Racecourse Ground


The Racecourse Ground is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham Association Football Club, and is the largest stadium in North Wales and the seventh-largest in Wales.
It is the world's oldest international football stadium still hosting international matches, having been the venue for Wales' first home international match in 1877, and has hosted more Wales international matches than any other ground. It is still one of the stadiums used by the Football Association of Wales for home international games.
The ground has also been used by North Wales Crusaders rugby league club, Scarlets rugby union club and Liverpool Reserves. In the early days, the ground was used for cricket and horse racing. It also occasionally hosts concerts.
A sponsorship deal with STōK Cold Brew Coffee came into effect on 1 July 2023; as a result, the stadium is sometimes referred to as STōK Cae Ras, STōK Racecourse or Cae Ras STōK.

History

Inception (1864–1952)

Wrexham Football Club have played at the Racecourse Ground since being formed in the local Turf Hotel public house in October 1864. However, due to an increase in rent from the then owners, Wrexham Cricket Club, Wrexham played their home games in the 1881–82 and 1882–83 seasons at the Recreation Ground in Rhosddu, while also changing their name to Wrexham Athletic for one season. Before the club was formed, the ground was mainly used for cricket and, occasionally, horse racing.
The Racecourse was used extensively for aviation before the First World War, with Gustav Hamel performing public displays in August 1912 and June 1913. Wrexham Borough Council considered making the racecourse the town's municipal airport, but that was later developed at Borras.

Expansion (1952–2025)

1952 saw the laying down of concrete terracing on the Kop end, which is now the oldest part of the ground. Five years later, 34,445 people gathered to witness an FA Cup fourth-round tie against Manchester United, the largest-ever attendance at the Racecourse. On 30 September 1959, the Racecourse saw the switching-on of the newly installed floodlights.
In 1978, after Wrexham was promoted to the former Second Division, the Border Stand was built, taking its name from the Border Breweries which owned the ground. That 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 came about in 1999, after Grant Aid from Sport Lot, the Welsh Development Agency and the Football Trust, together with local sponsorship, financed the construction of a stand on the Mold Road side of the ground. The new structure was originally named the Pryce Griffiths Stand, after the then chairman, but was renamed the Mold Road Stand after Griffiths sold the club to Alex Hamilton. The 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, thus permitting international football and rugby union to be played at the Racecourse once again.
In August 2025, the club completed a comprehensive £1.7 million pitch overhaul that included the installation of undersoil heating, enhanced drainage systems, and goal-line technology to meet UEFA compliance standards. The renovation also saw the pitch repositioned two metres toward the Kop end and the dugouts relocated to the opposite touchline.

Controversial ownership (2002–2006)

In 2002, then Wrexham F.C. chairman, William Pryce Griffiths, secured a 125-year lease on the Racecourse from Wolverhampton Dudley Breweries, for £750,000 and a peppercorn annual rent of £1. The club hosted TNS vs Liverpool in a UEFA Champions League qualifier in 2005.
On 26 June 2002, the freehold of the Racecourse Ground was acquired by Wrexham A.F.C. from Wolverhampton Dudley Breweries, for £300,000. On the same day, chairman, Alex Hamilton, transferred the ownership of the freehold from Wrexham A.F.C. to another of his companies, Damens Ltd, for a nominal fee. After that controversial change in ownership, the 125-year lease on the Racecourse, held by Wrexham F.C., was renegotiated. The new lease stated that Damens Ltd could evict Wrexham F.C. 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.
In 2004, Wrexham F.C. was given a years' notice to quit the ground, which triggered a furious reaction from fans. In a legal case running until March 2006, the High Court ruled that the ownership of the freehold of the ground had been improperly transferred, and ownership reverted to the club's then-administrators, the club having gone into administration in December 2004, with debts of £2,600,000.

