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More taxpayer funding for Wrexham than any other club

Wrexham, the struggling football club catapulted to global fame after it was bought by the Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has received £18 million in taxpayer funding.

The Championship club was awarded the non-repayable grants to refurbish its stadium and the surrounding area despite the sizeable wealth of its owners.

The amount of money received by Wrexham in state aid vastly outstrips public spending on any other football club in England and Wales.

A year after the actors’ purchase of the club, it was awarded £3.8 million by Wrexham county borough council, the first of two grants.

A second payment of £14 million was awarded in September. The grants, which were first reported by The Guardian, are for the redevelopment of the club’s Racecourse Ground. This includes the construction of a Kop stand, floodlights and pitch to make the stadium suitable for international football and rugby matches.

In recent years, both the council and Welsh government have heralded a £25 million regeneration project centring on Wrexham General station, which is next to the ground.

Although rare, some football clubs in England and Wales have received public money to finance the creation of their grounds, including Swansea City’s Liberty Stadium.

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