Wrexham A.F.C.: Difference between revisions
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=== The Division Two days 1993 - 2001 === |
=== The Division Two days 1993 - 2001 === |
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The 1992/93 season saw |
The 1992/93 season saw Wrexham manager Brian Flynn Make a shrewd signing when he enlisted the services of Gary Bennett, he soon settled and helped Wrexham into the promotion race. Wrexhams season came to a head on 27th April 1993 when with two games left they travelled to Northampton requiring a win to gain promotion, the game ended 2-0 to Wrexham and the 4,500 reds there were jubilent. |
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The 1994/95 season would see Wrexham achieve succes in the FA Cup, Having beaten Stockport and Rotherham they faced Premier league Ipswich Town at the racecourse, Wrexham running out 2-1 winners thanks to Gary Bennett and Kieron Durkan. In the next roun Wrexham were drawn away to Manchester United and despite taking the lead, United went on to win 5-2.The 1995/96 season saw Wrexham in European action again, this time in Romania against Petrolul Ploiesti, the home leg ended in a 0-0 draw and in the reyurn lleg the romanians scored the onlt goal of the match. |
The 1994/95 season would see Wrexham achieve succes in the FA Cup, Having beaten Stockport and Rotherham they faced Premier league Ipswich Town at the racecourse, Wrexham running out 2-1 winners thanks to Gary Bennett and Kieron Durkan. In the next roun Wrexham were drawn away to Manchester United and despite taking the lead, United went on to win 5-2.The 1995/96 season saw Wrexham in European action again, this time in Romania against Petrolul Ploiesti, the home leg ended in a 0-0 draw and in the reyurn lleg the romanians scored the onlt goal of the match. |
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The 1996/97 season saw Wrexham set off on another amazing cup run, following wins at Colwyn Bay and Scunthorpe United, They were drawn to play West Ham United at home, The result ended in a 1-1 draw on a snow-coverd pitch, the replay at upton park ended in a shock Wrexham win as Kevin Russell scored in the dying minutres to send Wrexham in to round 4. after thet beat Peterborough united and Birmingham City, they plaed Chesterfield in a Division 2 FA Cup Quater final, wrexham lost narrowly 1-0. Wrexham's new traing ground was officially opend in June 1997 at a cost of £700,000. The1999/2000 season saw Wrexham again beat top flight team in the FA Cup, this time it was Middlesbrough who with the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Gary Pallistar and Juninho were the clear favourites, 1-0 down at half-time, Wrexham ran out 2-1 winners. Wrexham went on to win the FAW premier cup in May 2001. |
The 1996/97 season saw Wrexham set off on another amazing cup run, following wins at Colwyn Bay and Scunthorpe United, They were drawn to play West Ham United at home, The result ended in a 1-1 draw on a snow-coverd pitch, the replay at upton park ended in a shock Wrexham win as Kevin Russell scored in the dying minutres to send Wrexham in to round 4. after thet beat Peterborough united and Birmingham City, they plaed Chesterfield in a Division 2 FA Cup Quater final, wrexham lost narrowly 1-0. Wrexham's new traing ground was officially opend in June 1997 at a cost of £700,000. The1999/2000 season saw Wrexham again beat top flight team in the FA Cup, this time it was Middlesbrough who with the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Gary Pallistar and Juninho were the clear favourites, 1-0 down at half-time, Wrexham ran out 2-1 winners. Wrexham went on to win the FAW premier cup in May 2001. |
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Revision as of 10:30, 19 September 2007
| File:Wrexham badge.jpg | |||
| Full name | Wrexham Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Red Dragons The Robins | ||
| Founded | 1872 | ||
| Ground | Racecourse Ground Wrexham | ||
| Capacity | 15,500 | ||
| Manager |  Brian Carey | ||
| League | League Two | ||
| 2006–07 | League Two, 19th | ||
|
| |||
Wrexham Football Club (nicknamed The Red Dragons, or more traditionally, The Robins) are a football team based in Wrexham, north-east Wales. They compete as part of the English football league system, in Football League Two in the 2006/2007 season, after being relegated from Football League One in 2004/2005. Founded in 1872 they are one of the oldest surviving football clubs in the UK, and the oldest professional club in Wales.