Transfer to Wrexham Village Ltd (2006–2016)

With the club's emergence from administration in May 2006, ownership of the ground passed to a new company, Wrexham Football Club Ltd, owned by Geoff Moss and Ian Roberts. They transferred the ownership of the ground to a new holding company, Wrexham Village Ltd, which owned both the new football club company, and later purchased the rugby league club, Crusaders, from its owners in Bridgend, South Wales. Thus the new company had two tenants for the stadium.
To make a permanent cash injection into the sporting clubs, Wrexham Village proposed in 2008 a joint venture development with a yet-to-be chosen third party, to develop a student village area near the site of the Kop stand. The £40 million project was to be developed in conjunction with Wrexham University to house over 800 students, and take place in two phases. The club would benefit from either land-lease income, or joint ownership within the development, and hence receive rental income direct from the tenants. However, due to the global recession that year, the company found it hard to find a development partner, and the freehold of the land, along with the development plans, was eventually sold in 2009 to another company owned by Moss and Roberts.
In August 2011, after a period of instability at Wrexham Village Ltd, which owned the stadium and both the football and rugby league clubs, the company agreed to sell the stadium and associated training grounds to Wrexham University. The proposed deal, subject to financial terms agreed by both parties, would allow both sporting teams to continue using the facilities. The purchase of the ground also resulted in the re-branding of the stadium, incorporating the university's name.
On 19 May 2014, work began at the Racecourse, which included a new pitch and sprinkler system, and changing rooms for players and officials. The medical and treatment facilities were also upgraded, together with improved seating for disabled supporters, better floodlighting and removal of cambers at the Kop end of the ground. That meant the stadium was reclassified to Category 3 level, meaning it was able to host international football matches.

University ownership (2016–2022)

In August 2016, Wrexham University and Wrexham A.F.C. signed a contract that signalled a new future for the Racecourse. The lease from the university was branded as "My Racecourse".
The university, having saved the ground from possible extinction, handed operational control to the football club as part a 99-year lease.

Club ownership, sponsorship rebranding (2022–present)

After the takeover by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the club began talks with Wrexham University to purchase the freehold of the ground. On 29 June 2022, the club purchased the freehold of the stadium from the university.
In 2022, Wrexham Council launched a stadium redevelopment bid to be partly funded by the "levelling up" fund, a UK Government initiative aiming at increasing public investment outside south-east England. The construction of a new Kop stand, improved media, broadcast, and floodlight facilities, a car park, and groundworks for a future convention centre and hotel were presented as enabling the return of competitive Wales national football fixtures. Former Wales footballers Mickey Thomas and Malcolm Allen served as figureheads for the bid.
On 25 May 2023, it was announced that, following a sponsorship deal with STōK Cold Brew Coffee, the stadium was to be known by the sponsorship name "STōK Cae Ras", also referred as the "STōK Racecourse" in English. The sponsorship name was officially adopted on 1 July 2023. It is also referred to in Welsh as Cae Ras STōK. On 16 April 2024, Gatorade is named as official sports drink and as part of partnership will be on sidelines.
On 30 July 2025, planning application submitted for additional 2,250 seats in new Kop Stand.
In August 2025, a new £1.7 million pitch revamp, complete with undersoil heating and new drainage, has been completed. The changes also include the installation of goal-line technology. The seeding and stitching operation to make Wrexham's surface compliant with European football's regulations was only part of an overhaul that included moving both dugouts to the opposite side of the pitch, building a new TV gantry, reconfiguring stands to squeeze in extra seats, erecting two new giant TV screens at one end and taking down the old scoreboard at the other. The pitch has been extended in length to allow for rugby matches to be played in the future and also shifted a couple of metres towards the Kop. This meant the new two-level TV gantry had to be situated slightly to the side of its predecessor, to ensure the main camera position remains on halfway. There was also the dismantling of a temporary stand, plus the all-important deactivation of a live electric cable underneath the old Kop, as preparatory work continues ahead of the new 7,500-capacity stand starting to go up, on schedule, in the autumn.