WREXHAM AFC says it is 'delighted' that Wrexham Supporters Trust (WST) members are being urged to accept its proposal to surrender the Racecourse Ground lease.

The recommendation has been made by directors of the Wrexham Football Supporter’s Society Limited (‘WST’).

The surrender of the lease is required by the club to enable the funding for the Kop development, as well as for UEFA Stadium Category four status to be secured.

A statement from Wrexham AFC read: "The negotiations between the club and those representing the WST have been undertaken against the backdrop of wanting to ensure that everyone’s interests were protected. We believe that we have achieved this objective.

"As part of the deal, the club will make a payment of £187,000 upon surrender of the lease, a payment of £1,000 per annum (increasing by 3% per annum) and meet the legal costs of the WST connected with the surrender of the lease."

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The statement adds: "The most significant non-financial commitment made by the club was the positive commitment that the men’s first team will continue to play at the Racecourse Ground until at least  June 30, 2115."

Co-chairmen Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds added: "We were delighted to receive the support of the directors of the WST and share their understandable desire to protect the long-term future of the club.

"Our legacy at the club will not be defined while we are its custodians, so we wanted to address the anomaly in the WST lease for the Racecourse Ground that did not include the requirement for the team to actually play at the stadium, only not allow it to be used for any other purpose. We didn’t want anyone in the future to be able to exploit that position.

"The payment of £187,000, is an equivalent amount to that contributed by fans to save the club. To know that we will provide the funding to effectively pay everyone back who contributed to save the club is worth every penny and gives us a great deal of satisfaction.

The Leader: PIC: Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds (Credit: Gemma Thomas).

"We would appeal to the 824 members who have a vote, to do so in favour of the proposal and allow the club to continue on this wonderful journey we are all on."

Earlier this month, the trust confirmed they had agreed in principle to surrender the lease of the newly named SToK Cae Ras, to the club.

However, they wanted a binding covenant that Wrexham AFC could not be moved away from the ground.

The vote on the leas will open on December 5 at 9am and will remain open until December 12 at 5pm.

A WST spokesperson said: "The Trust Board is pleased to announce that negotiations with the club have progressed well with regard to the proposed surrender of the existing lease to the Racecourse Ground, to be replaced by a legally binding covenant so that the ground will only be used as the home football stadium of Wrexham AFC’s men’s first team until 30 June 2115.

"The Trust Board are supportive of the resolutions to be proposed at the AGM.

"The Board hope that members are able to attend the SGM, either in person or by Zoom and to take the opportunity to vote on this important milestone."