Racecourse Ground

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the football ground. For the cricket ground, see Racecourse Ground, Hereford.

The Racecourse Ground (Y Cae Ras in Welsh) is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. Football and rugby union matches are the venue's most common events. It is the home ground of Wrexham A.F.C.

The Racecourse is the largest stadium in North Wales, and consequently is sometimes used for Wales' home international games. The ground is also used by Llanelli Scarlets rugby team, who in the 2005-06 season are scheduled to play two of their home Celtic League matches here, and Liverpool F.C. Reserves.

[edit] Stadium Details

• Crowd Capacity: 15,500 (10,500 seated).
• Pitch Size: 111 x 74 yards

The crowd is accommodated in four named stands.

The Kop: the all-standing home stand, is named after the Battle of Spion Kop, as many grounds in the UK used to have ends named similarly. Behind the goal, it is known officially as the Crispin Lane End. Here the hooligan firm 'Wrexham Frontline' normally reside, although recent seasons have seen them move to the Mold Road end to be nearer the away end. The Spion Kop is well known as having the best atmosphere in the ground. With a capacity of 5,000, it is now also the largest all-standing terace in the Football League.

The Sainsbury's Stand, formerly known as the Yale Stand: backing onto where Cartrefle College and Yale College used to be. It was built in 1972 in preparation for the club's first venture into Europe, and also provided new dressing rooms, club offices and entertainment suites.

The Eric Roberts Builders Stand: formerly the Marstons Stand, and the Away Stand.

The Pryce Griffiths Stand: the newest stand, is secured with lottery funding, built over the old Mold Road stand, there can be a good atmosphere in there. The stand possess a TV studio and eight fully equipped private boxes. The Pryce Griffiths Stand is the Mold Road Stand, sitting as it does on one of the main thoroughfares into Wrexham. The Pryce Griffiths Stand is soon to be renamed after the advertising rights are bought up. This was decided on 8th July at the Wrexham supporters Trust AGM. It will be renamed because recently it has been revealed that the previous chairman, whom it is named after, had more knowledge of what the property developer, Alex Hamilton would do with the Racecourse Ground.

[edit] History

Wrexham Football Club have played at the Racecourse Ground since being formed in September 1872. There were however four seasons in the 1950s when the club played at the Recreation Ground in Rhosddu due to an increase in rent from the then owners, Wrexham Cricket Club. Before the club was formed the ground was mainly used for cricket and occasionally, horse racing.

On 2nd April 1906 The Racecourse hosted an international match between Wales and Ireland. The match ended up 4-4 and was attended by approximately 6,000 people. The oldest footage of any football match in the World was shot at this game by film pioneers Mitchell and Kenyon. The film is currently housed in The National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales in Aberystwyth. On 2nd April 2006 a plaque was unveiled at the Racecourse Ground to commemorate this historic event.

1952 saw the laying down of concrete terracing on the ever-popular Kop end, which is now the oldest part of the ground. Five years later was to see the largest ever attendance at the Racecourse when 34,445 people gathered to witness an FA Cup fourth round tie against Manchester United. On 30 September 1959 the Racecourse saw the switching on of the newly installed floodlights, which are said to be the brightest in the Football League.

After promotion to the old Second Division in 1978 the Border Stand was built, taking its name from the local brewery which owned the ground. This part of the ground is now known as the Eric Roberts Builders Stand, where visiting supporters are normally seated.

The latest addition to the ground was achieved in 1999 after Grant Aid from Sport Lot, the Welsh Development Agency and the Football Trust together with generous local sponsorship allowed for the construction of a new stand on the Mold Road side of the ground. The impressive new structure named the Pryce Griffiths Stand has a capacity of 3,500 and also contains hospitality and conferencing facilities.

The development also saw the Paddock areas of the Sainsbury's Stand and the Eric Roberts Builders Stand become all-seated, bringing the current capacity up to 15,500 and thus allowing international football and rugby union to once again be played at the Racecourse.

In 2002 then Wrexham FC chairman William Pryce Griffiths secured a 125-year lease on the Racecourse with Wolverhampton Dudley Breweries for £750,000, and a peppercorn annual rent of £1.

On 26 June 2002 the freehold to the Racecourse Ground was acquired by Wrexham AFC from Wolverhampton Dudley Breweries for the sum of £300,000. On the same day the ownership of the freehold was transferred from Wrexham AFC to Damens Ltd for a nominal fee. After this controversial change in ownership the 125-year lease on the Racecourse held by Wrexham FC was renegotiated. The new lease stated that Damens Ltd could evict Wrexham FC from the Racecourse Ground upon 12 months' notice and payment of £1,000,000. The new lease also saw the club's annual rent increase from £1 to £30,000.

[edit] Literature

The Wrexham football team plays a significant role in the 1994 Peter Davies book Twenty Two Foreigners in Funny Shorts which was written for the upcoming World Cup in the U.S. It also profiles the Robins' ongoing and ultimately successful promotion effort.

[edit] External links

• Wrexham AFC
• Wrexham (The Internet Football Grounds Guide)
• Racecourse Ground, Wrexham