Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney announce big plans for Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground with a long-term ambition is to increase it to 55,000.
A new 5,500 all-seater stand is already planned at the stadium as a replacement for the Kop end, which has been unused since 2007, until the temporary stand was placed earlier this season.
This was due to delays for when the work was suppose to start, so instead of leaving it empty, a 2,289 stand was erected and has boosted the attendance this season from 9-10,000 to 12,000.
Rob and Ryan have BIG plans for the Racecourse Ground 🏟️
“We have a plan in place right now…we think we could get between 45,000 – 55,000 people in there.” 😮 #WxmAFC
— RobRyanRed – Wrexham AFC Podcast (@RobRyanRed) April 30, 2024
The Hollywood duo have been promoting season three of the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary, and in an interview this week, they have outlined their future plans for the stadium.
“We have a plan in place right now that would eventually work from stand to stand, so eventually you get all four sides,” McElhenney said to American entertainment website Collider.
They wanted the Kop stand to be ready for the start of the 2024-25 season, of which Wrexham will be playing League One football, but Reynolds and McElhenney were instead frustrated by delays to the project.
“I think the thick buttress of bureaucracy is the biggest problem,” said Reynolds.
“I live in New York, Rob lives in LA [Los Angeles], where construction is very different, in as much as they will charge you $10 for every $1 you spend.
“But in Wales, it really is a lot of red tape, and it’s just sort of figuring out ways to tick all those boxes and make sure that every single bureaucrat is happy.”
McElhenney agreed with him, adding: “It is definitely a comedic point of consternation in the show how often we’re running up against bureaucracy.
“And, of course, safety concerns and things like that, and all those regulations are there in place for a reason, but then there are some things that just seem like hurdles for hurdles’ sake.
In presenting these proposed designs of the new stand, co-chairmen Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds said a few years ago: “Back in February 2021, when we first became custodians of the Club, it was identified that reverting the Racecourse Ground to a four-sided stadium was a priority for us.
“The desire to achieve this objective has only been multiplied by the fact that the sold-out signs were a regular feature at the Racecourse Ground, and we want the Club to be accessible to everyone, so the increased capacity is key to achieving this.
“We would encourage everyone to support the planning application when it is submitted and would like to thank Wrexham Council, Welsh Government & Wrexham Glyndwr University (together the Gateway Partnership) who are fully committed to making the new Kop a reality.
“Finally, a big thank you to our design team, AFL Architects, Gardiner & Theobald, Ramboll, Savills and Royal Pilgrim.”
The new 5,500 capacity stand will include a hospitality lounge, office & retail space for the Club, along with facilities for the Wrexham AFC Community Trust to enhance their work further.
Of the capacity, 5,000 will be allocated for General Admission to meet the loyal demand of supporters and will be in the form of a seat with a rail immediately in front. This will allow the Club to meet the all-seater criteria of UEFA’s Category 4 status, while allowing supporters to stand for Wrexham fixtures. An example of the seating will be installed in the car park at the Racecourse Ground for supporters to view during the next four weeks.
The balance of 500 seats will be of a corporate style with direct access from the hospitality lounge. Accessible seating will be available at elevated positions throughout the stand, improving accessibility and providing unparalleled views for fans with restricted mobility.
The external elevations have been designed to recognise Wrexham’s link with the coal mining industry, a theme that will be continued in the public realm areas around the Kop.
The matchday concourse area will become an exhibition space for events on non-matchdays, to address the current gap in the local market and generate more economic activity and profile to benefit the Town.
This is how fans reacted as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney announce big plans for Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground…
@Paragoric: Think they’re beginning to lose the plot…good luck to the Wrexham fans who dont know all the jokes from Two guys a girl and a pizza place 👍🏻
@DR_7721: In my eyes, not even a football club anymore. Just a franchise. It’s a shame the way it’s gone for them. I feel for their proper fans who have lost their club
@djspireite: lol! The Darlington white elephant comes to mind straight away!
@msth_19: Its a disastrous idea in reality. We are never filling a 50k stadium
@Jimnewman2203: And its at this moment, Wrexham fans started to worry
@BluenoseV: UN-BE-LIEVABLE. My mind is officially blown. Between the partnership with Necaxa and now this 🤯😳🤯. The naysayers are talking about when the documentary will end and these two haven’t even reached cruising speed yet.
@NZ112018: Sounds ridiculous, but you could bring national games to north wales! Or six nations, or the rugby world cup!? Not even thinking about gigs
@froomielol: Let’s just focus on the one stand for now 😅
@MoynihanShon: It’s interesting that they’ve done everything they told you they would do. Instead of saying, “no way!”, why don’t you ask “how?”
@WrexhamAFC4: Not a chance we can get 50,000 🤣
@Jayfuz: Lads settle down you’ve been trying to make one stand for 3 years 😭😭
@ptownjake: While the INTL draw of Wrexham has for sure grown, filling that many seats, even in the PL, seems overly ambitious. Maybe that’s a 10-20 year plan, but 25K capacity in the next 5-10 feels more realistic and sustainable.
@TheWelshDragon9: Cae Ras at 45/55k 😮 Would be incredible for north Wales.
@georgemellor93: Honestly wouldn’t swap where we’re at now for this. Whole thing just makes me cringe
@markbutler1978: All I’m saying is there’s a PR game to play and they play it excellently whether they tell the truth or they lie through their teeth.
@Aidan1864: Let’s take one step at a time 😳Would be 15k Wrexham, 5k away fans, 30k tourists!
@rmcwxm: No chance we frequently sell out anything above 25k – 30k
@Hwxm2004: 16 thousand and potentially growing to 20 if we better the stands we already have is more than enough as we would struggle to sell 20k, only reason to go bigger would be for Cymru games but wouldn’t sacrifice atmosphere for national games #WxmAFC #Cymru
@DewiHughes_: Wouldn’t get above 25k even if we were in the Championship pushing for promotion. One step at a time eh 😆
@capaled: If this happens those student flats will have to be gone
@robj_j: This is years off , maybe even decades ….no point people getting agitated about it now . The plan for the club stretches out over 20 years . There’s no point in limiting ambition over that timescale
@gareth_90210: 20/25k is a more realistic capacity. Don’t want to end up like Swansea and Cardiff, in nice half empty stadiums.
@Chris_De_Burger: Remember when everyone laughed about their aim to get to premiership. It’s called future planning.
— (P) Beardy 🏴 (@beardywxm) April 30, 2024
Any chance we can get a training ground first? Thanks in advance chaps 👍🏼 https://t.co/RLq0Vbt1FL
— Mark Creighton (@creights5) April 30, 2024
Mold Road, circa 2053. https://t.co/Od9Bkg8iMl pic.twitter.com/B0bltPIYio
— tom (@tjrin21) April 30, 2024
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