Wrexham
Formed
1872: wound up in 1883.
Re-formed one month later.
Founder member of Division Three (North). Relegated to Blue Square National Conference 2008.
Kit History
Wrexham
1872-1883
Club wound up
1878 a
1882-1883 a
Re-formed as Wrexham Olympic
1883
Renamed Wrexham 1886
1888-1889 a
1892-1893 a
1896-1897 a
1897-1900 a
1900-1901 a
1903-1904 a
1904-1908 a
1908-1911 a
1914-1915 a
1919-1921 a
1921-1922 a
1924-1925 a
1927-1928 a
1928-1930 a
1930-1931 a
1932-1933 a
1933-1934 a
1934-1937 a
1937-1939 a
1939-1940 a
1945-1948 a
1948-1950 a
1951-1956 b
1956-1958 b
1958-1959 b
1959-1961 b
1961-1962 b
1964-1965 b
1965-1966 b
1967-1970 b
1970-1972 b
1972-1974 b f g
1974-1975 j
1975-1976 b j
1976-1977 j
1977-1978 b g j
1978-1980 b
1980-1981 e
1981-1984 b
1984-1985 b
1985-1987 b h
1987-1988 e
1988-1989 b
1989-1990 e
1990-1991 b
1991-1992 b
1992-1993 b
1993-1994 b i
1994-1995 c
1995-1996 b
1996-1997 c
1997-1998 c g
1998-2000 c
2000-2001 b
Aug - cSept 2001 e
cSept 2001-2002 e
2002-2003 c
2003-2004 c
2004-2005 c
2005-2006 d
2006-2007 d
2007-2008 d
2008-2009 d
2009-2010 d
Background
Wrexham FC was formed by the members
of the town's cricket club as a way to stay together during the winter
months. Alongside neighbours Druids FC and Chirk FC, Wrexham were pioneers of association football in North Wales. In 1876 Wrexham became founder members
of the Welsh FA and won the first Welsh FA Cup competition in 1878. Because
funds were so short, they did not receive a trophy until the following
year. In 1883, Wrexham entered the English FA Cup for the first
time and were expelled from the competition following crowd disturbances
during their game with Oswestry Town. The club was disbanded and reformed
one month later as Wrexham Olympic, reverting to its original name in
1886.
In 1890, Wrexham joined the Football Combination with a team that featured two players with only one arm each. Rising costs led to a decision to play in the Welsh League for two seasons 1894-96 but despite winning the championship in both seasons, support dwindled so the club rejoined the Combination, winning the title four times. Having played in a variety of blue kits, the club settled on green shirts in 1903. In 1905 Wrexham joined the Birmingham & District League where they remained until the formation of Division Three (North) in 1921, which they were invited to join. Immediately after the Great War, the team turned out in red shirts but on joining the League, Wrexham adopted blue shirts with a distinctive broad white band. The North Wales fans had little to cheer about and the club's best performance came in 1933 when they finished as runners-up.
Immediately before the Second World War Wrexham adopted the plain red shirts that are now firmly associated with the club; while a common outfit, the Welshmen were usually distinguished from other teams by the red stripes on their shorts. During the 1950s the club struggled in the League and were relegated to Division Four in 1960. Promotion followed in 1962 but two years later they were down once again and in 1966 the team had to apply for re-election.
The arrival of John Neal as manager in 1970 heralded a new period of success for the club. Promotion to Division Three was followed by success in the Welsh Cup which in turn led to entry into the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1972-73, the first of eight European campaigns before the restructuring of Welsh football closed the door. In 1974 Wrexham reached the FA Cup quarter-finals and two years later they reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Neal's successor, Arfon Griffiths built on these achievements with a team that stormed to the Third Division championship in 1978.
Hard times followed in the 1980s when successive relegations saw the club drop back to the Fourth Division in 1983. In 1991 Wrexham finished bottom and would have been relegated had the League not been restructured. A year later the Welsh club achieved their greatest giant-killing act knocking champions Arsenal out of the FA Cup and in 1993 they were promoted to the new Barclays Division Two (previously Division Three). In 2004-05, Wrexham became the first League club to suffer an automatic ten-point penalty after they went into administration. With relegation to League Two (formerly the Fourth Division) inevitable, the survival of this proud old club, twenty-three times winners of the Welsh Cup, remained in doubt until agreement was reached between the administrators and local car dealer, Neville Dickens in April 2006.
In 2007-08 the club struggled and finished in last place in League Two, losing the place in the Football League they had held for 87 years.
Sources
- a Wrexham FC 1872-1950 (Images of Sport: GM Davies & P Jones)
- b Wrexham FC 1950-2000 (Images of Sport: GM Davies & P Jones). Two invaluable volumes.
- c empics
- d Wrexham Official Website
- e Jon Jones
- f Welsh Football Data Archive
- g Pete's Picture Palace
- h Neil Hanaby
- i Spencer Williams