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Wrexham A.F.C. Women

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Wrexham AFC Women
Wrexham A.F.C. crest
Full nameWrexham Association Football Club Women
Nickname(s)The Red Dragons, The Robins
Founded2003; 21 years ago (2003)[1]
GroundThe Rock,
Rhosymedre, Wrexham
OwnersRR McReynolds Company LLC (Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney)
ManagerSteve Dale
LeagueAdran Premier
2023–24Adran Premier, 3rd of 8
Websitehttps://www.wrexhamafc.co.uk/teams/WrexhamAFCWomen/
Current season

Wrexham Association Football Club Women (Welsh: Merched Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Wrecsam), formerly Wrexham Ladies F.C., is a Welsh semi-professional women's football club that competes in the Adran Premier, the first-tier of women's football in Wales.

Since their reformation in 2018, the club has been affiliated with Wrexham A.F.C., which competes in EFL League One, the third division of English football. Before that, as Wrexham Ladies F.C., they helped found the North Wales Women's Football League in 2003 and the Welsh Premier Women's League in 2009.

History

2003–2018: As Wrexham Ladies FC

In 2003, the Wrexham Ladies Football Club was formed, becoming part of the new North Wales Women's Football League. The initial squad drew from players from the North East Wales Institute (NEWI) and Yale College.[citation needed]

In 2008, they reached the finals of the FAW Women's Cup. In 2009, they became part of Wrexham F.C., and helped found the Welsh Premier Women's League as one of four teams in the Northern Division. In the 2011-12 season they won the division but lost the Championship Final against Cardiff Met WFC.[2]

During the 2015-16 season, they had a difficult time maintaining a full roster, and withdrew from the Premier League mid-season.[2]

2018–2020: As Wrexham A.F.C. Women

In 2018, they reformed the club as Wrexham A.F.C. Women, joining the North Wales Women's Football League to compete against teams across North Wales. The League was split into 'Division One' and 'Division Two' in North Wales; Wrexham entered the bottom tier as a new club of 'Division Two'. In that 2018 season, Wrexham won the North Wales Women's Division Two league cup, beating Rhyl Development 3–2 in a cup final hosted at Bala Town's Maes Tegid. They finished the season 4th in the league, and gained promotion into Division One.[citation needed]

In the 2019/20 season, the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short with Wrexham in 8th position in Division One. The Football Association on Wales decided to use a points per game (PPG) calculation to work out the finishing positions for the teams in the league.[citation needed]

2020–2023: New owners, promotion to Adran Premier

In November 2020, Canadian-American actor Ryan Reynolds and American actor Rob McElhenney, through their RR McReynolds Company LLC, bought Wrexham A.F.C.[3][4] Due to the Christmas 2020 second lockdown, the 2020/21 season was canceled with no games being played.[citation needed]

Before the start of the 2021/22 season, the FAW announced a restructure of Women's football in Wales, with a new Tier 2 league split into Adran North and Adran South with specific criteria needed in order to enter. The FAW opened up both tiers to all clubs to apply to join. Wrexham applied for the Tier 2 North, and completed a successful first campaign in that new second tier, finishing runners-up to Llandudno - after losing to the champions in a winner-takes-all game on the final day of the season at Maesdu Park.[citation needed]

On 9 February 2023, Wrexham announced they had applied for a Tier 1 license, and would become semi-professional if promoted to the Adran Premier for the 2023/24 season.[5] They won the Adran North championship trophy on March 26, and earned promotion after winning the playoff game 1-0 against Briton Ferry Llansawel, on April 16 in Latham Park.[6]

2023– present: Adran Premier

On 27 June 2023, the club announced that ten players have signed semi-professional contracts, a first in club history,[7] making them the first Adran Premier team to feature semi-professional players. Cardiff City F.C. did the same on 29 June and Swansea City Ladies F.C. on 16 August. At the start of 2024, they were third in the league with striker Rosie Hughes leading the league in scoring.[8] They finished 3rd and reached the finals of the FAW Women's Cup. The club was granted its first UEFA license in March 2024.[9]

Kit manufacturers and sponsors

Period Brand Shirt Sponsor (chest) Shirt Sponsor (back) Shirt Sponsor (sleeve)
2021–22 Macron[10] TikTok[11] Expedia[11] Aviation American Gin[12]
2022–23 Betty Buzz[13]
2023–present United Airlines[11] VistaPrint[14]

Players

Current squad

As of 16 July 2024[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Wales WAL Delyth Morgan
2 DF Wales WAL Phoebe Davies
3 DF Wales WAL Olivia Fuller
4 DF Wales WAL Erin Lovett
5 DF Wales WAL Louisha Doran
6 MF England ENG Brooke Cairns
7 MF England ENG Rebecca Pritchard
9 FW Wales WAL Rosie Hughes
10 MF Wales WAL TJ Dickens
11 FW England ENG Amber Lightfoot
No. Pos. Nation Player
12 MF England ENG Carra Jones
15 DF Wales WAL Katie Sharp
16 FW Wales WAL Ava Suckley
21 MF Wales WAL Lili Jones
22 DF England ENG Keren Allen
27 MF Wales WAL Mari Gibbard
35 GK Wales WAL Chloe Ankers

