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Wrexham playing in Europe? Not just yet.
The Welsh soccer club owned by Hollywood celebrities Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney competes in the English league system but was hoping to be allowed to participate in the Welsh League Cup, which has been granted a qualification spot for the UEFA Conference League.
The Football Association of Wales (FAW) made a proposal to the English FA on behalf of Wrexham, Cardiff, Swansea and Newport — the four Welsh teams playing in English soccer — but it was rejected on Friday.
“It was noted,” the FA said in a statement, “that it is open to the Welsh clubs to choose whether or not to participate in the English or Welsh system based on their own assessment of the relative merits of participation in each system, but if they choose to participate in the English system they must do so on the same basis as the English clubs which participate in that system.”
Wrexham has climbed from the fifth tier to the third tier of the English game since Reynolds and McElhenney bought the club for $2.5 million in 2021. It can only qualify for one of the three European competitions via one of the two cups in English soccer — the FA Cup or English League Cup — or a high finish in the Premier League, should it ever get to the top division for the first time.
Wrexham is third in the third-tier League One after a 1-1 draw with Birmingham on Thursday.
The FAW said it was “disappointed” that the proposal was rejected by its English counterpart, saying it “would have benefited all levels of football throughout Wales” with funding worth an annual 3 million pounds ($3.7 million).
The FA said the FAW’s request would have seen the four clubs forfeit their existing right to qualify for UEFA competitions through the English system while they remained members of the English Football League — the three divisions below the Premier League. The clubs would have then sought to qualify for UEFA competition via the English system if they got promoted to the Premier League.
Wrexham has played in the English league system since 1921.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
