The remarkable Edward Manners quote that started 162 years of Wrexham AFC
Wrexham AFC’s 162-year journey began with a remarkably simple comment from Edward Manners at The Turf on 4 October 1864: he planned to buy a football and expected people to show up and play.
There was no grand vision for what the club would become, a team supported around the world. The idea emerged from a simple problem facing members of the local cricket club: what were they supposed to do once summer was over?
An account of that meeting, later found in the Wrexham Weekly Advertiser, captured the words that quietly launched Wrexham’s football story.
Edward Manners makes his proposal
The gathering took place as the cricket club’s season was winding down. Manners, who was serving as the club’s secretary, pointed out the lack of organised activities during the winter months.
“There is one thing gentlemen, I wish to name, the great want of amusement in this town in winter time. It is my intention to purchase a football in the course of this week, and I shall expect a good many down to the field next Saturday.”
His remarks were reported by the Wrexham Weekly Advertiser on 8 October and are also quoted in an account of Wrexham AFC’s beginnings.
Reading them now, the simplicity stands out. There was a football to be bought, a field to use and an expectation that enough people would turn up to make it work.
Wrexham’s first match followed soon after
It did not take long for the idea to become reality. On 22 October 1864, the newspaper advertised a football match at the Denbighshire County Cricket Ground, now known as the Racecourse Ground, between the newly formed Town Club and the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade.
The notice referred to football as the “good old leg hit game” and said it was “now about to be revived in Wrexham”. Although the match was advertised as 15-a-side, the first recorded game ended up being played 10-a-side.
The Fire Brigade won, but the result was quickly overtaken by what the fixture represented: Wrexham now had a football club.
The club’s official history now recognises 1864 as its foundation year, making Wrexham the oldest professional football club in Wales and one of the oldest anywhere in the world.
The Turf still connects Wrexham to its origins
The setting of Manners’ proposal remains part of the story today. The Turf still stands beside the Racecourse Ground, offering a direct link between modern Wrexham AFC and the place where the idea first took shape.
That connection grew even stronger in September 2026, when Wrexham’s ownership group exchanged contracts to purchase The Turf. The club said the move was intended to help preserve the history and traditions of a building “inexorably linked” to Wrexham AFC since its foundation in 1864.
Manners could never have imagined what would come from his promise to buy a football. Welsh Cups, European nights, promotions, relegations and generations of supporters all followed.
But it all started with something much simpler: buy the ball, get people down to the field and play a game.
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