Seasons

Season League
Division Pld W D L GF GA Pts Pos
as Wrexham Ladies FC
2009–10 Welsh Premier Women's League - Northern conference 6 0 1 5 7 17 1 4th
2010–11 Welsh Premier Women's League - Northern conference 8 3 2 3 11 10 11 3rd
2011–12 Welsh Premier Women's League 8 6 1 1 30 13 19 Runner-up
2012–13 Welsh Premier Women's League 20 13 2 5 67 27 41 3rd
2013–14 Welsh Premier Women's League 20 6 6 8 34 35 24 6th
2014–15 Welsh Premier Women's League 20 9 2 9 42 40 29 6th
2015–16 Welsh Premier Women's League withdrew mid-season[2]
as Wrexham AFC Women
2018–19 North Wales Women's League, Div. 2 11 5 4 2 49 18 19 4th[citation needed]
2019–20 North Wales Women's League, Div. 1 8 0 0 8 4 32 0 8th[citation needed]
2020–21 season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021–22[16] Adran North 14 11 0 3 72 23 33 2nd
2022–23[17] Adran North 12 12 0 0 70 6 36 1st
2023–24 Adran Premier 20 11 2 7 41 37 35 3rd
2024–25 Adran Premier 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NA

Honours

Domestic

League

  • NWWFL Division Two
    • Promoted (1): 2018–19
  • Genaro Adran North
    • Winners (1): 2022–23
    • Runners-up (1): 2021–22

Cups

  • NWWFL Division Two League Cup
    • Winners (1): 2019
  • NWWFL Supplementary Cup
    • Runners-up (1): 2019

Records

Women's Player of the Season

Women's Young Player of the Season

  • 2021-22 - England Amber Lightfoot[18]
  • 2022-23 - England Amber Lightfoot[19]
  • 2023-24 - Wales Lili Jones[20]

Women's Players' Player of the Season

  • 2021-22 - Wales TJ Dickens[18]
  • 2022-23 - Wales Erin Lovett[19]
  • 2023-24 - Wales Phoebe Davies[20]

Women's Top Goalscorer

  • 2021-22 - Wales Rosie Hughes[18]
  • 2022-23 - Wales Rosie Hughes[19]
  • 2023-24 - Wales Rosie Hughes[20]

Women's Coaching Staff

For other staff, see Wrexham A.F.C. § Club officials.
As of 4 May 2024[21]
Role Name
Head of Women's Football Operations/U19's Assistant Manager Wales Gemma Owen
First Team Manager England Steve Dale
First Team Assistant Manager Wales Josh Evans
Goalkeeping Coach Wales David Williams
Sports Therapist Wales Lindsay Morris
Wales Gaynor Davies
Under 19's Manager Wales Gareth Owen

References

  1. ^ "Wrexham resign from Welsh Premier Women's League". Daily Post. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Jones, Dave (14 January 2016). "Wrexham resign from Welsh Premier Women's League". North Wales Live. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
  3. ^ "DONE DEAL: Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney acquire Wrexham AFC". The Non-League Paper. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  4. ^ "Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney: Hollywood stars to take over Wrexham". BBC Sport. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Wrexham AFC Women to become semi-professional". Wrexham A.F.C. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
  6. ^ "REPORT | Wrexham AFC Women 1-0 Briton Ferry Llansawel". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk.
  7. ^ "CONTRACT NEWS | Wrexham AFC Women stars sign first semi-pro contracts". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Results". www.adranleagues.cymru. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Wrexham AFC Women Awarded first UEFA License and FAW Tier 1 License renews for 2024/25 Season". www.wrexham.com. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  10. ^ Gijy, Jacob (6 March 2022). "Ryan Reynolds' Wrexham Extend Major Partnership With Italian Firm as They Eye League Promotion". EssentiallySports. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  11. ^ a b c Sheena, Jasmine (10 June 2023). "United Airlines inks sponsorship deal with Wrexham AFC". Marketing Brew. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  12. ^ Brooker, Alice (5 July 2021). "Ryan Reynolds launches Aviation Gin kit for Wrexham AFC". The Spirits Business. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  13. ^ "Blake Lively's "Betty Buzz" becomes new Wrexham AFC Women sleeve sponsor". Wrexham.com. 27 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  14. ^ Mahadik, Gauresh (3 June 2023). "Wrexham AFC sustain sponsorship ties with VistaPrint". SportsMint Media. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  15. ^ "Women - Wrexham AFC". Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Football fixtures, results and tables service for Wales : All Wales Sport". www.allwalessport.co.uk.
  17. ^ "Adran Leagues | Table". 24 March 2023. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023.
  18. ^ a b c d "AWARDS | 2021/22 end-of-season winners revealed". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk.
  19. ^ a b c d "PLAYER OF THE SEASON | 2022/23 award winners named". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk.
  20. ^ a b c d "END-OF-SEASON AWARDS | Paul Mullin and Rosie Hughes make it three in a row". www.wrexhamafc.co.uk.
  21. ^ "Staff". Wrexham AFC. Retrieved 4 May 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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