The club plays at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham. The manager is Brian Carey.
They have been regular winners of the Welsh Cup and FAW Premier Cup and in the 1990-91 European Cup Winners Cup campaign were knocked out by Manchester United who went on to win the trophy.
History
1872 - 1905
The club was formed by members of the Wrexham Cricket Club, who wanted a sporting activity for the winter months, on 28 September 1872 during a meeting held at the Turf Hotel in Wrexham (this is despite the club's modern badge stating they were formed in 1873).
As the rules of football were still somewhat fluid at the time, early matches featured teams with up to 17 players on each side (16 players when playing the Provincial Insurance Office and Chester College, 15 players against the Volunteer Fire Brigade). In these early years Wrexham were leaders of the campaign to restrict teams to 11 players. The club's first match against an outside team was a 12-a-side game against past and present members of Grove Park School played at Wrexham Cricket Ground, which Wrexham won 2-0 on 19 October 1872.
In 1876 the newly formed Football Association of Wales saw Wales play their first International match, against Scotland, featuring Edwin Cross and Alfred Davis as the first of many Wrexham A.F.C. players to play for Wales.
In the 1877-78 season the FAW inaugurated the Welsh Cup competition, to run on similar lines to the English FA Cup. The first Welsh Cup Final was played at Acton Park. Wrexham got to the final of the inaugural competition, where they defeated Druids F.C. 1-0, but thanks to lack of money at the fledgling FAW they did not receive their trophy until the next year. For their first decade, Wrexham mostly played friendly matches against both Welsh and English opposition, with the Welsh Cup providing most of their competitive football, Wrexham winning it again in 1883.
1883 also saw Wrexham's first appearance in the FA Cup, when after receiving a bye to the second round of the competition they were defeated 3-4 at home by Oswestry. Crowd trouble at the game led to the club being disbanded, although a new club, Wrexham Olympic, was formed a month later and which reverted to the original name after three years.
Thanks to a dispute with their landlords, who had raised the rent of the Racecourse Ground to £10 a year, Wrexham played their home games in the 1881-82 and 1882-83 seasons at Rhosddu Recreation Ground (changing the club's name to Wrexham Athletic for one season), before moving back to the Racecourse Ground for the 1883-84 season, where they have remained ever since.
In 1890 Wrexham joined the Football Combination. Their first game was played against Gorton Villa on 6 September 1890, with Arthur Lea scoring Wrexham's only goal in a 5-1 defeat. Lea played for the club despite only having one arm as did playing colleague James Roberts. Wrexham finished the season second from bottom in eighth place.
Wrexham played in the Combination for four years before a rapid increase in costs resulted in the club joining the Welsh League in the 1894-95 season. Wrexham won the Welsh League both years that they were in it, but they then decided to return to the Combination, as the reduced support they received meant that the savings they made on their travelling expenses were outweighed by the reduction in gate revenue.
1905 - 1960
The club then remained in the Combination until 1905, winning the title four times. After several unsuccessful attempts Wrexham were elected to the Birmingham and District League in time for the 1905-06 season. Wrexham's first ever match in this league was against Kidderminster Harriers at the Racecourse. Two thousand spectators saw Wrexham win 2-1. Wrexham finished sixth in their first season.
During their time in the Birmingham and District League, Wrexham won the Welsh Cup six times, in 1908-09, 1909-10, 1910-11, 1913-14, 1914-15, and 1920-21. They also reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time in the 1908-09 season before losing a replay 1-2 to Exeter City after extra time.
In 1921 Wrexham were elected to the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League. Their first League game was against Hartlepool United at the Racecourse in front of 8,000 spectators. Playing in blue shirts Wrexham were defeated 0-2. The following week Wrexham gained revenge when they travelled to Hartlepool and earned a 1-0 victory.
