Wrexham's Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have bought the pub next door to the football club's Racecourse home ground to "protect the future of the club". Wrexham AFC was founded at the then-named Turf Hotel in October 1864 and is the oldest football club in Wales. A club statement announcing the purchase from Admiral Taverns said it hoped to "help protect the historic pub" by "incorporating the club, the Racecourse Ground and The Turf under a single ownership".
The pub and its landlord, Wayne Jones, have become regular features on the award-winning "Welcome to Wrexham" Disney documentary series, and Jones described the buy as "great news for all Wrexham fans". Celebrities have been spotted visiting The Turf since Reynolds and Mac took over the club in 2021, including Paul Rudd, Channing Tatum and Will Ferrell. Prince William even pulled a pint behind the bar with Mac to mark St David's Day in 2024.
The club statement continued: "The acquisition allows for the preservation of the history and traditions of the historic public house that is inexorably linked to the Racecourse Ground and Wrexham AFC Football Club since its foundation in 1864. "This will include opportunities to enhance the current fan zone and other fan-related activities in the area next to The Turf on the Mold Road. "The acquisition of The Turf is a continuation of the strategy to protect the future of the club and its interests by ring fencing key areas related to the life of the club." "The Turf Tavern, as it was then, predates the club and records suggest that the club itself was founded in the pub," said Jones, who has been landlord of The Turf for the past 20 years." "It has played a key part of the club's history ever since, with the players changing in the pub before running out onto the Racecourse Ground as recently as the 1940s.
"It continues to be a focal point for fans on matchdays and non-matchdays," Jones added. Jones will continue running the pub as part of the purchase deal, and said he was looking forward to bringing its "unique mix of history, atmosphere and sometimes Hollywood stardust" to the next generation of Wrexham fans and locals alike. The Racecourse Ground staged its first Wales fixture in March 1877 and is the world's oldest football stadium still hosting international matches.
Eric Allyn, on behalf of minority investors the Allyn family, said: "Ever since we invested in Wrexham AFC through Red Dragon Ventures in 2024, the town, the community and the football club have become a second home. "By bringing The Turf into the group, we are securing the long-term future of the pub and with it preserving its history and that of the club." Tens of thousands of fridge freezers left at docks as household collections suspended Illegal off-road vehicles to be seized on the spot as police warn of 'long walk home' 'Inappropriate' campervan parking causing problems, councillor says
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