STōK Cae Ras

The STōK Cae Ras, also known the STōK Racecourse or the Racecourse Ground ("Cae Ras" is Welsh for Racecourse), is a football stadium located in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of AFC Wrexham and is the world's oldest international football stadium still hosting international games, as it continues to hold select Wales matches. Between 2012 and 2016, the Racecourse was shared by North Wales Crusaders rugby team.

📜 History

The venue first opened for football in October 1864 when Wrexham AFC were formed, although the site's history goes back much further, having been used for horse racing as far back as the 17th century and also as the former base for Wrexham Cricket Club. 

Aside from 2 seasons between 1881 and 1883, when the club was forced to move to the Recreation Ground at Rhosddu due to an increase in rent, Wrexham have called it home ever since. On 5 March 1877, it hosted Wales' first ever international home match, against Scotland.

Prior to the First World War, the Racecourse was often used for flying, to the point that the local council considered converting it into the town's municipal airport.

In 2004, then-chairman of the club Alex Hamilton attempted to evict the club from the ground, having transferred ownership of it to one of his companies, but the eviction was blocked by the High Court after it was deemed the freehold ownership had been improperly transferred. Wrexham regained the freehold in 2022 following the club's takeover by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney; it has been purchased by Wrexham University in 2011 to save the ground while the club was in administration.