During that season Ted Regan scored the club's first ever hat-trick, while Brian Simpson became the first Wrexham player to be sent off in a League game when he was ordered from the field of play against Southport in January 1922. Charlie Hewitt was the clubs' first ever manager.
In the 1926-27 season the club got past the first round of the FA Cup only to be knocked out by Rhyl. The following season Wrexham fought their way to the Fourth Round before they lost 0-1 to Birmingham City. A record 32 League goals from Albert Mays helped Wrexham to third position in the division in the 1928-29 season. Later in that season Tommy Bamford made his debut for the club. He went on to score 201 League and Cup goals for the club. During the 1929-30 season the club recorded their best ever League win when they defeated Rochdale 8-0.
Wrexham enjoyed their best ever Third Division North season in 1932-33, when they finished runners-up to Hull City and won 18 of their 21 home games. The club first appeared in their now-familiar red and white strip for the short-lived 1939-40 season.
During the Second World War years, Wrexham played in the Regional League West against teams from Merseyside and Manchester, among others. Wrexham's position as a barracks town meant that the team could secure the services of many famous guest players such as Stanley Matthews and Stan Cullis.
In the first post war season Wrexham equalled their best ever position when they again finished third in the Third Division North. In the summer of 1949 the club made its first ever tour abroad when it played three games against the British army in Germany.
The club reached the Fourth Round of the FA Cup in 1956-57 where they played Manchester United's Busby Babes in front of a crowd of a record attendance of 34,445 people. The 5-0 defeat did not spoil the occasion. Later that season Wrexham won the Welsh Cup for the first time in 26 years.
Into the swinging sixties 1960 - 1970
In 1960 the club were relegated for the first time, to the newly created Fourth Division but performances improved following the appointment of Ken Barnes as player-manager. He led Wrexham to promotion in his first season and oversaw a 10-1 trouncing of Hartlepool United, the club's record League victory. Unfortunately Wrexham were relegated to the Fourth Division again two years later and in 1966 they finished rock-bottom at 92nd in the Football League.
John Neal's arrival as manager saw a considerable improvement in the club's fortunes. In 1969-70 he led them to promotion and two years later he led them into European football for the first time following another Welsh Cup victory. The Robins' first European match was against FC Zurich and resulted in a 3-2 aggregate win for the Welsh club.
The Golden era 1970-1982
In the 1973-74 season Wrexham made it to the FA Cup quarter finals before losing 1-0 to First Division Burnley. Two years later Wrexham made it to the quarter finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup before losing to the eventual winners, Anderlecht.
At the end of the 1977-78 season John Neal left the club to join Middlesbrough and was replaced by Arfon Griffiths. Griffiths brought Dixie McNeil, Dai Davies and Les Cartwright to the club strengthening the team to such an extent that it immediately won the Third Division Championship, reached the last eight of both the FA Cup and the League Cup as well as winning the Welsh Cup.
Wrexham enjoyed four seasons in the Second Division before consecutive relegations sent them back to the bottom division. In 1989 they lost out to Leyton Orient in the Fourth Division playoff Final. Brian Flynn took over the club in 1989, and would remain as manager until 2001. In January 1992, Wrexham produced arguably their greatest ever piece of giant-killing when they knocked the previous year's League Champions Arsenal out of the FA Cup with goals from Steve Watkin and Mickey Thomas.
