I went to a football match today . It has been a long time but I found myself in the stands watching the beautiful game. Something different to travelling and the first event of the year where crowds have been allowed to gather to watch a football match. We were sitting up in the gods . Row X - we couldnt get any higher if we tried . We were waiting for the game to start . We had arrived early. We had little idea how many would be attending , what the car parking would be like and to be honest what sort of afternoon we would get . It is football not soccer so thats the first clue about our little football team.
We were playing a friendly against Curzon Ashton whose game against Chester had been cancelled due to Chester down with Covid. OK I had never heard of Curzon Ashton either but they are from the league below Wrexham and hail from Ashton under Lyme near Manchester. So have you figured out the American connection ? We parked up on the Glwyndwr University car park. Paid our £3 parking to the voluntary stewards and began to walk toward the ground . The first thing we came to was the Hayes Travel Stand . A new stand built a few years ago when the old Mold Road Stand was d eemed unsafe. We wanted season tickets there but sadly Ticketmaster had a wobble moment and refused to accept credit cards . The whole wall on one side was covered with bricks . Each one purchased by a supporter or a business in town. Each one bought with precious money to save the club. We walked past the Turf Hotel . Famous for in 1864 a meeting had been held and it was agreed that a football club would be formed making Wrexham the third oldest club in the world . The oldest in Wales with a stadium capable of being used for internationals .
We walked through Wrexham village . Land that once belonged to the club but sold off by unscrupulous chairmen . We entered the turnstyles and everything was painted red . Ready for the TV crews and for the new owners to see. We were in the Yale Stand . An older stand with stantions that got in the way slightly . We past half an hour chatting to an older guy who was a season ticket holder . He talked about the good times , Aviation Gin - another hint to the connection with USA. He old us he retired from the local creamery which had long gone . He also mentioned the mess with the seating. He always sat in the aisle . Ideal for getting up, stretching his legs and escaping early . He mentioned that the seating numbers had been changed and he had been given the wrong one but luckily he spotted it and got his old seat back . The displays around the ground showed all sorts of advertising from the clubs badge to local sponsors . From the gin to Tik Tok who were the new shirt sponsors. I wondered how many lowly teams picked up sponsors like Tik Tok and were having a documentary made about them.
Wrexhams problems began way back in 2001 . Despite having one of highest supporter followings, the best training ground in the league they were in there were problems off the pitch. The then chairman Alex Hamilton attempted to evict the team from the ground . He gave the team a year to quit the ground . In 2004 £800,000 was owed to the Tax Man and the club were in debt to the tune of over 2.5 million . They were the first team in the league to suffer a ten point deduction . The High Court in 2005 agreed in favour of the club overruling the Chairman who went to appeal losing the appeal luckily or the team would have ceased to exist and a rich history disappeared in a flash . The club was handed to a local businessman and a set up to manage it .
By this time the Anglesey couple had turned up and the teams were warming up. We bought a hot chocolate - not the best I have ever tasted to warm our hands up whilst we listened to the ongoing saga of the wrong tickets being sold . This couple no longer had their right seats but were three down from where they expected to be .
