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A guide to Wrexham Football Club

Other Club Guides

The Racecourse Ground: Home of Wrexham Football Club

The Racecourse Ground.

 

 

Luton Town v Wrexham

WREXHAM were promoted from Division Three (now League Two) in 2002-03, having been relegated the previous season.  Their main claim to fame, however, is arguably an FA Cup win over the mighty Arsenal...

 

Address:

Racecourse Ground

Mold Road

Wrexham
LL11 2AH

Telephone:

01978 - 357821

Ground Capacity:
15,500
Official Website:
www.wrexhamafc.co.uk
Unofficial Websites:

Red Passion Fanzine

Red Army Wrexham

Manchester Reds

London Reds

Shropshire Reds

The Dismal Jimmy

Robins Online

Dragons Mad!

How to get there:

By Car: 

From the North:

FROM the M6 (Jct 20) take the M56 to Chester and then the M53 (Wrexham) onto the A55 and then the A483 to Wrexham. Leave at the Wrexham bypass at the A541 Mold exit and follow ‘Town Centre’ signs with the ground clearly visible to your left.

From the South:

FROM M6 (Jct 10a) take the M54 to Telford and then the A5 onto Shrewsbury and Oswestry. Then pick up signs for A483 Wrexham. Leave the Wrexham bypass at the A541 Mold exit and follow the ‘Town Centre’ signs to the ground.

From the West:

CROSS the M6 from Stoke on the A500 to Nantwich. Then pick up signs for Wrexham A534. Approaching Wrexham, just passed the Golf Club, bear right at the roundabout and follow signs for the A483. Join the A483 Wrexham bypass, southbound towards Oswestry for one junction and exit onto the A541 Mold. Follow ‘Town Centre’ signs to the ground.

By Rail:

WREXHAM General Station is a two-minute walk away with services to Chester (northbound), Shrewsbury (southbound) and Birkenhead.

Parking:

NONE available at the ground and street parking is limited. Cars can use the NEWI College next door, but beware parking on the Plas Coch Retail Park, as wheel clamps are in use. Town centre car parks are a 10-minute walk away.

Other than the football...:

ONE event in the Wrexham calendar that you should watch out for is Bangor-On-Dee Races (01978 - 780323) located in this small village about 10 minutes from the town centre. Make sure it's a nice day, otherwise practical footwear is a necessity.

If you're into stately homes, the National Trust owns two great examples in the Wrexham area. Erddig Hall (01978 - 313333) is a late 17th century residence with impressive gardens and is located not far from the town centre. Further outside the town, Chirk Castle (01691 - 777701) is just a 20 minute drive away and features 6 acres of gardens set in 500 acres of parkland. Any plans to visit more than one National Trust property and it may be worth enquiring about a season ticket or other discounts.

Eliugh Yale's final resting place

Eliugh Yale's grave.

Situated in the town centre itself and a prominent landmark is the Wrexham Parish Church also known as St. Giles. This regularly hosts a wedding or two every Saturday and is famed as the final resting place of Eliugh Yale.

Yale university brick in Wrexham Parish Church

Brick in Wrexham Church.

When it comes to the match, travelling fans are usually made welcome at the Plas Coch pub on the retail park, to your left at the second roundabout as you come off the bypass and head towards the ground. Other than that it is a case of heading into the town centre (a 10-minute walk) where there are plenty of pubs and food outlets.

You can search and book hotels located right near to Wrexham's Racecourse Ground stadium by clicking HERE.

A Hatter and a Dragon - Dwight Marshall
A Hatter and a Pilgrim: Dwight Marshall

Dwight Marshall.

DWIGHT MARSHALL moved from his home country of Jamaica at a young age across to England where he started to get interested in football. After playing in the local Leagues, Marshall was a late comer to football when he signed for his local semi-professional team, Grays Athletic, at the age of 25.

