Wrexham A.F.C.
Wrexham Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Formed in 1864, it is the oldest club in Wales and the third-oldest professional football team in the world. The club competes in the, the second tier of the English football league system.
Domestically, the club has won the Welsh Cup a record twenty-three times, the short-lived FAW Premier Cup a record five times, the Football League Trophy in 2005 and the FA Trophy in 2013. Recently, following five unsuccessful play-off campaigns in the National League, Wrexham achieved three promotions in three seasons, from 2022 to 2025, through: winning the 2022–23 National League and finishing runners-up in the 2023–24 EFL League Two and in the 2024–25 EFL League One. Thus, securing a spot in the EFL Championship, and becoming the first ever team to be promoted three consecutive times in the English Football League.
Internationally, Wrexham competed in the European Cup Winners' Cup / UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on multiple occasions through success in the Welsh Cup –– reaching the quarter-finals once in 1976, as well as beating FC Porto and drawing with teams such as Real Zaragoza and Anderlecht during their time in the competition. However, following changes made to the Welsh Cup competition in 1995, Welsh clubs playing in the English Football system were no longer permitted to enter and therefore, had to qualify for European competition exclusively via the English system. In 2012, UEFA reiterated that Welsh clubs playing in the English football league system could not qualify for European competitions via the Welsh Cup, after Wrexham rejoined for one season in 2011–12.
Wrexham received major financial investment after its 2020 takeover by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds through Wrexham Holdings LLC, starting a new era of success. This acquisition, alongside the global publicity of the Welcome to Wrexham documentary series, had a significant impact on the club's visibility, resulting in an unprecedented new international fanbase for a team that were in the fifth division.
The club'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's main rivalries are with English clubs Chester, Shrewsbury Town, and Tranmere Rovers, with matches against Chester being known as the cross-border derby. In addition, Wrexham have been referred to as cup "giant-killers", due to unexpected successes against top-flight opponents, such as upsetting the reigning league champions Arsenal in the 1992 FA Cup.
History
A club of pioneers (1863–1921)
On 12 October 1863, a group of local businessmen formed a new organisation 'The United Volunteer Services Club' to provide athletic sport for the young men of Wrexham, in order to keep them from spending their spare time in public houses.This organisation provided the ideological basis for the future formation of Wrexham Football Club, which is now the oldest football club 'still in existence today' that was founded according to temperance principles. Evan Morris, Charles Edward Kershaw and Joseph Wilbraham Clark were 3 of the founding members of the United Volunteer Services Club, who were also members of the Denbighshire County Cricket Club; and they used their influence within the cricket club to bring their ideals to fruition.
Wrexham Football Club was formed on 4 October 1864, in The Turf Tavern, by members of the cricket club who wanted to provide sporting activity for the young men of the town throughout the winter months. This makes them the fifth oldest association football team, the third oldest professional club and the oldest in Wales. Their first game was played on 22 October 1864 at the Denbighshire County Cricket Ground, against 10 men of the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade. The 10 founding members who played for Wrexham Football Club in that first ever game were; Charles Edward Kershaw, William Tootell, Thomas Broster, Thomas Hanmer, Edward Ephraim Knibbs, Thomas Heath, Thomas Henry Sykes, John Taylor, George Rumsey Johnston, and Joseph Roberts. The club lost 1-2 to the brigade.
In these early years, Wrexham were leaders of the campaign to restrict teams to eleven players on the pitch at any one time. In 1876, the newly formed Football Association of Wales organised the Welsh national team's first international match against Scotland, where trials were held at the Racecourse Ground and two Wrexham players, Edwin Cross and Alfred Davies made the squad.
In the 1877–78 season, the FAW inaugurated the Welsh Cup competition, to run on similar lines to the English FA Cup. Wrexham won the final of the inaugural competition, defeating Druids F.C. 1–0, thanks to James Davies scoring the winning goal. Due to a lack of money at the fledgling FAW, Wrexham did not receive their trophy until the next year. In this decade, Wrexham mostly played in friendly matches against Welsh and English opponents and, as such, the Welsh Cup provided most of their competitive football.
