By Paul Jones
Wrexham owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds plan to develop the club’s SToK Racecourse home into a stadium with up to 55,000 seats.
The Red Dragons will be playing in League One next season after back-to-back promotions and attracting a worldwide fan-base following the success of the FX docuseries ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ and the presence of their Hollywood A-listers.
https://twitter.com/BBCSportWales/status/1785949851718398313
But Wrexham’s historic ground only holds around 12,600 fans at present, with a temporary stand currently standing on the derelict Kop end behind one goal.
“We have a plan in place right now that would work from stand to stand so eventually you get all four sides,” McElhenney said in an interview with entertainment website Collider.
“It’s hard to say for sure, but we think we could get between 45,000 and 55,000 people in there.”
To which Reynolds added: “Like the whole town could come to a game.”
Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney say their long-term ambition is to increase the club’s stadium capacity to as much as 55,000!
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— BBC Sport Wales (@BBCSportWales) May 1, 2024
McElhenney and Reynolds, however, expressed frustration with “bureaucratic red tape” over UK building regulations.
“Of course safety concerns and all those regulations are in place for a reason, but then some things just seem hurdles for hurdles’ sake,” McElhenney said.
“It’s a lot harder to build in the UK than I have found almost anywhere else in the world.
“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.”
https://twitter.com/sportbible/status/1785765055612530867
Wrexham’s Racecourse ground is the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts matches, having staged its first Wales home game in 1877.
Developing the stadium significantly would almost certainly result in Wales returning to Wrexham on a more regular basis.
Wales’ senior men’s team have only played at the Racecourse twice since 2009, low-profile friendlies against Trinidad & Tobago and Gibraltar.
McElhenney and Reynolds, meanwhile, have reportedly purchased an undisclosed minority stake in Mexican club Necaxa.
American entertainment publication Variety said the pair join other investors such as actress Eva Longoria, model Kate Upton, NFL star Odell Beckham Jr and former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil at the top-tier club.
https://twitter.com/philblanche/status/1785610520755671447
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