Wrexham: £5m plan for Welsh national football museum

Moves to celebrate Wales' love of the beautiful game are a step closer after plans for a national football museum in Wrexham received a £5.4m boost.

Wrexham's football heritage has seen a boost in publicity since Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the club in February 2021.

It is hoped the museum, celebrating the highs and lows of Welsh football, will boost tourism.

The Welsh government said the venue would "celebrate the sport's heritage".

The cash, provided by the Welsh government, is set to see the creation of the so-called Museum of Two Halves in Wales' newest city, where the Football Association of Wales (FAW) was formed in 1876.

The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham's home, has hosted more Wales matches than any other ground and is one of the world's oldest international football stadiums.

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On the terraces

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport Dawn Bowden said she hoped the museum would become a "key attraction" for the area, which would capitalise on growing interest in the men's and women's national sides and Wrexham FC.

Set to open by 2026, the football museum will display items including the largest collection of Welsh football memorabilia held in public ownership in Wales, which is already held in the city museum's archives.

There are more than 2,000 items in the collection, including Wales shirts from international games, and medals and trophies relating to all levels of the game in Wales.

The Wales football team in Cardiff in 1921 before their match with England, which ended goalless

Initial designs for the new museum - Y Cwrt Mawr - the entrance to the new museum of two halves

Ms Bowden said: "Wrexham is the birthplace of Welsh football so it's the ideal location to celebrate the sport's heritage.

Plaid Cymru's Siân Gwenllian said: "Yma o Hyd fever spread across Wales and across the world last year with our national team reaching the World Cup. It showed the pride and joy football has brought us in recent years and how important it is to Wales.

"This redeveloped museum will celebrate our nation's contribution to the game and the heritage and legacy it provides for us all. Wrexham, a city steeped in football history, is a fitting home for this exciting project and I am delighted we are working together to make it happen."

While the exhibitions will be in Wrexham - created through a major expansion of the city's existing museum - Ms Bowden said the football museum would reflect the whole of Wales by engaging communities across the country with satellite events.

Wrexham is Wales' oldest professional club

Initial designs for the new museum - Heartbreak and Glory exhibition

Project manager of the Museum of Two Halves, Jonathan Gammond, said: "It's about any football played in Wales or any football played by Welsh people outside Wales.

"All aspects of the game will be covered: amateurs, professionals, men and women, different nationalities and minorities - everyone who loves the game.

"And exploring the story, not just on the pitch but off the pitch as well".

An exhibition of shirts from pivotal moments in Welsh football history is already running at Wrexham museum.

Tom and Elsbeth Nicholls, who were visiting the Shirt Stories exhibition, said they could not wait to see the National Football Museum up and running.

Ms Nicholls said: "We've got a son, grandson, granddaughters and son-in-law who're all big Wrexham supporters and all mad keen for the museum to be here", while Mr Nicholls said: "The location is important because not a lot goes to Wrexham - a city as it is now".

The Welsh government, which is providing £5.4m as part of an agreement with Plaid Cymru, said the museum should be completed by the end of the current Senedd term in 2026.