Wrexham Heritage
Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus! Happy St David’s Day!
Mae’r aros bron drosodd… The wait is almost over…
Mae’r gwanwyn yn yr awyr! Spring is in the air!
#WrexhamMuseum #StDavidsDayWrexham #FootballMuseumWales #AmgueddfaBelDroedCymru #AmgueddfeyddWrecsam
The team from the highly anticipated, football museum for Wales, held special workshops today at the Wynnstay Arms in Wrexham, to mark the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the FAW’s formation.
“Pupils from Wrexham primary schools were invited to the Wynnstay Arms to discover the origins of Welsh football on its 150th anniversary. This event is helping to inform the learning programme for the museum as we prepare for reopening.”
Eleri Farley – Learning Officer, Wrexham Museum of Two Halves
Each school session focussed on how and why the FAW was formed and was set within the room used for that first meeting, 150 years ago.
Tables were arranged in a boardroom style with name holders of the attendees placed at each setting.
Pupils took part in an engaging workshop where they handled real objects, tried on replica costumes, and used football socks to explore how players used to be identified on the field.
They also learned who attended the first FAW meeting and were encouraged to explore who was missing and why, which lead to discussions around the women’s game and global majority histories.
The sessions followed a similar style to a successful pilot project undertaken with Carmarthenshire Libraries at the end of 2025, where pupils explored various stories around Welsh football including the women’s game.
Today’s event commemorated an important, anniversary in Welsh football’s story, engaging schools with local and national history supporting the curriculum for Wales.
Paul Roberts, Wrexham County Borough Council’s lead member for partnerships and community safety, said: “The school groups at The Wynnstay have enjoyed a taste of the engaging, innovative new ways they will explore and learn about our diverse local and football history. This experience offers an exciting glimpse into how future visits will bring the past to life through interactive storytelling and hands-on discovery, at Wrexham’s new museum.”
The pupils were excited to meet Craig Bellamy and Chris Gunter at the end of their session, as members of the FAW, arrived for their commemorative Council meeting at the Wynnstay.
“What a fantastic photo opportunity and a special chance for children to meet their football heroes on such a momentous day in Wales’ football history. We’ve enjoyed a full and inspiring schedule in Wrexham, beginning with the museum team, who showcased remarkable objects from the collection to our council members at this historic venue—an integral part of the Welsh football story.”
Ian Gwyn Hughes, Head of Public Relations & Culture, Football Association of Wales
Redevelopment works at Wrexham’s ‘Museum of Two Halves’ are progressing at pace, with galleries taking shape revealing the extensive new layout. The historic building is emerging from refurbishment and the brand new, world-class, national attraction is set to open later this year.
Main Photo:
St Marys RC School – Wrexham
Wrexham Museum: Eleri Farley – Learning Officer; Shon Lewis – Football Engagement Officer
FAW: Mike Jones – FAW President; Nia Davies – Head Coach Wales Women’s U-19; Chris Gunter- Cymry U-19 Head Coach; Craig Bellamy – Head Coach Wales Men’s Team; Dave Adams – FAW Technical Director, Delwyn Derrick – Football Engagement Officer, Wrexham Museum.
Noel Mooney – FAW CEO talking to Ian Gwyn Hughes
Redevelopment works at the Museum of Two Halves are progressing at pace, with galleries really taking shape now. The historic building is emerging from its refurbishment chrysalis and Wrexham’s new, world-class national attraction is on-track for opening later this year.
On the 29th January 1876, once again in the pages of the Field, and following the deluge of supportive letters the publication had received over the past three weeks in response to his suggestion about creating a Welsh national football team, George Clay-Thomas writes once more…and he’s not happy!
George had stated quite clearly in his original letter on the 8th January that he was merely suggesting the creation of a Wales team. However, he seemed to be quite upset that the numerous respondents had gotten the wrong end of the stick and were seemingly expecting him to be arranging this London-based match.
