Wrexham rebuilding Kop stand at the Racecourse as £70m project advances
Wrexham are rebuilding the Kop stand at the Racecourse as part of a £70m development, the club reported on 7 October 2026, with the new stand due to be fully operational by the start of next season.
The Racecourse has been Wrexham's home since the club was formed in 1864 and is described as the oldest international football ground still in use; the Kop had stood derelict for years before the current project. Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac completed their takeover of the then National League club from Wrexham Supporters' Trust in February 2022 and have backed manager Phil Parkinson while aiming for the Premier League. The team achieved three successive promotions to reach the Championship and finished seventh in the 2025-26 Championship table after narrowly missing out on the play-offs last season.
The rebuilt Kop will add 7,500 seats and take the Racecourse capacity to more than 18,000, the club said after Wrexham County Borough Council officially approved the application this week. The stand will include dressing-room areas, media provision and hospitality facilities and, the club says, will make the ground fit for the Premier League should promotion be achieved. The project is described as on course to fully open for the 2027-28 season.
Aidan Miller, Wrexham’s chief strategy officer, is overseeing the project and the club’s longer-term development; he noted the rapid rise through the leagues after Wrexham were playing non-league football three years ago. "The speed at which we've got through the leagues has been incredible," Miller told BBC Sport Wales. "We are playing catch-up and we're trying to make ourselves ready for the next level."
Miller also drew on his previous experience working for seven years on Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock, reflecting on the challenges of stadium construction. "Premier League clubs don't necessarily build new stadiums and they tend to happen in certain intervals," he said. "They're difficult to deliver and therefore when you do deliver them, they're brilliant." "I am really proud of that - it's a brilliant stadium," he added.
Beyond the Kop, Wrexham have undertaken significant work at three other sites: new pitches at the academy site at Darland High School in Rossett, major upgrades including a new pitch and gym at the women's team base The Rock in Rhosymedre (which the club purchased in 2025), and a new pavilion for the first team at Colliers Park, the FAW-operated complex. "They're all important and big developments in their own right," Miller said. "The club wants to be in a position where its academy is reaching improved levels, improved statuses and we get the players coming through that."
Chief executive Michael Williamson has said the ideal capacity for the Racecourse would be between 26,000 and 29,000 as part of further development, and the club recently purchased The Turf pub next to the ground and land formerly occupied by the Dickens Car showroom to "protect the future of the club." On the Racecourse's future, Miller said: "It's just continuing to take those steps forward. It's continuing to make it bigger, larger, better and just continuing to improve the experience."
The club says the Kop will be fully operational by the start of next season, while work on the wider facility upgrades continues under the long-term development plan overseen by Miller.
