The Truth About Wrexham AFC

earlier in the season I went to watch AFC wrexham just just a piece of paper basically well yeah that is what it is actually to be fair yeah on this piece of paper I just wrote down some notes from what I discovered I'm just gonna be really really truthful about what I think about AFC wrexham oh you're not in you're on that end he's still not him he's still alive I'm kidding I'm kidding so the first thing I did was I went to the town [Music] a very welcoming place it's the type of place in which people smile at one another they say hey you're right it's very much a typical working class honest Town not too so similar to the town I grew up in so I've just come across what seems to be two miners this is a really cool statue just in the Town Center [Music] Church you'll notice it says 1934. and if you don't know why that is have a listen the graceford disaster was the second worst disaster in Welsh mine in history it was an explosion that killed 266 men and boys many of the 266 had swapped shifts so that they could watch wrexham vs tramir Rovers the next day it's one of those tragic events that destroys the community and I'm sure that many of the people in wrexham still to this day have a story to tell about that night in gresford it was just not safe enough for the miners for so many years and they were so let down and I thought that was an absolutely glorious touch on the back of the shirt and I'm not sure how long that's been a thing but that should always remain a thing the 1934 on the back of those wrexham shirts lots of smiley faces walking in the direction I'm currently walking in the Racecourse ground in the shadows of the turf Pub the pub in which the club was founded back in 1864. let's go inside and there I just stood and watched the people in the pub laughing and cheering and chanting and it was just a really lovely gorgeous atmosphere and then I had the opportunity to speak to Wayne Jones who is the owner of the pub Wayne what's it like every weekend having a full Happy Pub well it's a lot nicer than having a full Side Pub um no it's very nice um [Music] what are people from wrexham like the best people in the world so they're working class genuine uh humble and very very friendly um you know we get hundreds and hundreds of tourists now when everybody says the same thing about the people arresting the best people in the world like I said owner of wrexham in 2004 he didn't pay the bills he ripped the club apart and he tried to transfer the Racecourse ground into his own private company so he could sell it to be destroyed for profit I don't think all too many people will be watching this and going I I can't believe he's done that because you probably know all too well what that's all about there's so many clubs in the bottom leagues in the non-leagues that have experienced owners that have come in with all the money and said I'm gonna do this I'm gonna do that I'm gonna take this club to the Premier League We've Got A Five-Year Plan and before you know it you see there's information and forms that have shown they've been making a little bit of profit here and there they've taken this bit of money they've put the club into this debt they've made these plans for this bit of land before you know it they're destroying your club they're literally destroying your football club right in front of you and there is nothing you can do about it because the people that were supposed to protect your Club they did nothing they spotted nothing we see it every single year this year South End United with the club we all watch in anticipation you know will they get to see next season in 2011 rexham were told they'd be thrown out of the conference Premiere which is the national league now if they didn't meet certain demands one of those demands was a 250 thousand pound Bond Jeff Mossy was co-owner at the time was able to contribute 150 000 pounds of that but that still means there was a hundred thousand pounds needed it's 5 p.m on a Monday Monday is as terrible as it is and you owe 100 000 pounds to stay in the National League or you get thrown out okay right what can we do can we raise that money as football fans so the people of wrexham they come together and within 24 hours they raised 100 000 pounds actually more than 100 000 pounds to keep themselves in the football league so I think that in itself is a story that tells you about that love for the club and I mean we talk about English football fans and their love for their clubs it knows no bounds I mean people give what they haven't got to try and keep their football club alive that's how much it really does mean to them all right [Music] The Vibes are wonderful here at the Racecourse ground but you can feel the nerves in every man woman boy and girl all ten thousand of them this is a huge football match do not mistake that [Music] all found this adventure to grounds of in non-league or even the lower leagues you'll know what I'm saying by this it's the type of football ground where if you just smile at someone that's all it takes to initiate a conversation when somebody shows that Curiosity in that initial step to a conversation towards me then I love that because then I can show that Curiosity back this is a glorious position for a free kick in a 37th minute young standing over it both of them one table and Anthony Ford will take it okay so what we've established is this is a town that I've been through quite a lot they were averaging about four to five thousand fans per home match before the Takeover so a very well supported side I have got no problem with owners coming in with money to get you into that English football league because you seem like you really deserve it you seem like you've waited a long time agonizing years for this and you're good people [Applause] many many a town in the north and shops on the High Street that just boarded up and money that just needs to be injected a little bit of energy a little bit of spirit and it's not fair sometimes this dream of being back in the football league it's not an entirely greedy dream is it if someone wants to come in and they want to romanticize this town and say these positive things about this town you're so proud of and put it on the map I'm not going to be the one to be bitter and jealous about that just because I'd be so desperately wishing it would happen to my football club I wrecked him going up this season I think that's what upsets me a little bit is the fact that the cynical bitter eyes sometimes I think come from a sad place they come from a place of which just really wish that this happened to us and I don't mean we need Hollywood owners I just mean we need honest owners who come in with a bit of money and expend it nicely and they spend it with good intentions and they actually give one about us as people I'm gonna improve the training ground I'm going to install new seats and give this Stadium a lick of pain I'm going to try and work towards freezing season ticket prices so you don't have to worry about penny pinching just to be able to come and support the lads something that really stuck with me what Robin Ryan said was we're not going to stop until wrecks and women are the best team in Wales how many clubs care about everyone these are just fantastic custodians of a football club if my intrusive thoughts win I will take this and I will hit this don't do it Dave don't do it no I'm not gonna do it

Channel: StuntPegg

Views: 870,344

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Id: rGcUW2wc9AQ

Length: 8min 33sec (513 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 19 2023