With the thread now 68 pages long, I feel that it would now be more convenient to add an updated summary of the major structures that have been built on The Racecourse since it was first established.
The Turf Hotel is comprised of two individual buildings, which were each built at different times. The Turf Tavern (the lower section of The Turf Hotel) was built at some point between 1793 and 1819, and The Grandstand (the taller section with a balcony; where the bar area is today) was built sometime prior to 1833. Both of these buildings were later joined together to form the current Turf Hotel.
In the early days of racing at Y Cae Ras, temporary wooden stands were built at either side of The Turf Tavern and dismantled at the end of the race meetings each year. The earliest evidence for this comes from a newspaper report of the 1811 races, in which one of the stands collapsed and a spectator suffered a broken leg.
1854. The first permanent stand was a stone- built structure with wooden plank seating, built on the Mold Road side of the course. The stand was separated from the Turf Tavern by a gate that provided access onto the course. The Turf Tavern was also adapted with offices for race officials and changing rooms for jockeys, which were later used as changing rooms for footballers.
After the birth of Wrexham AFC in 1864, simple open air seating was gradually re-introduced to the side of the pitch on the Northern (Yale side) of the ground. The seating consisted of continuous lines of wooden planks that ran parallel along the entire length of the pitch, and which were elevated in steps that were 7 rows high.
1869. The Mold Road Stand was repaired and upgraded
1890. The Mold Road stand was renovated and extended with a new stand that had an additional gate installed at the Plas Coch the end of this stand.
1913. Major revamp of the stadium prior to the Wales v Scotland International match on 3rd March. The Mold Road stand was extended again and additional seating was provided on the flat ground between the Mold Road stand and the touchline. The height of the banks behind each goal were also increased, particularly at the Crispin Lane end, and some concrete terracing was laid at each end.
The Turf Tavern was renovated and the separate, taller section of the premises, known as The Grandstand was also renovated, internally and externally. These two buildings, which were originally separated by an alleyway, 3 metres wide, had previously been joined together at first floor level by means of lintels which spanned the alley and provided another gated entrance into the ground, but in 1913, the alleyway was bricked up, bringing the two buildings together and forming a lounge area inside of the tavern.
1921. The first covered structure for up to 2,500 standing spectators was erected at the Plas Coch end of the pitch at a cost of £100, which was paid for by the Shareholders Association. At the same time, the height of The Mold Road stand was raised to provide more seating and the height of the terraced embankment at the Crispin Lane end of the ground was again increased.
1924. (May). First stand erected on the Northern (Yale side) of the pitch at a cost of £360 which was paid by the Shareholders Association. The Association formally handed control of the stand to the football club before the last home game of the 1923/24 season, against Durham City on May 3rd.1924.
1924. (September) The Plas Coch Stand was destroyed by a storm, which ripped the roof from its fixings and damaged the foundations. This was the second time that this had happened to the stand behind the Plas Coch goal.
1925. The Plas Coch structure was replaced with a new stand with a curved roof, which was painted with stripes.
1928. Concrete terracing laid to the paddock area in front of the Mold Road stand.
1929. A new covered stand (100 yards long and 25 feet deep) replaced the curved-roof structure at the Plas Coch end of the ground. Built at a cost of £750, which was provided by the Supporters Association, the stand incorporated ladder beams with diagonal cross members, which ran the full length along the front of the stand beneath the roof. The stand was officially opened by the President of the Welsh FA prior to the international game against Ireland on 2nd February.
1930. The ladder-beam design was also used for a new stand which replaced the earlier structure on the northern (Yale side) of the pitch. This stand was opened with an official ceremony, prior to the international match against England on 22nd November.
1931. (September) The angled/wing stand was constructed on Mold Road, filling the gap between the Mold Road and Plas Coch stands and providing covered accommodation for 1000 supporters. Construction work started in July and was completed in time for the opening game of the season against
Chester on September 2nd. The £700 construction costs were paid by The Supporters Association
1931. (October) The length of the new stand on the northern (Yale Stand) side of the pitch was extended and its depth was increased down to the touchline, while retaining the ladder-beam design to match the Plas Coch end of the ground.
With accommodation for up to 7,000 supporters, the stand on the northern side of the pitch was now 70 yards long and 42 feet deep, and had been built at a total cost of around £900 (£368 of which was paid by the Supporters Association).
The stand was officially opened prior to the Wales v Scotland international match on 31st October 1931. The height of the ‘Spion Kop’ terracing at the Crispin Lane end of the ground had also been raised again to increase capacity for this match.
1937. Both the Yale Stand and The Plas Coch Stands were each extended to merge into a single structure, while new terracing was also laid to both ends of the ground in time for the FA Cup tie against Manchester City on 16th January.
1948. A conversion of the area under the Mold Road stand provided new changing rooms for players, while a new entrance was erected at the northern (Yale side) of the ground. The work to the dressing rooms had been started in April 1947 and completed in time for the international match against Ireland on March 10th 1948.
1952. Old terracing removed and new raised concrete terracing laid on the Crispin Lane end of ground to form the kop.
1957. Ground improvements included a new entrance and turnstiles next to The Turf Hotel, with a new stand in the enclosure providing 250 tip-up seats for season ticket holders. A new concrete boundary wall was also built around the pitch to replace railings and additional terracing was constructed on the kop to increase the ground capacity to 40,000.
1959. New floodlights switched on for the home tie against Swindon on 30th September.
1962. A new 700-seater stand, which was comprised of a reclaimed balcony from The Majestic Cinema in Wrexham, was erected on the kop and opened for the start of the 1962/63 season. First known as ‘The Busfield Stand’ due to an advertising hoarding on the front of the structure, the stand later became known as ‘The Pigeon Loft’. The stand was bought and erected at a cost of £4,000, which was paid by the Supporters Association.
1972. A New £80,000 stand was opened on the Yale side of the ground, which was comprised of an upper tier of seated accommodation and lower terraces for standing spectators close to the pitch. The base of the stand also provided office space for club officials, changing rooms and the hospitality rooms, which are now known as the Centenary Club.
1978. Another two-tired stand costing around £200,000 was opened at the Plas Coch end of ground, replacing the earlier ‘tech end’. Like the Yale Stand, the new stand was comprised of an upper tier for seated supporters and a lower section of terraces.
1999. The Mold Road Stand and the old changing rooms of The Turf Tavern were demolished to make way for the current 3,500-seater Mold Road Stand.
4th June 2020, 18.02:15
Re: The sad case of a founding members and player of Wrexham Football Club (Massive history thread!)
