WREXHAM has been the Hollywood story in football over recent years.
After 15 straight seasons in the National League – the fifth tier of English football – the Welsh club have enjoyed three promotions in a row.
That means the Red Dragons suddenly emerged as a Championship club this season – and they certainly hold ambitions of reaching the Promised Land of the Premier League before long.
Their rapid rise through the leagues has been bankrolled by celebrity owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who took over in 2020.
The acting duo hold an 85 per cent stake in the club together and continue to be the public face of the project.
And it is a project with a major development in the works with the ball rolling on improving their SToK Cae Ras stadium – more commonly known as the Racecourse Ground.
THE RACECOURSE GROUND STORY
Wrexham’s home stadium since the club was formed in 1864 has been the Racecourse Ground – bar a couple of seasons in the early 1880s over a rent dispute with the cricket club.
The ground has been used for horse racing, rugby and cricket over the years – as well as concerts and even aviation displays before World War I.
But it is best known for its football, including Wales’ first home international in 1877 and has staged more Wales games than any other ground.
That also makes it the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches.
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The Macron Stand – opposite the main Wrexham Lager Stand – was completed in 1999 and is the newest part of the historic stadium.
Mismanagement and controversial ownership in the early noughties threatened to see Wrexham evicted from the Racecourse Ground amid bitter legal rows but they managed to stay put.
And in recent years, they have added undersoil heating, giant screens, goal-line technology, a new TV gantry and updated dressing rooms to improve the venue.
A deal with SToK Cold Brew Coffee took effect in July 2023 – changing the name of the stand behind one goal and the stadium itself.
WHY NOW?
Work on Wrexham’s famous Kop stand behind the goal started in 1952 and for a period it was the largest all-standing terrace in English football.
However, it was deemed unsafe in 2008 so had to be closed and was eventually demolished in 2023, meaning Wrexham spent 15 years playing in front of just three stands of fans.
When Reynolds and McElhenney came in, they made a new Kop one of their top priorities – as well as the on-field success.
And with the quickfire promotions, popularity and momentum around the club at an all-time high – now it is time for a stadium that matches.
A temporary, uncovered scaffolding stand – named the Fourth Wall – was erected in late 2023 in place of the destroyed Kop to squeeze in another 2,289 fans.
But that has now been removed again to start on their new stand.
Wrexham know a renovated, impressive Kop is needed to match the club’s ambitions and ultimately, make the ground Premier League-ready.
The overdue makeover will also enable the Racecourse Ground to get Uefa Category 4 status to host more international matches.
The venue is scheduled to be used as the main stadium for the Under-19s Euros being staged in northern Wales next summer.
WHAT ARE THEY PLANNING?
Wrexham announced plans in 2022 to begin the development process before things ramped up in 2024 when they appointed Populous, the architects behind the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the Emirates and Wembley among others.
In February 2025, the club revealed the designs of a 5,500-capacity new Kop Stand including safe standing, hospitality areas and accessible seating – “future proofed” to allow for an expansion.
The incredible drawings include new facilities for players and officials with the tunnel relocated into the stand behind the goal.
Special roofing will be used to rebound sound and help create an epic atmosphere in that area of the stadium – while solar panels on top will be installed to help the club’s sustainability.
The exterior of the new Kop, though, is arguably the most impressive and interesting aspect.
A glass wall will be covered with a striking brick facade.
That is a nod to the local industry – the city’s nickname is Terracottapolis and the Red Dragons will use Ruabon red bricks – as the stand “embodies the history and heritage of Wrexham”.
Those initial plans were all approved in March but in July, the club announced they had submitted an extra planning application to Wrexham City Borough Council for a further 2,250 seats in the Kop.
That would take the new stand’s capacity to 7,750 and the overall capacity of the Racecourse Ground to just over 18,000.
And to top it off, the impressive construction, complete the large dragons on the wall, will even be visible from the city centre as a constant reminder of the connection between the community and the club.
HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?
Wrexham were desperate to have the work done and dusted in time for the U19s Euros and then the start of the 2026-27 season.
But it now appears likely that they will not achieve the target.
The club appointed McLaren Construction Midlands and North to oversee the building project in September 2025.
At the time, the Red Dragons said: “Early works will begin later this month. The full build programme is scheduled for completion during the 2026-27 season.”
McElhenney has previously expressed his frustration at the intricacies of UK building regulations.
He moaned: “Of course, safety concerns and all those regulations are in place for a reason, but then some things just seem hurdles for hurdles’ sake.
“It’s a lot harder to build in the UK than I have found almost anywhere else in the world.”
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
As with any significant building project, the new Kop Stand will not come cheap.
While exact figures are not certain, it is reported the overall project could cost as much £80-90million.
However, it is understood that the Welsh Government have approved £25m in public funding, after initially missing out on any UK Levelling-Up grants or subsidies – as detailed in season two of the Welcome to Wrexham doc.
The Welsh Government recognises the positive impact Wrexham’s success is having on the area and want to capitalise.
The Racecourse Ground renovation is also part of a wider Wrexham Gateway project, which will see major regeneration work done around the city including 7,000sqm of new offices and improvements to the railway and transport networks.
IS IT WORTH IT?
Absolutely.
Wrexham cannot expect to be taken seriously at the upper echelons of British football with only three stands.
McElhenney said: “Getting to the Premier League is the ultimate goal – and staying in the Premier League so it’s sustainable.
“But only doing it in a fashion that the community supports, because there are all sorts of ways to succeed. We feel that there are only a few paths to be ethically viable to do so.”
This project ensures Wrexham are taken seriously.
In the Championship, with the Fourth Wall removed, Wrexham can get approximately 10,700 fans inside the stadium on a matchday.
But a new 7,750-seater Kop and 18,000-plus capacity provides a massive boost to get more supporters through the turnstiles, sell more tickets, merchandise and concessions and therefore generate more revenue.
An improved stand would also likely mean being able to stage more high-profile concerts, too, and help make the Racecourse Ground into not only a major Welsh platform but one of the leading UK venues.
Plus the modernised arena complete with the clever rood will improve the atmosphere and make it even more of a home fortress for Wrexham… and for Wales again with more international matches likely staged there.
WHAT ARE THEIR OTHER FUTURE PLANS?
Part of the £25m from the Welsh Government is likely to be on the condition of investing in the local area.
And so as well as building the new Kop, Wrexham are also set to develop the vicinity surrounding the Racecourse Ground.
A plaza will provide a fan zone on matchdays and a “community space and public area throughout the year”.
There are plans to include the sister wheel of the Gresford Colliery wheel in remembrance of the miners who died in the 1934 mining disaster.
Reynolds and McElhenney also want to introduce a brewery, taproom and museum for Wrexham Lager next to the stadium after investing heavily in the city’s beer makers.
In the summer, the Red Dragons completed the purchase of The Rock stadium – seven miles south of Wrexham in Rhosymedre – as the women’s team’s new home, and the club confirmed they are putting plans in place to improve the facilities there, too.
But back at the Racecourse Ground and there are even more grand plans.
Once the Kop is done, the Hollywood pair want to keep on developing the stadium to rival some of English football’s biggest.
McElhenney said: “We have a plan in place right now that would eventually work from stand to stand so eventually, you get all four sides.
“It’s hard to say for sure, but we think we could get between 45,000 and 55,000 people in there. The whole town could come to a game.”
The 2021 census marked Wrexham’s ‘built-up’ population as 44,785.
But a whopping 55,000-seater stadium would, as it stands, be the eighth largest capacity for a football stadium in the UK – only behind Wembley, Old Trafford, the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, the London Stadium, Anfield, the Emirates and Celtic Park – although plenty of other clubs have ambitious expansion projects underway as well.
Few, though, are as ambitious on or off the pitch as Wrexham…
