The History of Supporters' Clubs in Wrexham

Wrexham AFC Supporters' Club (as it was then known) was born in August 1926 at the Black Lion pub in Wrexham. The driving force behind Wrexham's first supporters club was Jack Williams who was born in Summerhill in 1898. Jack saw his first Wrexham match in 1910, a Birmingham League encounter with Hednesford Town and was inspired to form a supporters' club

He was a man of great vision who recognised the importance of fans working together and with Tom Hodgson of Northampton Town, formulated the idea of the National Federation of Football Supporters' Clubs, which was inaugurated in 1927.

Wrexham Supporters' Association, as we are now known, owes a great debt to its founder Jack Williams. In recognition of his achievements we named our Player of the Season award after him.

The Jack Williams Player of the Season was first awarded to goalkeeper Brian Lloyd at the end of the 1975/76 and has been awarded every year since by the Supporters' Association on behalf of Wrexham Football Club.

We make this prestigious award, which is recognised by the club and players alike, before the last home game of each season and again at Wrexham Supporters' Trust annual award ceremony.

The Hall of Fame

The Association has always been proud to celebrate Wrexham FC's history and to this end we developed the Hall of Fame in 2002. The Hall of Fame recognises the contribution of players, officials and fans who have achieved so much for this great club. Since its inception in 2002, 43 legends of Wrexham FC have been inaugurated into its membership.

A full history of the Hall of Fame and its members can be found in the Wrexham FC Yearbook 2007-08 and on our website, Wrexham Dragons. We also intend to develop a permanent display in the Turf during the 2007/08 season so that all fans can join us in celebrating the legends of Wrexham FC.

Our role within Wrexham Football Club

People often ask us what we have done for Wrexham Football Club and how they can become members. Over the years the Association helped to fund and build the old stand on the Kop and ran the Centre Spot club shop in the old Mold Road stand and the official Away Travel Scheme.

In recent years we have purchased equipment for Johnny Edwards to keep the Racecourse pitch in tip-top condition and last season purchased an ultrasound machine for Mel Pejic. While the club was in financial trouble we paid for loan players, scouts and day-to-day bills that were not getting paid.

We had over 2,500 members at the height of our success, although recently our membership numbers have fallen. To boost membership and to give all fans an opportunity to join a supporters' club - regardless of income - we have decided to offer free membership during the 2007/08. At this season's Fans' Open Day we signed up over 100 new members, a reflection of how popular this new offer is.

All fans traveling on official away travel buses will automatically be signed up to our free membership scheme, providing them with free insurance should an away match be cancelled within 6 hours of kick-off.

Looking to the future

Last season three stalwarts of Wrexham Supporters' Club - Phil Davies, Dave Davies and Ray Clark - retired. Phil has raised almost £100,000 for the club from the 50/50 competition during the past 10 years, whilst Dave was the mastermind behind the Centre Spot and the Hall of Fame, and developed the Junior Reds jointly with Phil and Ray.

Phil has now passed over the running of the 50/50 competition to Kevin Hughes, while Dave and Ray are looking forward to spending more time with their families. We would like to thank them both for their contribution to the Association and the football club over the years.

As a result the Association is now looking for new blood to take us forward into an exciting new era. If you are already a member and would like to join our committee then please contact our Chairman, Carroll Clark for more information at 01978 266602 or Carroll.Clark@btopenworld.com

Alternatively, if you would like to simply find out what we do then please come along to one of our bi-monthly public meetings, which will be advertised in the local press in the New Year. For more information on our forthcoming plans please visit our website at: http://www.wrexhamfan.co.uk