He was particularly unhappy with ‘A Highlander’, from a fortnight earlier, who had suggested that this shouldn’t be considered a true Wales side as the players would be Anglo Welsh, but was nonetheless supportive of a match taking place. George seemed particularly aggrieved with Highlander’s suggestions on how he felt George should be proceeding to arrange this match.
With time quickly running out however, George seemed to realize that the only way this match would ever become a reality was if he accepted his fate and, as suggested, stepped in to arrange things. Finishing his letter with a swipe at Highlander he basically said:
“Fine, I’ll make the arrangements for a London-based Welsh team, but you step up and either arrange the Scottish side yourself or find someone else to do it!”
By now, it is evidently clear from his correspondence that Clay-Thomas only had eyes for a match played under rugby rules, despite mentioning Association matches (albeit fleetingly) in his original letter. It’s at this point where the story of Welsh football’s early days veers away from George Clay-Thomas.
Back in Wrexham, even prior to his letter in the Field, Llewelyn Kenrick had been busily engaged in corresponding with players in various parts of Wales, assisted by George and David Thompson, urging them to form football clubs. He was also the main inspiration behind the movement to create the famous Black Park club in Chirk, for whom one of Wales’s most famous sons would decades later begin his career, one Mr. William Henry Meredith!
On the Wednesday following the publication of Llewelyn’s letter, Kenrick chaired a meeting at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, its sole purpose…to appoint a committee that would arrange a game. As the Field would report later that week on the 29th January:
“A meeting to discuss the project of playing an International football match with Wales according to Association rules was held at the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, Wrexham, North Wales, on Wednesday last, when a committee was appointed to make preliminary arrangements. As soon as the match is definitely fixed, trial matches will take place on the ground of the Denbighshire County Cricket Club at Wrexham, for the purpose of choosing the Cambrian eleven. Gentlemen desirous of playing in these matches are requested to send in their names and addresses to the Chairman of the Cambrian Football Association, Ruabon, as early as possible.”
We didn’t know who the opposition would be, or where we’d play, but we had a plan on how to create a squad. Trials would be held and the callout for potential players had been made…we were up and running.
But the Cambrian Football Association? Really?
Surely there’s a better name than that out there!
It is two weeks since Clay-Thomas’ initial suggestion in the Field to create a Welsh national football team, and the replies keep rolling in. In this Saturday’s edition there are a further two responses, regrettably, again using pseudonyms.
The first came from a gentleman who called himself ‘A Marlborough Nomad’. Incidentally, the Marlborough Nomads were a football club founded in 1868 in the Surbiton area of London. They played under rugby rules and in fact were founding members of the Rugby Football Union in 1871, the club was eventually disbanded in 1911.
At this time in 1876 however, the side was still going strong, and we can only surmise that our ‘Mr. Nomad’ held connections with the club, although in which capacity has unfortunately been lost to time. He also was very enthused about Clay-Thomas’ idea but felt time was of the essence if the idea of a match was to be realised that same season. He reiterated the original suggestion of enlisting the newly formed RFU’s help in sourcing a Welsh side and admitted that (perhaps in a nod to ‘Half Back’ from the previous week) Association football matches would probably follow, but that he was only concerned with the rugby side of things.
The other letter, however, was of an entirely different nature…
Sir, – The idea of an international match, under Association rules, between Wales and one of the sister countries, is being very popularly received in North Wales, and a meeting is to be held in Wrexham at an early date next week to discuss the matter, and to form a committee which shall have power to make preliminary arrangements. Any communications that I may receive shall be laid before the meeting to be held at Wrexham.
It was signed with a single word pseudonym:
‘Cymry’
The Welsh language name for the Welsh people, meaning “fellow-countrymen” or “compatriots”. A truly powerful response to a letter suggesting a London-based team selected from a pool of London-based players. This individual’s team would instead be of the people and for the people of Wales.
History would eventually reveal to us the true name behind ‘Cymry’. He was of course Samuel Llewelyn Kenrick, today celebrated as the father of Welsh football. Kenrick, a 28-year-old solicitor from Ruabon, a keen footballer and founding member of Ruabon Rovers FC, had evidently been busy behind the scenes since Clay-Thomas’ initial letter a fortnight earlier. Whilst George’s rugby match idea still had no clear plan or leader, Samuel had already arranged a committee meeting to flesh out the Association football match and bring it to fruition. Not only had he picked up George’s metaphorical gauntlet…he was running with it!