Noted for his ability to take on opponents and, of course, his scoring record with Grays, a number of League scouts watched with great interest. It was Plymouth Argyle who took what perhaps was seen as a gamble at the time for a player with relatively no experience, but at 25 was already at his peak. Grays let him go to Home Park for a record £35,000 in the summer of 1991.

Marshall's time at Home Park made him a fans' favourite, notching 36 goals in 124 games for Argyle. His strong points were his devasting pace and cool finishing and his form at Argyle was attracting the scouts of Premiership and Division One clubs as Marshall shot to the top of the goal scoring charts. Dwight had a brief spell on-loan to Middlesbrough in 1993 as he failed to hold down a first-team place, playing three times for Boro without scoring, but an injury crisis led to his return to Home Park and a return to form saw him back in the team and back amongst the goals.

Marshall's goals had helped Plymouth into the Second Division and although a big asset, Argyle accepted a £150,000 bid from Luton Town in the summer of 1994 for Marshall's services.

Town boss David Pleat had singled out his pace and finishing as Marshall's strong points and Marshall didn't turn down the opportunity of joining a bigger club nearer his family. The Town were in the First Division at the time and the move was an ideal opportunity to further his career.

Marshall made his Luton debut on the opening day of the 1994-95 season, coming on as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion at Kenilworth Road, and a week later he made his full debut in an excellent 0-0 draw away at Derby County.

Marshall's first Luton goal came in a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage against Fulham in the Second Leg of a First Round tie of the League Cup, the Hatters eventually losing 4-3 on penalties the same night.

His first League goal for the Hatters also came away, his strike was the only goal in a 1-0 win at Port Vale, the start of an excellent season for both Marshall and the Hatters, especially away.

As the Town mounted a promotion push, Marshall was at the front leading the way with his goals. His second goal for the club was in a  2-1 win at Stoke City and he netted two more in a 5-1 thumping of Champions-elect Middlesbrough at Kenilworth Road.

Big spending Wolves were rolled over at Molineux, the Town taking a 3-0 lead, Marshall scoring one of the goals in an eventual 3-2 win.

Making the number 11 shirt his own, Marshall missed just one game that season, a 2-1 away win at Swindon Town. But he scored a further seven goals after Christmas. Scoring twice at home to Oldham and the return match at home to Swindon and further goals at home to Millwall and away at Burnley and the FA Cup replay against Bristol Rovers.

Marshall's form had alerted the attentions of some of the bigger clubs, as the Hatters finished the season mid-table, with Marshall netting 13 goals and finishing as the clubs leading scorer.

The following season was a disaster for both Marshall and the Hatters. He opened his account after only 30 seconds against Derby at Kenilworth Road, but Luton went on to lose 1-2. He opened to scoring at Reading, but the Town went on to lose 1-3, but he scored his third of the season in a 3-1 win over Portsmouth at Kenilworth Road - the Town's first win under rookie boss Terry Westley.

Two goals in a home win over Tranmere were followed by another goal in a 2-3 home defeat by Wolves, as the Town slipped to the bottom of Division One. Terry Westley left after a 0-4 thumping at Portsmouth and Lennie Lawrence was appointed manager. In Lawrence's first game in charge, Marshall scored the opening goal in a 2-2 home draw with Huddersfield.

Marshall scored the winner in a 3-2 win over Grimsby as the Town began to put some wins together and at one point the Hatters climbed out of the relegation places. However, after scoring the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Derby, in the next game, at Sunderland, Marshall broke his leg and was out for the rest of the season. This was to be the turning point in Luton's relegation battle as from then on the Hatters struggled without his goals and eventually were relegated to the Second Division. Despite breaking his leg and missing the last two months of the season, he still managed to score 13 League and Cup goals in 32 matches.

