Wrexham FC have had a lot of eyes on them recently thanks to their new Hollywood owners. These extra eyes on the team means a lot of people aren’t aware of the history associated with the team and more specifically, the ground.
Why is Wrexham FC ground called The Racecourse? The Wrexham FC ground is called The Racecourse because it is on the ground of a former racecourse. Horse Racing has a long history in Wrexham.
The explanation behind the name of Wrexham’s ground is quite simple. The Racecourse Stadium is actually one of the most historic in Wales and it is the world’s oldest international football stadium, having hosted Wales’ first ever home international match in 1877.
The name has been around since the stadium was created and it is a pretty simple one. The site of the ground used to be a racecourse. Race meetings have been held in Wrexham since the 1600s, with the Wrexham racecourse being built around 1739. It was the host of The Wrexham Races which brought a huge amount of people to the town.
The races were incredibly successful for almost a century, but the races were eventually stopped in 1857 when the landowner withdrew his support. The races had started to become notorious for drunkenness and public disorder. So after the owner withdrew his support, the racecourse needed a change to secure its future.
This led to the formation of the Wrexham Football and Athletic Club which was aimed to secure a club for the working class to have a healthy activity. This club played its first game at the Racecourse in October 1864 and Wrexham have played its games at the Racecourse ever since.
With Wrexham becoming much more popular than the Wrexham races, the Racecourse was eventually transitioned into a football stadium full-time in the future decades. It became one of the biggest football stadiums in Wales and held an international game in 1877. The ground has a huge amount of history.
By John Lord from Edinburgh, Scotland – Racecourse Ground, Wrexham
How much has Ryan Reynolds invested in Wrexham?
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney made headlines when they purchased Wrexham AFC in 2021. But while the initial figure of £2.5 million is how much the pair paid for the club, they will have invested a lot more money than just that.
While the money from the sale was huge, the pair have made some big investments into the team outside of that. They will have likely put in more millions to the club when they purchased Wrexham’s home stadium. It is likely this will be another couple of millions that they put into the club.
Wrexham also now have a large budget compared to where they are in the English league system at the moment. It has allowed them to bring in talent who should be playing at a higher level. It is rumoured that Wrexham now have the largest budget of any team in the Conference and that will be down to further investment from Reynolds and McElhenney.
It is difficult to put an exact figure on how much money the new owners have invested into Wrexham. It will likely be at least £5 million at the time of writing based on the purchase price of the club, the club purchasing the Racecourse Ground as well as some of the signings the club has made over the last 18 months.
This figure will likely continue to rise as both of the new owners have big dreams for the club which will require quite a large investment. This large investment could in the future mean that the pair will have to invest more than £10 million in the club if they want to continue the rise of Wrexham.
Are Rob and Ryan making money from Wrexham?
Some people might think that the purchase of Wrexham AFC by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds could have been financial. But at the moment, it is clear that their motivation is not financial.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are not making money from Wrexham at the moment. Despite a huge number of eyes being drawn to the Conference club, the new owners are certainly pouring a lot more money into the club than they are getting out of it.
At the time of writing, Wrexham AFC are in the fifth division of English football. The Racecourse Ground is often sold out by the local support, but that does not mean that the club are bringing in a huge amount of money. The club will have low revenue due to a small stadium and low prize money.
Considering the millions that their new owners have put into the club, there is no way that at the moment the club are making that money back. When the pair bought Wrexham, it was clear that they were in it for the long run. Wrexham will likely not be able to make much profit until they can climb the leagues.
It could be many years before we see them getting closer to the top of the English football tier system. So for quite a while, Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds will not be making money from Wrexham.
How much did Wrexham pay for Paul Mullin?
Paul Mullin has been Wrexham’s star man since they signed him in July 2021. He has been crucial to the club and so people have wondered how much Wrexham had to fork out for him.
Wrexham did not have to pay a transfer fee for Paul Mullin. At the end of the 2020-21 season, he did not agree to a new contract with EFL League Two team Cambridge United, despite being the league’s top scorer. This made him a free agent. Cambridge did offer Mullin a new contract.
But Wrexham’s offer for Mullin was better and he signed for the Welsh team to begin the 2021-22 season. While Wrexham did not have to pay a transfer fee for him, they are rumoured to be paying Mullin around £4,500 per week which makes him one of the highest-paid players outside of the English Football League.