The Division Two days 1993 - 2001
The 1992/93 season saw Wrexham manager Brian Flynn Make a shrewd signing when he enlisted the services of Gary Bennett, he soon settled and helped Wrexham into the promotion race. Wrexhams season came to a head on 27th April 1993 when with two games left they travelled to Northampton requiring a win to gain promotion, the game ended 2-0 to Wrexham and the 4,500 reds there were jubilent. The 1994/95 season would see Wrexham achieve succes in the FA Cup, Having beaten Stockport and Rotherham they faced Premier league Ipswich Town at the racecourse, Wrexham running out 2-1 winners thanks to Gary Bennett and Kieron Durkan. In the next roun Wrexham were drawn away to Manchester United and despite taking the lead, United went on to win 5-2.The 1995/96 season saw Wrexham in European action again, this time in Romania against Petrolul Ploiesti, the home leg ended in a 0-0 draw and in the reyurn lleg the romanians scored the onlt goal of the match. The 1996/97 season saw Wrexham set off on another amazing cup run, following wins at Colwyn Bay and Scunthorpe United, They were drawn to play West Ham United at home, The result ended in a 1-1 draw on a snow-coverd pitch, the replay at upton park ended in a shock Wrexham win as Kevin Russell scored in the dying minutres to send Wrexham in to round 4. after thet beat Peterborough united and Birmingham City, they plaed Chesterfield in a Division 2 FA Cup Quater final, wrexham lost narrowly 1-0. Wrexham's new traing ground was officially opend in June 1997 at a cost of £700,000. The1999/2000 season saw Wrexham again beat top flight team in the FA Cup, this time it was Middlesbrough who with the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Gary Pallistar and Juninho were the clear favourites, 1-0 down at half-time, Wrexham ran out 2-1 winners. Wrexham went on to win the FAW premier cup in May 2001.
Stadium trouble, administration
At the start of the 21st century the club was dogged with problems, including the chairman, Alex Hamilton, attempting to get them evicted from their stadium so that he could sell it for development purposes[citation needed] – the saga involved the sale of the Racecourse Ground to a separate company owned by Hamilton immediately after he became the club's chairman. In the summer of 2004 Hamilton gave the club a years' notice to quit the ground.
The club's fans developed an affinity with those of Brighton & Hove Albion, who themselves had successfully deposed a chairman who sold their ground in almost exactly the same circumstances.
On 3 December 2004 the club was placed in financial administration by the High Court in Manchester as the club owed £2,600,000, including £800,000 to the Inland Revenue in unpaid taxes. Wrexham became the first League club to suffer a ten-point deduction under the new rule for being placed in Administration, dropping them from the middle of the League One table to the relegation zone.
Despite their financial troubles, Wrexham went on to win the 2004-05 LDV Vans Trophy by defeating Southend United 2-0 after extra time, in Wrexham's first appearance in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. It was Southend's second consecutive defeat in the LDV Vans Trophy final.
Wrexham still retained an outside chance of escaping the drop in the 2004-05 season following an end-of-season winning streak; however, their faint hopes of staying up ended with a 2-1 home loss to Brentford on 3 May 2005. The 10-point deduction proved decisive in determining Wrexham's fate, as the club finished with 43 points compared to 20th-placed Milton Keynes Dons' 51 - a net points tally of 53 after deduction, which caused the relegation.
In October 2005, Birmingham High Court decided that Mr Hamilton's company CrucialMove had improperly acquired the freehold of the ground. Mr Hamilton then took this to the Appeal Court in London and it ruled on 14 March 2006 that the stadium must remain in the hands of the club's administrators. On 30 April 2006 the Administrators reached an agreement with local car dealer Neville Dickens, subject to agreement by the shareholders and creditors (which was achieved on 30 May), for Mr Dickens to take over the club. Had the club still been in Administration on 3 June then it would have automatically been expelled from the League.
Wrexham Football Club (2006) Ltd is the name of the 'phoenix' company that took over the assets of the old Wrexham Association Football Club Limited so technically the club is no longer known as Wrexham Association Football Club, this is reflected on new merchandise.
Denis Smith was sacked on 11 January 2007 with Wrexham in the bottom half of the division and was replaced by coach Brian Carey. Wrexham finished 19th in League Two and on 51 points after an impressive late run of form which saw them win 4 out of their last 5 games. The last one of which was a vital 3-1 victory on 5 May 2007 over Boston United at home which sent their opponents down to the Conference and ensured that Wrexham would stay in the Football League.
