Wrexham Women: Champions League the dream for semi-professional side
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Phoebe Davies (arms raised) played for Wrexham when they were previously members of the Welsh Women's Premier League.
The big dream of Wrexham's Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney might be to reach the Premier League with the men's team, but the club's women's side is aiming to go even further and take Europe by storm.
Wrexham Women will be among the eight teams playing in the Adran Premier in 2023-24 having secured the Adran North title before winning a promotion play-off final against Briton Ferry, and have now set their sights on ultimately reaching the Uefa Women's Champions League.
"That's been our ambition all along," said Gemma Owen, head of women's football at Wrexham.
"We set out a development plan and over the next few years [aim to be] not only getting into the Champions League and being Wales' representatives, but then being able to progress out of the initial stages, which no [Welsh] club has done.
"I think we've got to have ambition and have a target that we work towards.
"We feel that if we continue along the path that we're on, with the effort and the backing we are putting in to that, then there's no reason why we can't do it."
Qualifying for Europe would give the club further international exposure following the 2021 takeover by actors Reynolds and McElhenney and the subsequent Disney+ documentary.
"Seeing where the club is now... I still struggle to get my head around the fact that so many people around the world know who Wrexham are and where Wrexham is, and that's huge," said Owen.
"The fact that our women's team is progressing along with the club is very special thing to be involved with."
While Wrexham's men are looking forward to a return to the Football League after a 15-year absence, their female counterparts will embark on their own new era.
Phoebe Davies (arms raised) played for Wrexham when they were previously members of the Welsh Women's Premier League.
Promotion to the top-flight of the women's domestic game in Wales has seen the club become semi-professional, a process which Owen said they had been working towards "for a long time".
Two of the 10 players to have been awarded new semi-professional contracts are Phoebe Davies and Lili Jones.
Full-back Davies played for the club in the Welsh Premier League under its previous format before, restructuring took place in 2021 and the Adran Leagues were formed.
"Before, it was a hobby, and something that came third or fourth on the list," said Davies, who works as a marketing manager for a house building company and is a mother to a two-year-old daughter.
"Now it's a lot more professional, there's a lot more expectation on us and it will become a priority for me now as well as everything else.
"I'll give it all the time I can and try and be successful out of it."
Wrexham are the first women's side to become semi-professional in north Wales and 28-year-old Davies says it is a significant development for the region.
"Going back 10-15 years ago I was playing on the Wirral because if you wanted to play at a good standard that's where you had to go," Davies added.
"Whereas now we're building a base right on people's doorstep and they're not travelling an hour, two hours in the car to play at a high standard.
"You've got Lili, who's 17, she's coming through now and her experience compared to mine at 18 is leaps and bounds ahead.
"I've got a little girl who's two and she will be playing football and nobody will think any different, whereas for me I was the only one.
"I couldn't tell you anyone in my county that played football and I still see people now and they still see me as the girl who used to play football, which is mad.
"It's nice to see it's becoming the norm."
Jones, who can play in defence or midfield, was brought up a stone's throw away from the Racecourse Stadium.
It was there that the team was watched by a record crowd of 9,511 for a women's domestic fixture in Wales when they faced Connah's Quay Nomads in March.
"Before the game there was mention of 4-5,000 people coming to watch and even then we were thinking 'surely not'," said Jones.
"But as we walked out and looked at the Mold Road [stand] I couldn't see an empty seat and I thought to myself, 'Wow!'
"It's really hard to put into words [how it felt] to walk out in front of so many.
"Without the owners this would never have happened."
For owners Reynolds and McElhenney, the women's game has been at the forefront of their plans for the club. having pledged investment into the women's programme when they took over two and a half years ago.
Lili Jones in action against Connah's Quay Nomads at a packed Racecourse Stadium in March.
When the successful seasons both the men's and women's side enjoyed were marked with a parade, Reynolds and McElhenney joined Jones and her team-mates on one of the open top buses.
"For the chairmen to come on the bus with us and share that experience is something I will genuinely never forget," Jones added.
"For them to look at us in unity with the men is something that we'll always be grateful for.
"The fact that they're ready to go out their way to give us the same support as they do to the men is something we'll be grateful for."
"It was a history-making season for us. We're going to try and top it next time if that's possible.
"Every game will be a challenge next season, but we're ready to pull our socks up and face up to it."