Featured image credit: Populous
The planning committee of Wrexham County Borough Council has voted to approve Wrexham AFC’s updated designs for a redeveloped Kop Stand at the STōk Cae Ras stadium.
Details of the updated designs were heard during yesterday’s (Monday’s) planning committee meeting. The updated designs were recommended for approval and they have now received the official green light from the council.
It comes after Wrexham unveiled its new designs for the redeveloped Kop Stand last month. The new 5,500-capacity stand has been designed by Populous and includes provisions for safe standing, hospitality and accessible seating.
The seating bowl has been designed to create a home end for the club’s fans to “reinforce the atmosphere” at the current stadium, with the design of the roof optimised to amplify sound from the fans towards the pitch.
The new design will also support an increase in capacity, subject to a separate planning application. Player and officials’ facilities will be integrated into the new Kop Stand, allowing fans to welcome the team onto the pitch through a new player tunnel.
Michael Williamson, chief executive of Wrexham AFC, said: “It was a pleasure to speak in front of the planning committee today and share the club’s excitement and ambition to deliver an atmospheric and authentic new Kop Stand for our fans. We look forward now to turning this vision into reality and writing a new chapter in the rich history of our proud club and stadium.”
The new stand will be fully compliant with UEFA Category 4 stadium requirements, enabling the stadium to host matches at the 2026 UEFA European U19 Championship as well as other future internationals.
Populous was appointed to create a masterplan for Wrexham’s stadium back in October, with the initial focus to be on the redesigned Kop Stand. The club had earlier announced that it would be readdressing its stadium redevelopment plans, with a temporary stand currently in place where the new Kop will be located.
The temporary stand has been in place since midway through the 2023-24 season after it emerged that the new Kop would not be open for the start of the 2024-25 campaign as originally planned. The club previously worked with AFL Architects on its stadium redevelopment plans.
Wrexham AFC has been owned by Hollywood actors Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds since February 2021. Expansion of the stadium has been a key priority for McElhenney and Reynolds, with the club having achieved back-to-back promotions and currently sitting third in League One.
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