Thanks to the driving-force of Kenrick, the creation of a national Welsh football team and association was becoming a reality, it had a time, and it had a place…but it needed a name.
On the 8th January 1876, the spark that lit the blue touchpaper on the creation of the Welsh national football team was struck. It came in the form of an open letter within the pages of the Field newspaper, one of Britain’s foremost sporting publications of the time.
Written by 24 year old George Alexander Clay-Thomas, a London-based coal merchant originally from Carmarthenshire, he’d noticed the increasing popularity of the game and proposed the creation of a Welsh side to challenge one of the already established Scotland or Ireland teams in a match. George however wanted the team to be made up exclusively of fellow London based Welshmen and any eventual match also to take place in the capital.
Both football and rugby were regarded as different codes of the same game back in 1876, both effectively coming under the overarching banner of ‘Football’. George wanted the game to be played under Rugby rules rather than the Association rules of ‘soccer’ and what we today know as football. He even suggested asking for the Rugby Union’s help in spreading the word amongst London’s clubs.
George seemingly felt that ‘football’ was not as popular in Wales as the rest of Britain, and he suggested that the creation of this team would only help to increase its popularity here. We can only surmise however that he probably meant ‘rugby football’ such was his wish to create a side playing ‘rugby rules’. He even mentions in his letter that an ’English twenty would be much too formidable a body’ for an untested Welsh team (teams playing rugby rules in the 1870’s usually had 20 players a side). Was George, now living and working in London, simply ‘out of the loop’ or was he correct in his assumption that rugby was not enormously popular at the time in Wales?
It was never George’s intention to make any further arrangements, however; he merely wanted to raise the suggestion so that others may take the idea forward.
George had thrown down the gauntlet…would anyone pick it up?
Another huge year for the Wrexham Museum project team, the galleries are changing rapidly with visible progress across the whole development.
We’re excited to start planning next year’s opening events, so please follow progress on our socials, drop us a like and share the news from your brand new Museum of Two Halves.
We’re reflecting on our progress throughout the past 12 months
and can’t wait to share more exciting news with you next year!
The new Football Museum of Wales is reaching out for fans of clubs and country to share memorable stories.
The Football Museum will form one half of the new ‘Museum of Two Halves’ being developed in Wrexham.
Set to open in 2026, the football half of the museum will celebrate Welsh football, past and present, in all its diversity, from grassroots clubs to the national teams, as well as highlighting Wrexham’s historic achievements in the sport and celebrating the rich heritage of the County Borough.
The other half of the new national attraction will house a brand new museum for Wrexham. New galleries will be created to display the Wrexham Museum collections.
Football Engagement Officer at the new museum, Shôn Lewis explains:
“One of the most exciting parts of developing this new museum has been travelling around Wales and hearing some of the amazing stories fans have shared with us. Some are genuinely moving, some are funny and some are just unbelievable!
“Wales has never had a dedicated museum for its national football before so in many cases these stories are being recorded and collected for the first time. We know there must be so many other brilliant stories out there and our task is to make sure they are collected for others to enjoy for years to come.
“It could be an experience you had at a classic (or not so classic) match you attended, a chance encounter with a Welsh football hero, a memorable event at your local club, or just a special footballing memory from your childhood you’d like to share.
“We’re particularly interested in hearing from you if you have a personal item of football memorabilia to accompany your story.
“Whether it’s your local Welsh club or the national team, all these stories are part of the rich tapestry of football history in our country – we want to collect as many as we can!”
Get in touch with the Football Museum Wales team with your story by emailing footballmuseumwales@wrexham.gov.uk
Wrexham Museum is seeking an experienced community artist to produce two large textile banners, one themed on Wrexham, and the other, Welsh football which will hang side by side in the new atrium space at the redeveloped museum.