Disputes with the landlords of the Racecourse Ground –– who had raised the rent to £10 a year –– resulted in Wrexham playing their home games at Rhosddu Recreation Ground during the 1881–82 and 1882–83 seasons. The club's name also changed to Wrexham Athletic for one season. However, in the 1883–84 season, the club moved back to the Racecourse Ground and have played their home games there ever since.
In 1883, Wrexham won their second Welsh Cup, and made their first appearance in the FA Cup. In the FA Cup, Wrexham received a bye into the second round of the competition and were defeated 3–4 at home by Oswestry. Misconduct from the Wrexham crowd at the game resulted in the club's expulsion from the Football Association and subsequently, Wrexham were forced to reform in 1884 as Wrexham Olympic.
In 1890, Wrexham joined The Combination league, playing their first game against Gorton Villa on 6 September 1890, with Arthur Lea scoring Wrexham's only goal in a 5–1 defeat, and Wrexham finished their first season in eighth place. The club played in the Combination for four years before a rapid increase in costs resulted in the club joining the Welsh League in the 1894–95 season. Wrexham won the Welsh League in back-to-back seasons, but decided to return to the Combination in 1896, as despite the reduced support they received, the savings made on their traveling expenses outweighed the reduction in gate revenue. The club remained in the Combination until 1905, by which time they had managed to win the league four times.
In 1905, after several unsuccessful attempts, Wrexham was finally elected to the Birmingham and District League in time for the 1905–06 season. During this debut season, Wrexham won their first league match 2–1 against Kidderminster Harriers at home in front of two thousand spectators, and finished the season sixth. During their time in the Birmingham and District League, Wrexham won the Welsh Cup six times. Additionally, Wrexham reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time, in the 1908–09 season, before losing a replay 1–2 to Exeter City after extra time.
Into the Football League (1921–1968)
In 1921, Wrexham was a founding member of the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League. In this debut season, Wrexham achieved many of the club's Football League "firsts", such as: Ted Regan scoring Wrexham's first league hat-trick; and Brian Simpson becoming the first Wrexham player to be sent off during a league match, against Southport in January 1922. Charlie Hewitt was the club's first-ever manager during this period.From the 1926–27 season to the 1939–40 season, Wrexham were a consistent presence in the Third Division North. In the 1928–29 season, a record thirty-two league goals from Albert Mays helped Wrexham achieve third place and also, marked the debut of club legend Tommy Bamford. Bamford went on to score 201 goals for the club during his time at the Racecourse Ground. In the following season, Wrexham recorded their biggest league win at the time, when they defeated Rochdale 8–0. During the 1932–33 season, Wrexham had their best Third Division North performance, when they finished runners-up to Hull City and won 18 of their 21 home games during the course of the season. In the final season during this period, Wrexham appeared in their now-familiar red and white kit colours for the first time. The club's best FA Cup performance prior to the Second World War was in the 1927–28 season, where Wrexham fought their way to the fourth round before they lost 0–1 to Birmingham City.
During the Second World War years, when long cross-county trips were impossible due to the war, Wrexham played in the Regional League West against local teams from Merseyside and Manchester, amongst others in the northwest region. The club's position as a barracks town meant that the team could secure the services of many famous guest players such as Stanley Matthews, Stan Cullis, and others.
In the post-war period, the club made its first-ever tour abroad in 1949, when the team played three matches against the British army in Germany. In the 1956–57 season, Wrexham reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, where they played Manchester United's Busby Babes in front of a crowd of 34,445 people at the Racecourse, which still remains a club record. The 5–0 defeat did not spoil the occasion for the large home crowd, and later that season Wrexham managed to win the Welsh Cup for the first time in 26 years.
Following the 1959–60 season, the club was relegated to a lower tier for the first time in their history and consequently, were dropped into the newly created Football League Fourth Division. However, the appointment of Ken Barnes as player-manager during the 1961–62 season, helped Wrexham achieve promotion back to the Third Division, as well as their greatest league victory to date. Two years after this promotion, Wrexham was relegated to the Fourth Division again, and in 1966 they finished rock-bottom at 92nd in the Football League after an extremely disappointing season.