Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney deliver Wrexham takeover promise as Wales make return
Senior men’s international football will return to the Racecourse Ground - the oldest international venue in world football - for the first time since 2019
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Emily Atack visits Wrexham Football Club
Wales are to return to Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground for the first time in four-and-a-half years as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney delivered one of their key takeover promises.
Rob Page’s senior men’s team will face Gibraltar in a friendly on October 11, ensuring that Wales will return to Wrexham for the first time since a 1-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago in March 2019, when Ben Woodburn struck the winner in front of a crowd of 10,326.
The Racecourse Ground - which will be known as the STōK Cae Ras this season for sponsorship reasons - first hosted a Cymru game in 1877, making it the oldest international football venue in the world.
Work is currently taking place on the ground with the Kop end being redeveloped into a new 5,000 seater stand, which Wrexham - who return to the Football League this season after 15 years away - hope will be completed in time for the start of the 2024-25 campaign.
Hollywood owners Reynolds and McElhenney made returning international football to the Racecourse Ground one of their five ‘hard promises’ during their pitch to take over the club in November 2020.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney vowed that Wales will return to the Racecourse Ground (
Image:
Getty Images)
Speaking to fans on a Zoom meeting as they outlined their plans, the pair said that they wanted to “Explore the renovation of the Racecourse Ground and improve the venue for the club, for International matches and perhaps, the occasional Tom Jones gig.”
The Racecourse hosted two Kings of Leon gigs this summer, and the club, who are currently in America on a pre-season tour, is gearing up for their League Two return with a home match against MK Dons on August 5.
Wales are currently in disappointing form and have taken just one win from their first four matches in Euro 2024 qualifying, which comes off the back of their disappointing display at the Qatar World Cup.
Cymru host South Korea in a friendly in Cardiff on September 7, before continuing their Euros campaign away at Latvia on September 11. The Gibraltar game then comes the following month before a home qualifier against Croatia.
“Being born and bred in the Wrexham area, I am incredibly proud to see Cymru returning to the oldest international football stadium in the world,” said FAW president Steve Williams.
Wales have suffered a disappointing start to their Euro 2024 qualifying campaign (
Image:
Football Association of Wales)
“With the commitment of the FAW and the exciting re-development work taking place at the STōK Cae Ras, I’m hopeful this opens the door for further matches to take place in Wrexham across all our national teams and age groups, including our UEFA U19 EURO finals bid for 2026 to celebrate our 150th anniversary.”
FAW CEO Noel Mooney added: “We are very excited to be bringing international football back to the north in October.
“Members of the Red Wall in the area make an incredible commitment when travelling to the Cardiff City Stadium for our home qualifiers, and hopefully we can give a performance to be proud of against Gibraltar.”
