Williamson has revealed what the club intends to do once the Racecourse Ground reaches roughly 18,000 capacity, with the next stage involving a pause to assess the other three stands before longer-term redevelopment moves forward.
The new Kop is expected to transform the stadium when it opens, with Wrexham targeting a 7,750-capacity stand that would take the overall Racecourse capacity towards the 18,000 mark.
That milestone won’t trigger another immediate round of major building work. Instead, Williamson says Wrexham will use it as an opportunity to assess what the rest of their historic home needs before deciding on the next phase.
Wrexham will ‘take a breath’ when Racecourse reaches 18,000
Williamson has explained in a intreview with The Athletic what will happen once the new Kop is operational and the stadium reaches approximately 18,000 capacity.
“Once we get to 18,000, we will take a breath. We will look at the other three stands and say, ‘OK, what do we need to do in the short term?’”
Wrexham haven’t announced which of the three existing stands would be redeveloped first, nor have they confirmed individual capacity targets or a timetable for another major construction project.
Instead, the initial focus will be on assessing what improvements are required while making sure any short-term work doesn’t interfere with a bigger redevelopment further down the line.
Michael Williamson says Wrexham must future-proof Racecourse
Williamson stressed that the club can’t afford to make changes now that could cause problems when another major stadium project eventually begins.
“Whatever we do, there cannot be something so permanent that it becomes prohibitive to do a next stage. You have to future-proof a little bit of everything.”
That approach fits with the wider work being undertaken by Populous, the architects behind the new Kop who have also been commissioned to develop a masterplan for the Racecourse.
The idea is to consider future expansion as part of a wider strategy rather than looking at each stand completely in isolation.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have previously spoken about ambitions for a much larger Racecourse in the future, but there are currently no approved designs or construction timetable for redeveloping the three existing stands after the Kop phase.
Next Racecourse project could take years
Supporters therefore shouldn’t expect another stand to immediately follow the new Kop. Williamson made clear that any subsequent stage would have to go through a lengthy process before construction could begin.
That would involve years of planning, design and approvals, with different versions likely to be considered before another spade goes into the ground.
During that period, Wrexham can look at shorter-term improvements to the existing stands, provided anything they do remains compatible with the longer-term masterplan.
The new Kop may be the most visible part of Wrexham’s current transformation, but Williamson has made clear it isn’t intended to be the final chapter. Once the Racecourse reaches around 18,000, attention will turn towards how the rest of the world’s oldest international football stadium can evolve next.
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