‘Eyesore’ Kop stand at Wrexham home facelift

Article posted by Coliseum, January 24^th, 2023

Image: AFL Architects

Leading stadia architectural practice, AFL Architects’, plans have been given approval by the Wrexham County Borough Council for the Welsh professional association football club Wrexham A.F.C. to construct a new 5,500-capacity stand at its residence – The Racecourse Ground in Wrexham, Wales (UK) – with demolition at the ground now started.

‘AFL Architects’ stated that the team who was the delivery architects of the FIFA 2022 World Cup™ 88,966-capacity Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, have worked with the national league football club for over two years, which is now famously owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney. The design will create 5,000 rail seating general admission seats and 500 corporate seating as well as allowing Wrexham A.F.C. to meet the criteria of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA’s) Category 4 status (a stadium must be rated as Category 4 in order to host games in the playoffs of the qualifying stage for the UEFA Champions League, or any game in the main competition).

Manchester, England (UK)-based AFL Architects are architects, master planners, urban and interior designers, operating internationally from offices in Manchester, Birmingham and London. Their three sectors of Sports and Leisure, Healthcare and Education, and Residential and Commercial have been core to their practice since their very foundation, ensuring absolute expertise and massive ambitions. AFL Architects work to deliver inspiring, commercial and people-centered design. They create places for communities to live, play and thrive – working alongside you every step of the way.

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The Wrexham County Borough Council is the governing body for Wrexham County Borough, a principal area in North Wales (UK), covering Wrexham and the surrounding area.

The Wrexham Association Football Club is a Welsh professional association football club based in Wrexham, Wales, UK. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.

The 10,771-capacity Racecourse Ground is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales, UK. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world’s oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales’ first home international match in 1877, and has hosted more Wales international matches than any other ground.

Commented John Roberts, Director at AFL Architects comments, “We are delighted to get the green light for our designs for the Wrexham A.F.C. Kop stand and see the beginning of these designs start coming to fruition. The plans are a perfect example of how you can combine modern-day form and function with the heritage of the project – in this case Wrexham’s coal mining industry.”

The Kop standing area has been unused since 2008 on safety grounds and alone once held as many as 20,000 spectators.

Maintained McElhenney and Reynolds, “The derelict state of the Kop has long been an eyesore and we hope that by the start of the 2024-2025 seasons, it will be brought back into use, with another 5,500 fans able to watch games live, as well as providing a superb backdrop for those watching on TV.”

‘AFL Architects’ further stated that AFL Architects are leaders in sporting and stadium design working with Wrexham, the EFL Championship club Millwall F.C. and the Premier League clubs Everton F.C., and Brentford F.C. football clubs (UK).

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