Wrexham County Borough Museum is currently closed for refurbishment, scheduled to reopen in 2026. It is being completely transformed into a unique offer that will combine a new museum for Wrexham with the Football Museum of Wales in one building.
The museum wishes to commission an artist to work collaboratively with a variety of under-represented communities to co-create two bold, colourful, and striking artworks which have the potential to reach an audience of 80,000 people in year one of opening.
To be installed in 2026, the engaging and ambitious Brethyn Straeon commission will immediately place community and the heritage of both Wrexham and Welsh football at the heart of the new museum.
The artist will work with four Wrexham based community groups and five from across Wales to develop the themes of each banner. Community partnerships are key to the outcome of this project to ensure the end result is representative of Wrexham and Welsh football today. These community groups have already been identified and the project will take place across Wales in locations familiar to participants.
We are open to ideas from a range of artists and we actively encourage applicants from underrepresented groups.
Upon appointment, the successful artist will work with museum staff to identify a manageable timetable. The project will commence in September 2025 and finish in March 2026, with the finished banners delivered to the museum and ready to install by February 2026.
The deadline for this commission is July 18th 2025.
A budget of £16,500 has been allocated to this project. This budget is inclusive of all preparation, travel, delivery, accommodation and engagement costs, and studio days.
Please contact museum@wrexham.gov.uk so that we can email the Request for Quotation documentation directly to you.
Please contact us via email if you would like to discuss the commission further prior to applying.
Construction work is now underway to transform the 167-year-old County Buildings in Wrexham city centre into a brand new national attraction, not just for Wrexham but for all of Wales.
he new museum will be the home of the Wrexham Museum and Football Museum Wales Galleries.
Two names have been shortlisted for the new museum based on audience research across Wrexham and Wales as a whole, and now it’s your turn to choose your favourite.
This isn’t just a yes or no—each name has a unique story and meaning behind it.
Option 1: Tŷ Hanes
The name “Tŷ Hanes” means “History House.” It’s a welcoming place to explore the history of Welsh football and Wrexham. The name makes it feel cosy, like a home full of stories to be told.
Option 2: Histordy
The name “Histordy” combines “histor” from the word history and “stordy” meaning storehouse in Welsh. In Welsh, words ending in “-dy” often mean special places, such as archifdy (archives), injândy (engine house), or goleudy (lighthouse). Histordy is easy to pronounce for both English and Welsh speakers.
Take a moment to consider the ideas and inspiration behind each name, then let us know what you think by filling in this short questionnaire.
Councillor Paul Roberts, Wrexham Council’s Lead Member for Partnerships, said: “With new, state of the art galleries and a fully refurbished and extended building, the museum will be a new national attraction for Wrexham, drawing thousands of visitors from all over Wales and beyond.
“Construction work has been progressing well on site over the last few weeks and there’s a real buzz growing around the project as the scale of the ambitious plans for this new museum are becoming visible.
“We are now asking the public to helps us choose an overall name for the museum that will encompass the Wrexham Museum and Football Museum Wales galleries, the shop and the cafe, the entire attraction.
“The new name will help give the new museum a distinctive identity, drawing together everything on offer under its roof, as well as launching a new chapter in the life of one of Wrexham’s most iconic buildings.
“We invite everyone to complete the questionnaire and be part of this historic moment.”
Welsh Government Minister for Culture, Jack Sargeant, said: “It is an exciting time for Welsh Government, to be funding this new museum. In choosing its name, not only are we labelling a building but we’re giving a home to the history, memories and future stories of Wrexham and Welsh football.
“Whether it’s ‘Tŷ Hanes’ or ‘Histordy’, each name reflects our nation’s pride to preserve its diverse history. Your voice will shape this museum’s legacy – please give your views and be part of a new chapter in Wales’ rich story.”
The Museum is being developed by Wrexham Council’s museum team in association with museum designers, Haley Sharpe Design, architects Purcell and contractor SWG Construction.
Funding support for the new museum is provided by Wrexham Council, Welsh Government, National Lottery Heritage Fund, UK Government and the Wolfson Foundation.