Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney suffer stadium blow at Wrexham as council refuse 'Kop' condition as part of SToK Racecourse upgrade

The ambitious Welsh outfit have seen their Hollywood co-owners generate the funds required to give SToK Racecourse a serious facelift. Part of that project includes refurbishing the famous ‘Kop’ stand, taking its total capacity to 5,500.

Planning permission was granted over 12 months ago, with the old terrace being flattened. Wrexham are, however, seeing local authorities restrict them to 4,900 spectators in the new stand once it is completed. That is due to a council-imposed condition regarding the impact of potential river pollution.

Talks regarding the proposed structure have continued for some time, with Reynolds and McElhenney confident that they would receive the required clearance. A decision notice within the planning section of Wrexham council’s website does, however, show that concerns remain and no green light has been given. The decision notice reads: “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.”

More detailed evidence, or a revised plan, will need to be submitted in order to appease the planning department. The new ‘Kop’ stand at SToK Racecourse is expected to be in a position to welcome supporters through the turnstiles in time for the 2024-25 campaign – with Wrexham hoping to have added promotion out of League Two to their roll of honour by then.