Ambitious EFL club submit plans to add extra 2,250 seats in new stand boosting stadium capacity to 18,000

HIGH-FLYING Wrexham have submitted FURTHER plans to add an extra 2,250 seats to the club’s newly approved Kop Stand.

The latest submission to Wrexham Borough Council will take the potential capacity of the world’s oldest international footie stadium up to 18,000.

A new Kop End has been in the works since Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney won promotion from the National League in 2022.

Fast forward three years and Wrexham head into this season as a Championship club after becoming the first team to achieve back-to-back-to-back promotions up the EFL pyramid.

The STōK Cae Ras Stadium, which currently holds room for 12,600 people and is better known to fans as the Racecourse, has used temporary Kop End for the last two seasons.

Wrexham Borough finally approved plans for a new £5,500-capacity Kop in March.

But now a separate planning application has requested for 2,250 extra seats – taking the capacity up to 7,750.

The additional seats are a second tier of seating that form a key part of the main structural integrity of the new stand, which could be up and running at the start of the 2026/2027 season.

The North Welsh club say the stand’s proposed external brick facade design pays homage to the city’s ‘Terracottapolis’ nickname.

While the brick colour and textures are reminiscent of the historic Ruabon red brick from the local area and will look on to a public plaza.

The updated drawings included the use of solar panels on the roof as a part of an overall sustainable approach.

For a 2026 unveiling to be possible, construction work will be ongoing throughout the upcoming season.

The aim is for Wrexham’s ground to host international matches once again.

The new stand, along with other works planned at the stadium, will make Wrexham’s ground fully compliant with Uefa category 4 stadium standards.

That will allow it to host the European Under-19 Championship finals tournament in 2026 and other international events.

Wrexham CEO, Michael Williamson, said: “When we submitted the revised designs the intention was always to future proof the stadium so that it could hold international matches for many years to come.”

The original standing Kop terrace was abandoned in 2007 and was unused until its demolition in January 2023.

Work on the new stand was originally due to begin in 2023 but was delayed because of what the club called “additional complications”.

In January 2023, an application for UK government Levelling Up Fund money was rejected and delays to the Kop redevelopment were announced the following September, when Wrexham said funding for the project had not yet been finalised.

Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson’s next step is to do the business on the pitch and take the club to the glittery heights of Premier League football.

SunSport exclusively revealed that the club are preparing to splash the cash on the field too, with the owners open to smashing their transfer record to sign Nathan Broadhead from Ipswich.

The Red Dragons travel to freshly relegated Prem side Southampton on Saturday August 9, before hosting Championship regulars Hull City in the EFL Cup the following weekend.