Stadium
Main article, Racecourse Ground
The Racecourse Ground (Y Cae Ras in Welsh) has been the home of Wrexham f.c. since 1872. The capacity is 15,500, with the Kop end to be redeveloped within the next 5 months. The ground Is located on mold road close to the A483 dual carriageway.The ground has four sides, of which three are seated, these being the Mold Road stand, Yale stand and the Eric Roberts stand (away). The home Terrace behind the goal is called The Kop or Town End. The Racecourse is the largest stadium in north Wales, and consequently is sometimes used by the FAW for Wales' home international games. The ground is also used by Llanelli Scarlets rugby team, and formerly Liverpool F.C. Reserves.
Training ground
Wrexham currently train at the purpose built Colliers park training ground in Gresford, it cost £750,000 to build initially but has further been developed and now boasts an artificial pitch. Colliers park is regarded as one of the best training grounds in the U.K outside the topflight.
Honours
Domestic
League
- 1977/78 - Third Division (replaced by League One) Champions
- 1992/93 - Division Three (replaced by League Two) Runners/Up
- 1969/70 - Third Division (replaced by League Two) 3rd place promoted
- 2002/2003 - Division Three (replaced by League Two) 3rd place promoted
Cups
- LDV Trophy (Football League Trophy) - Winners: 2004/2005
- Welsh Cup - Winners: 23 times, runner-up 22 times
- FAW Premier Cup - Winners: 1997/98, 1998/99, 1999/2000, 2001/02, 2003/04
- FA Cup - QF: 1973/74, 1977/78, 1996/97
- League Cup - QF: 1960/61, 1977/78
European
- European Cup Winners Cup - QF: 1975/76
Player Records
- Most league goals in a season - 44 Tommy Bamford (1933-34)
- Most league goals in total - 175 Tommy Bamford (1928-34)
- Most league appearances - 592 Arfon Griffiths (1959-61, 1962-79)
- Most capped player - Dai Davies, 28 for Wales
- Oldest player - W. Lot Jones - aged 46 Vrs Tranmere Rovers
- Youngest player - Ken Roberts - aged 15years and158 days Vrs Bradford P.A.
Team records
- Attendance - 34,445 Vs Manchester United, FA cup R4, 26/01/1957
- Highest league win - 10-1 Vs Hartlepools U, 03/03/1962
- Worst league defeat - 0-9 Vs Brentford
- Highest transfer received - £800,000 for Bryan Hughes, Birmingham City 1997.
- Highest trasfer fee paid - £212,000 for Joey Jones, Liverpool 1978
Rivals
Wrxeham's main rival are Chester city, just 12 miles over the border ,The clubs have met on 72 occasions in the league with Wrexham edging the head-to head with 29 victories against Chester's 26. Games between the two are usually moved to sunday 12.00 kick offs to minimise the risk of the two sets of supporters clashing.
Other rivals include Crewe, Tranmere and Shrewsbury. Rivalries with both Cardiff City and Swansea City are seen as a friendly rivalry these days.
