1883 Wrexham AFC Welsh Cup Winning Team. Credit: Under A Welsh Sky
Wrexham AFC are celebrating their 162nd anniversary on Sunday, October 4, marking the journey from the club’s formation at The Turf in 1864 to their place in the Championship today.
Wales’ oldest football club began when members of the local cricket club met at The Turf to discuss introducing football as a winter activity. More than a century and a half later, Wrexham remain rooted at the Racecourse Ground while competing in the second tier of English football.
This year’s anniversary carries added significance. Just weeks ago, Wrexham’s ownership group exchanged contracts to purchase The Turf, creating another link between the club’s modern era and the place where the story started.
Wrexham’s story began at The Turf
Wrexham’s official history traces the club’s formation back to 1864, making them the oldest football club in Wales and one of the oldest professional clubs in the world.
The decision to introduce football gave members of the cricket club something to play during the winter months. Wrexham’s first recorded match followed later that October against the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade at the Racecourse.
From those beginnings, the club became part of the fabric of the town and, later, city. Wrexham went on to win a record 23 Welsh Cups, with success in the competition opening the door to some unforgettable European nights.
Their finest continental run came in the 1975-76 European Cup Winners’ Cup, when Wrexham reached the quarter-finals before a narrow defeat to eventual champions Anderlecht. Porto were famously beaten at the Racecourse in another European campaign in 1984.
Three promotions transform modern Wrexham
Recent history has brought a very different kind of success. Wrexham won the National League with 111 points in 2022-23, ending 15 years outside the EFL.
Promotion from League Two followed at the first attempt before Phil Parkinson’s side climbed out of League One in 2024-25. That third successive promotion took Wrexham into the Championship, completing a remarkable rise from the fifth tier to the second in just three seasons.
The scale of that transformation has brought a global audience to a club whose roots remain firmly in Wrexham. Much has changed around the Racecourse, but the location and history remain inseparable from the club’s identity.
The Turf returns to heart of Wrexham story
That connection took on fresh significance ahead of the anniversary when Wrexham announced an agreement to purchase The Turf from Admiral Taverns.
The club said the acquisition would allow for the preservation of the history and traditions of a pub โinexorably linkedโ to the Racecourse Ground and Wrexham AFC since 1864. Long-serving landlord Wayne Jones is continuing to operate the venue.
It creates a fitting link between Wrexham’s past and present. The conversation that began beside the Racecourse 162 years ago has since led to Welsh Cup triumphs, European adventures, difficult years in non-league and an extraordinary return through the divisions.
From The Turf to the Championship, the surroundings have changed and the audience has grown beyond recognition. Wrexham AFC, though, are still home, 162 years after the story began.
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