TV ‘seasons’ ( still hate that, another creeping Americanism, it’s a series!), but have also stated that the eventual aim is to have a self sustaining club and are constructing a commercial plan to ensure that, with 25,000 replica shirts sold last year and 35,000 already ordered for this year as an example, and every other aspect of the Club becoming fully monetarised. This will undoubtedly cause friction amongst the older generations not used to having to pay extra for things they got for free or cheaply in the past, but the focus is firmly on the future, and the children of today have a completely different mind set to paying for things than past generations. It’s now part of society that we pay for everything ( most of the time two or three times for the same thing!).

• Attendance at every match for the past season have been sold out, and close to 100k streaming watchers on literally a global basis tuning in to those matches. The income from streaming platforms will increase enormouslyover coming seasons. The focus on growing the American market will ensure a lucrative source of income for many years to come. Well, until the next big thing comes around, but by that time the Club will be financially secure and undoubtedly with further, richer partners in the Wrexham AFC family.

• The Racecourse is being completely redeveloped, starting with a new Kop stand to be open for the season 2024/25 (possibly, can’t see it being ready for the start of that season), new floodlights, and plans in place for the other 3 sides of the ground to increase attendance. The catchment area for the club includes North and Mid Wales, and the Marches, and is estimated at around 750,000. We’ve always known that Wrexham could be the focus for these araes to attract football fans who can’t get to see their ‘big’ teams, and eventually replace any loyalties people had to those teams with one closer to home, and more representative of them.

Finally ( I know this is all boring to anyone who isn’t a Wrexham fan) like many teams, we’ve been though the wringer, falling down the leagues due in no small part from having a selection of ‘dubious’ owners who’s only intention for the club was to kill it off and build on the Racecourse. The fans managed to wrest control of our Club from the vultures, but by that time all that was left was the players, and debts of nearly £750k and running costs of £1 million per year. No ground, no infrastructure, nothing. We should have been dead, but we wouldn’t let the Club die, and over the subsequent 12 years eliminated the debt, rebuilt the club, got us in to the black and obtained a 99 year lease on the ground. This in no small part influeneced the current owners to look at Wrexham as a viable vehicle for their plans and investments.

The subsequent takeover basically allowed us to move on up. To get out of the National League costs around £8-10 million on average, we couldn’t afford that, hence the sale of the Club. However, we were extremely fortunate to finally find owners such as the ones we now have, previous attempts to get hold of the club, and there were a good few, were exactly the same types as the previous ones, only wanting to take.Patience and foresight is a virtue little appreciated in the modern world, but we stood firm, and are now reaping the rewards.

The reason for this long story? Pretty simple. Cut us a bit of slack when we come across as over enthusiastic, its been a long time since we had hope and success, and we’re enjoying, finally, our moment in the sun. And I’m personally looking forward to visiting some old stamping ground, its been a while!