Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds have received a huge boost as Wrexham finally secured a location for their academy.
The main aim Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds had after taking over Wrexham in 2021 was to build a state-of-the-art facility for their academy.
The Hollywood owners wanted to house the men’s, women’s and youth sides all under one roof but that has proven tricky.
Reynolds has previously spoken about how badly they needed an actual training facility, instead of operating across multiple and the importance of building for the future.
Sadly, not having an adequate training facility has had a knock-on effect, as on Tuesday, Wrexham saw their application to become a Category Three academy get rejected.
Currently, the Reds have a Category Four academy, which means they can only operate teams from under 17 onwards. It’s clear why everyone associated with the club wants to be Category Three, and they may have just received a boost in that quest.
Wrexham to build academy facility at Darland High School
Wrexham had hundreds of youngsters signed up for the lower-age teams to represent the club in the 2024/25 season.
Unfortunately, parents were informed at the end of May that the chances of the Welsh side achieving a Category Three academy were slim, and that meant the youth teams would have to be scrapped, leaving several youngsters in the dark about their future.
Academy Manager Andy Lowe said the key reason was “purely in relation to the facilities”, as per the Athletic, while now the club have been granted permission to build an academy facility at Darland High School.
The plan is to build five pitches of varying sizes, bespoke changing rooms, toilets, offices, analysis rooms, medical rooms, a gym, a kitchen, meeting rooms and a classroom.
In a statement on Wrexham’s official website, Lowe said being granted this permission is a “significant milestone” for the academy and an accumulation of eight months of hard work.
“I am delighted to finally see the Academy facility project with Darland High School come to fruition”, Lowe said. This is a significant milestone for our Academy at Wrexham AFC and is the accumulation of eight months of extremely hard work behind the scenes by numerous people.”
What this means for Wrexham’s Academy status
It remains to be seen whether building this facility will grant Wrexham Category Three status for their academy. However, Lowe did say being based at Darland High School gives the Reds a “fantastic opportunity to grow as an EFL licensed academy”.
He continued: “Darland High is in a fantastic location within the Wrexham area and allows us the opportunity to grow as an EFL licensed academy. The development of home-grown players is integral to the long-term sustainability of any football club and the announcement of this facility is a step in the right direction in ensuring we continue to develop Wrexham AFC players of the future.
“The Darland facility now provides us with a fantastic opportunity to support of our ongoing Category Three application and aspirations of becoming an EFL Category Three-Two Academy.”
Once this project is complete and Wrexham have a permanent home for their academy, their chances of achieving Category Three status will increase ten-fold, as will securing the futures of the next generation.