FOREST AWAY: Wrexham, FA Cup R3, Friday 9th January – Fan Guide

It’s been a busy old week again, hasn’t it? Forest having a trio of away games seems to be becoming a more regular feature, owing to being drawn away in cup competitions and our European obligations this season. Hats off to those who are combining trips to Villa and West Ham with a third away game within seven days. It’s a costly and time-consuming habit we have, and it was nice for those who made the arduous trek to West Ham to get some reward.

This is our sixteenth away game of the season already and we have certainly racked up some miles on our travels. We have played in five different countries since August with a sixth only a couple of week away.

Should the bottom three remain as it is I will be glad for a break from the London Stadium, despite winning our last couple of games there now. I’ve got nothing against West Ham, but as I believe many of their supporters realised quite quickly, it’s not really fit to host football games. The views (from the away end at least) are terrible and the large voids behind each goal putting great distance between those in the upper and lower sections just sap any life out of the place. And then there is the pain of getting to and from the stadium, although we did find it a little easier this time, perhaps due to the relatively sparse crowd. It was a timely reminder, given our own progress updates this week on the redeveloped City Ground, about how vital it is to get things right. From our experiences at the City Ground and following the Reds across the country, we have seen first hand the importance on making stadiums fan orientated and noisy places.

Given our league priorities and our European schedule, it seems likely that we may seem another much changes line up for our visit to Wrexham. I doubt this competition is going to be too high on everyone’s priorities but, as we saw only last season, it can add an extra spark to a campaign. The quarter-final at Brighton was a marvellous evening and I’d love for us to witness occasions like that more often.

One nice element to this tie is that for many of us it will be a first ever visit to Wrexham and another one to tick off the list. It would be nice to get into habit of winning again too after our victory in London on Tuesday.

 

AWAY DAY NO. 16 – Wrexham, FA Cup Third Round, Friday 9^th January, 7:30pm KO

Last Visit: A 3-3 draw in September 1993 in a League Cup Second Round first leg tie. Stan Collymore scored all three Forest goals, and added another in the second leg which Forest won 3-1 at the City Ground.

Memorable Visit: I believe the above game is our only prior visit to Wrexham; the only other fixture came in a FA Cup tie in 1982 at the City Ground that the visitors won 3-1.

Away End: Forest fans are housed at one of the Wrexham Lager Stand. Away fans will use Gates 1-4.

The temporary open stand shown in many of the photos in this guide at the opposite end to where we are located has now been dismantled and a permanent structure has now begun construction. The area behind the goal will therefore be empty for our visit.

Sunglasses / Hat Rating: 0/10. As with West Ham, just wrap up warm!

TRAVEL

RAIL: As per the Wrexham Away Supporters Guide, ‘Wrexham General Train Station is located just next to the SToK Cae Ras. Upon exiting the station, turn right and cross the bridge and the stadium will be in front of you.’

Services from Nottingham are a combination of 2 or 3 changes (typically Tamworth / Crewe / Chester) before you reach Wrexham, and generally take somewhere between 3 and 3.5 hours. A standard return is £60.90 but it’s always worth a look at breaking down journeys and see if the price improves i.e a return from Nottingham to Crewe / Crewe to Wrexham.

Unfortunately it appears that the last train leaves at 20:57 and it doesn’t seem straightforward to find a route back to Nottingham. There is a train to Crewe at 22:11 but no obvious way back from there, and there is a 21:43 back to Birmingham which arrives at 23:32, but the last service back to Nottingham leaves Birmingham at 23:09.

It’s possible there might be a way but it certainly doesn’t seem easy.

ROAD: The weather forecast currently suggests a fair bit of snow may land across the country at some point before we head to Wrexham. Hopefully it won’t create any travel issues, but it would be best to be prepared and just think about anything you might need in the event of a disrupted journey.

I’ve not been to Wrexham before, for football or otherwise, but the simplest route appears to be the A50 to Stoke, the A500 to Crewe and then the A51 which will take you in. One bit of advice I received was that the final stretch into Wrexham can get a big clogged up, which may be exacerbated on a Friday afternoon / evening, so just allow sufficient time for your journey.

It may be best to try and skirt around the city centre A483 but I would expect most sat navs would take you this way anyway. The post code for the ground is LL11 2AH.

The parking advice from Wrexham’s Dedicated Football officer is that there is an abundance of council car parks in the city centre which are only ten-minutes- walk from the stadium. It has also been suggested to use the university parking close by which can be accessed via the following link. At present there does still seem to be availability but it is £12 and with it being so close to the ground it may be difficult to get away quickly afterwards.

Wrexham v Nottingham Forest | TheBigParking

The same link also includes parking for a local college in the city centre which is £10 as suggests a 10/15-minute walk.

There is also a park & ride scheme in operation – parking is free outside the Wrexham Council buildings on Ruthin Road with a charge for a return ticket on the bus of £1 for adults and 50p for children. The park & ride can be reached by staying on the A483 for a further junction. It is less than a mile to the ground from here so you could feasibly walk it, although there may well be some restrictions which prevent you parking your car and then not using the bus.

North of the the SToK Cae Ras is a large residential area. I understand that parking restrictions are in place closer to the ground but further away there should be

North of the the SToK Cae Ras is a large residential area. I understand that parking restrictions are in place closer to the ground but further away there should be options for street parking. On the final leg of the journey, you’ll be on the A5156 before reaching a roundabout which picks up the aforementioned A483 towards the ground. At this roundabout you can instead enter the residential area using the final exit onto Chester Road. This road will eventually lead to the city centre and close to the ground but there are numerous streets off of it which may provide some parking.

PUBS

The away pub is the Ironworks in the city centre. Closer to the ground is a family friendly restaurant pub called Plas Coch. I am advised that away fans will be welcome here but only in small numbers.

The Turf pub right next to the stadium that you may have seen on the Disney documentary will apparently allow away fans.

Given the close proximity to the city centre, I also expect there will be numerous across town where Forest fans will be welcome.

 

 

Safe travels everyone.

Up the Reds!

Matt