Recovering from injury, he returned to the Town side in January, making an appearance as a second-half substitute in a 2-3 defeat at Preston. His return to the first XI saw him score the opening goal in a 2-1 win at home against Bristol Rovers, and he followed that up with two more in the next two games at Bournemouth and at home to York. He scored twice to see off non-league Boreham Wood in the FA Cup and scored two more with goals against Shrewsbury and at Bolton in the FA Cup. Marshall, though, was frozen out towards the end of the season as Lennie Lawrence started with Tony Thorpe and David Oldfield and picked youngster Andrew Fotiadis ahead of him on the bench. Marshall finished the season with 7 goals in 32 League and Cup appearances as the Hatters finished third and missed out on promotion in the play-offs, losing to Crewe.

In a disappointing following season, Marshall made 31 League and Cup appearances, although 10 of those were coming off the bench as a substitute. The Town struggled and the loan signing of Rory Allen from Tottenham saved them from relegation. Marshall scored three goals, the opening goal in a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth and two more also away in a 2-2 draw at Brentford and a 3-2 win at Walsall.

At the beginning of the 1998-1999 season, Marshall signing a new three-month contract but was frozen out of the team. He made 7 appearances in the opening month of the season and scored in a 1-1 home draw with Preston. Marshall's last game for the Hatters was in a topsy-turvy encounter with Ipswich in which the Hatters won 4-2 in the League Cup over 2 Legs.

His former side Plymouth were keen to snap-up the services of one of their former players and he signed on a free transfer in late September 1998. The season he had with Argyle was another good one, scoring 12 goals in 31 games.

However, his spell at Home Park was short lived and the following season he decided to quit professional football, returned back to London and played for non-league Kingstonian.

Marshall re-appeared at Kenilworth Road in the 1999-00 season playing for the K's against the Hatters in the First Round of the FA Cup, a match which the Hatters won 4-2 after going 0-1 and 1-2 down. Marshall was given a standing ovation and the crowd sang "There's only one Dwight Marshall...". Marshall didn't score against the Town, but scored twice in 13 appearances that season, before moving to Ryman League outfit Slough Town.

After spending three years in and out of the team at Slough, at the start of the 2001-02 season, Dwight joined Ryman League Division 1 side Aylesbury United. Marshall was, at the time of writing this article, in the team and scored a hat-trick in Aylesbury's 5-0 win over Yeading in the Fourth Qualifying Round of the FA Cup - Aylesbury then went to Second Division Port Vale in Round 1 and lost 0-1, Marshall hitting the post with the score at 0-0.

Marshall's career was a great one and he was a true, honest professional. He was the Hatters and Plymouth's leading scorer when he played for them in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and, despite a broken leg, he still finished the Hatters top scorer in 1996. A quick and excellent finisher, Marshall was unlucky to have broken his leg, and perhaps, if it hadn't had happened, he would have played at a higher level and ensured the Hatters stayed in Division One.

The Club and The Ground

For a number of years, the Racecourse Ground had only three sides, with one side being open, following the demolition of the old Mold Stand. In 1999 this situation was rectified with the opening of  the Pryce Griffiths Stand (after the former Wrexham Chairman). This is a single-tiered all-seated stand that has greatly improved the overall ground appearance. It is semi-circular in design with a capacity of 3,500 seats. The other side, The Sainsbury's Stand, is a fair sized two-tiered covered stand, which is now all-seated, having previously had terracing at the front. One end, the Kop End, is a medium sized covered terrace, partly covered (to the rear) and is for home supporters. The other end, the Roberts Builders Stand, is covered and again is two-tiered and all-seated. There is an electric scoreboard on the roof of this stand.

Hatters fans are housed in the upper tier of the Roberts Builders Stand, where just over 2,000 fans can be accommodated. If demand requires it further, 1,000 can be accommodated in the lower tier. There are a couple of small supporting pillars in the upper tier of this stand. On my last visit I found Wrexham to be relaxed and friendly, with both sets of supporters mixing freely in the pubs beforehand. The atmosphere was generally good.  However, there were a section of Wrexham supporters in the Pryce Griffiths Stand who seemed to be permanently baiting the away fans. Inside the ground the delicious 'Football's Famous Chicken Balti Pie' 2.20) is available.

