Wrexham Association Football Club is an association football club based in Wrexham, Wales. Founded in October 1864, it is the oldest football club in Wales and the third-oldest professional association football team in the world. [1] After playing in the Combination and regional leagues for several years, Wrexham joined the Football League shortly after the First World War, as a founding member of the new Third Division North. The club remained in the Football League for over 85 years, before they were relegated to the National League in 2008. [2] They remained in the fifth tier of English football for the next 15 seasons, missing out on promotion through the play-offs on five separate occasions. [3] Wrexham were promoted in two consecutive seasons between 2022 and 2024, and will play in League One for the first time since 2005. [4]
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Wrexham's first team has competed in numerous nationally and internationally organised competitions. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, a total of 899 players have appeared in fewer than 25 such matches for the club. The list includes six players who are still contracted to the club, so can add to their appearance total. Six Wrexham players with fewer than 25 appearances went on to manage the club – Les McDowall (1949–1950), Peter Jackson (1950–1955), Cliff Lloyd (1955–1957 and 1959–1960; caretaker 1961, 1965, 1967), Alvan Williams (1967–1968), John Neal (1968–1977) and Bobby Roberts (1982–1985). [5] Joe Jones, who played nine times between 1881 and 1883, was Wrexham's first player to score a hat-trick, which he did on 3 November 1883 (this was also the first time a player had scored four goals). [6]