Current squad
- As of 19 July 2007.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching Staff
Brian Carey - Manager
Steve Weaver - Assistant Manager- Joey Jones - Coach
Mel Pejic - Physio- Andy O' Boyle - Fitness Coach
- Mark Morris - Goalkeeping Coach
Club Officials
- President: Arfon Griffiths MBE
- Chairman: Neville Dickens
- Chief Executive: Anthony Fairclough
- Company Secretary: Geoff Moss
- Directors: Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss
- Football Secretary & Webmaster: Geraint Parry
- Sales Manager: Phil Sadler
- Football in the Community Officer: Mark Morris
- Safety Officer: Colin Edwards
- Head Groundsman: Johnny Edwards
Notable former players
- See also Category:Wrexham A.F.C. players
- Chris Armstrong
- Billy Ashcroft
- Tommy Bamford
- Gary Bennett
- Karl Connolly
- Dai Davies
- Wyn Davies
- Matt Derbyshire
Carlos Edwards- Mickey Evans
Ewan Fenton- Darren Ferguson
- Ben Foster
- Arfon Griffiths
- Ron Hewitt
- Bryan Hughes
- Alf Jones
- Joey Jones
- Dennis Lawrence
- Dixie McNeil
- Eddie Niedzwiecki
- Ian Rush
- Mel Sutton
- Mickey Thomas
- Lee Trundle
- Gareth Davis
- Albert Kinsey
- Graham Whittle
Managers since joined the league
- Ted Robinson (1921-25)
- Charlie Hewitt (1925-29)
- Jack Baynes (1929-21)
- Ernest Blackburn (1932-36)
- Jimmy Logan (1937-38)
- Arthur Cowell (1938)
- Tom Morgan (1938-40)
- Tom Williams (1940-49)
- Les Mcdowall (1949-50)
- Peter Jackson (1951-54)
- Cliff Lloyd (1954-57)
- John Love (1957-59)
- Billy Morris (1960-61)
- Ken Barnes (1961-65)
- Billy Morris (1965-66)
- Jack Rowley (1966-67)
- Alvan Williams (1967-68)
- John Neal (1968-77)
- Arfon Griffiths (1977-81)
- Mel Sutton (1981-82)
- Bobby Roberts (1982-85)
- Dixie McNeil (1985-89)
- Brian Flynn (1989-2000)
- Dennis Smith (2000-2007)
- Brian Carey (2007-present)
Trivia
- Wrexham's former names have been "Wrexham Athletic", and "Wrexham Olympic".
- Their former nickname, "The Robins", was after their first manager, Ted Robinson.
- Wrexham are the only team in Britain to have a pub connected to their ground.
Literature
The Wrexham football team plays a significant role in the 1994 Peter Davies book Twenty Two Foreigners in Funny Shorts which was written for the World Cup in the U.S. It also profiles the Robins' ongoing and ultimately successful promotion effort.
Other Wrexham related books
- Wrexham fc 1972-1950 by Peter jones and Gareth Davies
- Wrexham fc 1950-2000 by Peter jones and Gareth Davies
- Wrexham; The European era by Peter jones
- Wrexham Fc, An A-Z history.
- Racecourse robins; From Adamds to Youds
- The Giant killers; a Wrexham fans View by Richard partington
Wrexham FC are neighbours of the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education and share a good relationship
Famous fans
- Paul Burrell, Former footman for Queen Elizabeth II and then butler for Diana, Princess of Wales and runner up in the ITV reality TV show, I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
- Rhys Ifans movie star of films such as, Notting Hill, Kevin & perry go large, 51st state and Twin town, Born in south Wales but raised in Ruthin.
- Bryn Law, Journalist and sky sports news presenter.
- Ted Robbins Den Perry from Phoenix Nights.
- Robbie Savage current Blackburn Rovers midfielder, And former welsh international.
- Andy Scott Guitarist with Sweet.
- Tim Vincent, Ex blue peter and national lottery presenter.
Team Mascot
Wrex the dragon is the official team mascot. He was first introduced at the start of the 2001-2002 season when the Welsh club changed their nickname from the Robins to the Red Dragons. Due to the nickname change he was to replace previous mascot Rockin' Robin. He wears a red dragon suit and Wrexham A.F.C. kit over his dragon costume. He was also sent off by the referee in the Wrexham vs. Wycombe Wanderers F.C. game after distracting the Wycombe Wanderers' players.
Rockin' Robin was also famous for having a wife called Tina Turfit (plus a son, Robinson) and being able to ride a bike.
External links
- Wrexham A.F.C. on BBC Sport: Club news – Recent results and fixtures
- Official site
- Red Passion - Wrexham FC Fansite
- Shropshire Reds - Wrexham FC Supporters Group
- Wrexham FC Supporters' Association - Founded 1926
- 12th Man - Wrexham FC Supporters site
- Wrexham Team Page
- The Internet Soccer Database
- WrexhamFC 365
- Wrexham-ONTSS