One time I went to Wrexham, Micky Thomas (who had been playing for Wrexham) had been allegedly caught passing forged notes. In one pub behind the bar, they had a sign asking staff to look out for forgeries. Behind the till they had a picture stuck up of one of these forged notes. It was a copy of a ten pound note and where the Queens Head should be they had a picture of Micky Thomas!

Ground Guide courtesy of the excellent Internet Football Ground Guide.

History - Wrexham Football Club

WREXHAM Football Club was formed in September 1872, when a meeting at the Turf Hotel of members from the local cricket club was held 'for the purpose of starting a football club for the ensuing season.'

The initial match was played in October 1872, a friendly between two sides made up of players from the new club. Two weeks later they played Grove Park School and won 2-0 in a 12-a-side game.

There were few rules in those days and line-ups often included 17 players on either side.

In 1876, with interest in football growing, Wrexham members were instrumental in forming the Cambrian Football Association, which within weeks had changed its name to the Football Association of Wales. In that same year, Wales played their first international, a match against Scotland at the Racecourse. A year later a new club competition was inaugurated, with Wrexham being the first ever winner of the Welsh Cup, a trophy the club has proudly won a record 23 times.

Wrexham joined the Combination League in 1890 and apart from two seasons in the Welsh League, have always played their league football over the border. A switch to the Birmingham League in 1905 lifted the standards at the Racecourse and led to election to the new Football League Third Division (North) in 1921.

Continuous membership of this division ended with reorganisation in 1958, when the Robins scrapped into the new national Third Division.

A series of promotions followed between the two lower divisions, although in 1962, the club did record the highest ever league score, beating Hartlepools United 10-1, a game that included three different hat-trick scorers!

In 1966 Wrexham hit rock bottom finishing 92nd and having to apply for re-election. This was to prove a turning point though, as Alvan Williams took over and brought with him a bright young coach named John Neal.

Neal's influence on the Racecourse can never under estimated. He initiated a youth policy that was to reap great rewards and he also completely rebuilt the club on the field.

Promotion from the Fourth followed in 1970, with the club then constantly near the top of the Third in the race for another step up. But it was cup football which brought national and international attention to Wrexham.

The ECWC of 1972-73 saw a victory over FC Zurich and then defeat on away goals to Hadjuk Split, before the 1975-76 run to the quarter-finals. Success against Djurgardens (Swe) and Stal Rzeszow (Pol) before Belgium giants Anderlecht squeezed through 2-1 on aggregate and went on to lift the trophy.

Promotion to Division Two was missed on the last day of 1976-77, but the following season Wrexham bounced back in style.

Arfon Griffiths had now taken over the reigns and he guided the team to the championship, as well as the quarter-finals of both the FA Cup and League Cup. The Welsh Cup was also won, with over 25,000 fans watching the two-legged final against Bangor City.

Following four seasons in the Second Division, relegation in 1983 heralded a low period for the club, as they then slipped into Division Four 12 months later and struggled for another five years.

Promotion under Dixie McNeil was snatched from their grasp just seven minutes from the end of the Play-Off Final with Leyton Orient in 1989. McNeil left six months later and Brian Flynn took over, starting a tenure at the Racecourse which is now the longest of any manager in the club's history.

With money very tight, the former Welsh international enlisted the help of £1 million man Kevin Reeves and local legend Joey Jones. Together the trio have used and developed the youth system to good effect, and after a close shave with demotion to the Conference struck back to beat League champions Arsenal in the FA Cup.

This was the spark that pointed the club towards promotion in 1993, together with a barrow load of goals from Gary Bennett.

Since then the club has lifted the Welsh Cup on the last occasion they were allowed to enter it and taken the FAW Premier Cup in two out of the three finals played.

