THE WREXHAM Supporters Trust (WST) Board has issued a statement as the battle over the Racecourse ground lease rumbles on.

On February 11, 2022, two days after the announcement that Heads of Terms had been signed to purchase the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham AFC approached the WST with the request to surrender their lease for the Racecourse Ground.

It was envisaged that this would be achieved when the purchase of the Racecourse Ground from Wrexham Glyndwr University was completed on June 29, 2022.

But, last week, the club released a fresh statement stating that 'frustration is growing' now over the lease.

Wrexham AFC claims no material progress has been made since the request was made nearly a year ago.

READ MORE: Wrexham AFC share pictures of unrecognisable Racecourse Kop as demolition continues

But the WST said: "The Trust Board would like to update members on the status of the Racecourse Lease following a pre-planned meeting with our advisors last week.

"The Trust has a legal responsibility to ensure that its activities and decisions benefit the wider Wrexham community. This legal responsibility includes ensuring that the ownership and use of the Racecourse ground is retained as an asset for the wider Wrexham community.

"The owners acknowledged this in a written commitment that they gave to the Financial Conduct Authority when purchasing the ownership of Wrexham FC from the Trust in November 2020.

"The 2016 members’ meeting also agreed a number of other resolutions, two of which prevent the Trust from surrendering the lease without passing a special resolution of members.

"As part of the special resolution for the sale of the club, the members approved the offer of a sublease to the club with a £15,000 per annum premium. The special resolution requirement reflects the legal status of the Trust as a community benefit society and is to protect the assets for the benefit of the wider Wrexham community served by the Trust.

"When the Trust members agreed the sale of the club in November 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ultimately registered the rule changes which were required on the basis of written assurances from the Trust and the new owners to maintain the community benefit of the stadium including requirements that covered local employment, local procurement of goods and services, an environmental policy regarding supporters using public transport and community engagement.

The Leader:

PIC: Wrexham AFC co-owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds.

"The community engagement section of the agreed statement said: 'The idea of a Community Club as an engagement between the club and community is reflected in the Trust’s continued retention of the 99-year lease of the Racecourse Ground.

"The club have stated that a legal assurance will be put in place if the Trust members decide to surrender the lease. The Trust Board is happy to talk with the club to explore ways in which those legal assurances that have been given to the Trust and the FCA can be secured.

"As a minimum, and in order for Trust members to be able to vote on surrendering the lease the club’s proposal needs to outline a good reason why it is in the community’s best interest for the club to hold the lease rather than the Trust. And that the proposal will give at least the same level of protection and long-term security to the community that is currently the case with the lease being held by the Trust.

"The Trust Board has been working on implementing a new membership system that will enable better communications with members. This will allow us to start a consultation with members to decide on the surrender of the lease, the legal assurances offered by the club and how the £15,000 per annum can be used to benefit the community. We anticipate this to start next month once we have fully migrated to the new system.

"We hope you understand from what we have set out above that this is not as simple as agreeing to the club’s request to surrender the lease.

"The Trust Board is fully supportive of the Kop development and is reassured that the approach to surrender the lease has not delayed the club in acquiring the freehold, demolishing the Kop, and shares the disappointment of everybody that the application for funding has been rejected."

The current situation now sees the club own the freehold of the stadium, having secured the support of the 94% of the fanbase to take ownership, lease it to WST Assets Limited, and then the club has a sub-lease from WST Assets.

As part of the transfer from Wrexham Glyndwr University, the club states it agreed, among other things that the Racecourse Ground would remain the home of Wrexham AFC until at least June 30, 2115 unless it was agreed that the Racecourse Ground could no longer meet the requirements of the club.

In this circumstance, the Racecourse Ground could only be sold if an alternative stadium site in Wrexham was identified, and planning permission granted for a new stadium.

With the second anniversary of the takeover on February 9, 2023, club officials say they hope to celebrate having received a clear timeline from the WST as to when their members will be asked to consider the club’s request to surrender the lease.