WREXHAM AFC is celebrating a legendary milestone today (October 22) - 160-years since the club's first-ever match.

The club's long history began in 1864, founded by members of Wrexham Cricket Club at a meeting at the Turf Hotel in an attempt to find a sport to fill the long winter months.

This year, the anniversary has fallen on the day the Red Dragons take on Huddersfield at the Stok Cae Ras at 7.45pm this evening. 

As Wales' oldest football club, and the third oldest professional club in the world, Wrexham AFC has been on a tremendous journey since the very beginning.

Of course, it all started with a match between ‘ten of the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade and ten of the club’.

Wrexham’s first ever line-up was as follows: C. E. Kershaw, J. Taylor, T. Hanmer, E. Knibbs, T. Broster, G. R. Johnson, T. Sykes, Jos. Roberts, Sergt, Hearth, Sergt. Tootell.

The Wrexham Advertiser, on October 29, 1864 reported: “On Saturday last a foot ball match was played on the ground at the Turf Tavern, between ten of the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade and ten of the club, which resulted in an easy victory for the fire brigade, they winning the first two goals out of three.” (Wrexham Advertiser, 29/10/1864)

Now officially named the Stok Cae Ras, the Racecourse Ground hosted Wales’ first ever home international match on March 5, 1877. This game made it the ground the oldest international football stadium in the world which is still continuously used.

However, crowd trouble in 1833 saw Wrexham briefly being banned by the Football Association following a controversial defeat to Oswestry Town in the FA Cup.

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160-years-later, and plenty has changed for the team, most significantly in recent years, the takeover by actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds in November 2020.

Over the last few years, the club has excelled achieving back-to-back promotions taking them from 15-years in League Two to now playing in EFL League One.

Now with the biggest international fanbase the club has ever had, the club has put Wrexham well and truly on the map. And yet, one thing that certainly hasn't changed is the loyalty of the fans. Home or away, the support has continued to shine and be outstanding all these years later.

Let's hope it's a win for the team on today's special anniversary. Here's to another 160-years, Reds.