Luton Town vWrexham...

A full rundown of all of the past meetings

 

 Home Matches  

Mar

19

1921

D3S

D

1

1

9000

Sep

24

1921

D3S

W

1

0

10000

Oct

21

1922

D3S

W

2

1

11000

Feb

23

1924

D3S

L

0

2

 

Jan

24

1925

D3S

D

1

1

 

Dec

28

1925

D3S

D

1

1

9717

Dec

18

1926

D3S

D

3

3

8175

Apr

7

1928

D3S

D

1

1

10451

Mar

11

1929

D3S

D

2

2

8289

Mar

15

1930

D3S

W

5

2

9051

Apr

9

1938

D2

D

1

1

11516

Jan

21

1939

D2

L

3

4

13120

Feb

1

1947

D2

L

3

4

15165

Sep

27

1947

D2

D

0

0

19244

Dec

25

1948

D2

W

3

1

17109

Dec

3

1949

D2

D

1

1

13273

Dec

20

1952

D2

W

1

0

13055

Jan

2

1954

D2

W

2

1

9694

Oct

16

1954

D2

W

3

1

15059

Jan

14

1961

D2

W

3

2

13873

Dec

23

1961

D2

L

0

2

8410

Apr

27

1963

D2

W

3

0

6853

Dec

21

1968

D3

W

2

0

10971

Jan

17

1970

D3

L

0

2

12358

Sep

24

1975

D2

D

1

1

9226

Mar

12

1977

D2

D

1

1

12793

Feb

8

1997

ND2

D

2

2

6827

Oct

11

1997

ND2

W

3

0

4931

Feb

2

2002

ND3

W

2

0

9585

Report

Feb

26

2002

ND2

W

1

0

7589

Report

 

 Away Matches  

Mar

12

1921

D3S

L

0

1

10000

Oct

1

1921

D3S

L

0

2

19000

Oct

28

1922

D3S

L

0

4

10000

Feb

16

1924

D3S

D

0

0

 

Sep

20

1924

D3S

L

0

4

 

Apr

10

1926

D3S

L

3

4

12641

May

7

1927

D3S

L

0

1

8142

May

2

1928

D3S

L

0

4

4719

Apr

20

1929

D3S

L

0

2

8484

Nov

9

1929

D3S

L

1

6

15073

Nov

27

1937

D2

W

4

2

18969

Sep

17

1938

D2

L

1

4

15083

Sep

28

1946

D2

L

1

2

27535

Feb

14

1948

D2

W

3

1

22175

Dec

27

1948

D2

D

1

1

32241

Apr

8

1950

D2

D

0

0

16977

Aug

23

1952

D2

L

1

2

28836

Aug

29

1953

D2

D

2

2

22574

Mar

5

1955

D2

L

1

2

25975

Sep

3

1960

D2

D

1

1

21408

Aug

26

1961

D2

W

3

0

15299

Dec

8

1962

D2

L

1

3

9029

Oct

19

1968

D3

L

0

2

12659

Sep

27

1969

D3

W

3

1

14111

Feb

24

1976

D2

L

0

3

13927

Oct

2

1976

D2

L

0

1

12187

Nov

2

1996

ND2

D

3

3

7134

Feb

28

1998

ND2

W

2

0

4846

Sep

29

2001

ND3

L

1

2

5782

Report

Aug

17

2002

ND2

L

1

2

10973

Report

Sep

13

2003

ND2

L

1

2

9894

Report

 
OTHERS WHO HAVE BEEN A HATTER AND A DRAGON
Name DOB First Season Last Season Sold To League Apps. League Goals
Jack Lewis - 1937 1937 Wrexham 2 0
Harvey McCreadie 01/10/42 1959 1959 Wrexham 1 0
Andy Dibble 08/05/65 1984 and 1997 1988 and 1997 Manchester City and Middlesbrough 40 0

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