Wrexham’s Hollywood owner Ryan Reynolds suffers bitter stadium blow before new stand has even been built
WREXHAM owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have suffered a bitter blow to their stadium plans for the club.
The Hollywood stars are busy building a new stand at the Racecourse Ground.
The new Kop Stand will have room for 4,900 seats and is set to open in the 2024/25 season.
However, Reynolds and Co wanted to seat another 600 supporters to take the total to 5,500.
The ambitious Americans want the stand to be ready in anticipation of their continued rise up the English football pyramid.
But these plans have been scuffed by local councillors, who rejected the plans on environmental grounds.
Planners are concerned over the levels of pollution from phosphate concentrations flowing in local rivers from the building work.
Environment officials have ordered the levels of phosphate to be reduced in a number of areas in Wales, including the area around Wrexham.
One of the conditions for the new stand was the reduction of the environmental impact from the 4,900-seater stand. Reynolds and McElhenney had applied for this condition to be scrapped.
A letter on behalf of the club said: “It is clear that the use of the Kop Stand at its full capacity is supported, subject to addressing the matters raised by Welsh Water.
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“This means that the Racecourse Ground’s redeveloped Kop Stand will be able to hold the 5,500 spectators that it has been designed and approved for.”
Wrexham had argued the amendment was non-material, though the council deemed the change to in fact be material.
The council have asked for more detailed evidence to support the club’s plans.
A statement on the refusal of the expansion said: “The council hereby confirms that it considers the amendments, as described in the application, to be material.
“Your application for a non-material amendment to the above-mentioned planning permission is refused.
“The applicant is advised that there is no right of appeal against the council’s refusal to grant this non-material amendment.
“The applicant is advised to contact the council to discuss other options and procedures for making the desired changes to the existing planning permission.
“The applicant is advised to contact the council’s head of community wellbeing and development prior to the preparation of detailed plans.”
The Racecourse Ground is the oldest international football venue in the world, having hosted a Wales vs Scotland game all the way back in 1877.
The new stand would bring it in line with Uefa standards to host regular international games.
Reynolds and McElhenney bought Wrexham in 2021 and have brought it international spotlight with their Disney+ show Welcome to Wrexham.
Results on the pitch have been just as good, with Wrexham winning promotion from the National League into League Two last season.
After a rocky start to the season, things have improved with Wrexham sitting third in League Two, five points off of pace-setters Stockport.