Wrexham Women aim to make The Rock a fortress

As Wrexham prepare to break new ground at The Rock, the ambition of the club's Hollywood owners is leaving no stone unturned to make the club's women's team the best in the country.

Wrexham women will play their first official home game at The Rock on Sunday, when they host Swansea City in the Genero Adran Premier.

The ground in Rhosymedre, on the edges of Wrexham, is not new to them – they have trained there for the past two seasons.

But after extensive work, and ambitious backing, Jenny Sugarman's side will finally get to run out at the ground they can now call their home – and mark the start of an exciting new era.

"We obviously hoped it would have been ready for us (for the start of the season), but there was a lot of work that the club have had to do," Wrexham head coach Sugarman told BBC Sport Wales.

"Not just to meet the requirements that are needed for the site, but also, when we do walk out here for our first game that it's in the right kind of conditions, and that we're not cutting corners."

It has been some time coming. Formerly the home of Welsh league side Cefn Druids - who continue to play and train at the venue - Wrexham's owners green-lit the purchase of the ground for the use of their women's teams, underlining their commitment away from the men's set-up.

But work was needed to be done in order to bring the facility up to standard, and to meet Football Association of Wales (FAW) regulations.

That reinstalling electrical power, upgrading floodlights and fencing and improving the condition of the pitch – causing a delay.

"It's been our home and it is our home, our training base; we're here all the time and we've been able to see that development, how the space is changing, inside and outside," said Sugarman, whose side have had to play home fixtures in Buckley, 11 miles from Wrexham.

"It's been really nice, seeing every time we turn up something else has been worked on, a different room being painted, or something's been pulled out.

"It's been really exciting to see how proactive the club have been in the long-term plans for the site, but also the short-term in getting it up to speed."

Hollywood owners who 'back it up'

There has been no shortage of ambition from the club's owners, Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac. The men's team's continued success is well documented.

But the growth of the women's team has also had its time in the spotlight under Reynolds and Mac - formerly McElhenney - who have delivered on early promises to transform the women's and girls' set-up at the north Wales club.

The senior team has been semi-professional since winning promotion to the top-flight Adran Premier for season 2024/25, earning a fourth-placed finish last year and two successive Welsh Cup finals.

Plans have not stopped there, with a string of new off-field appointments including Mark Swales who arrived from the English Football Association as the club's new director of women's football.

Sugarman herself arrived in the summer with more than a quarter of a century of experience in the women's game including at West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa.

"Since joining, I've met both Rob and Ryan and had some messages and stuff from them," she said.

"And also (minority shareholders) the Allyn family who have been significant supporters of us, they've been down to see the site, to see us at work here, and to games as well.

"When you coach and play in the women's game, it's really important to you. You put so much into it, whether that's to drive change and opinions, or raising standards and trying to break through the glass ceilings that are there at every level. To do that on your own or as a small group of people is difficult.

"When you actually have the backing of a club and the ownership group, that's completely different. This is a club that's ambitious for its women's team and are actually going to back that up."

Sugarman says she's finding the challenge of her new surroundings in the part-time Adran Premier "interesting," but her aim is clear.

"We want to be the best team in Wales," said Sugarman. "It's been a long time coming perhaps for north Wales in particular for women's football to really be put on the map here.

"The club has not won the top division here so that's something we're ambitious for, and obviously right now we're in a good position for that - but that's not the be all and end all for this season."

Sugarman expects a tough challenge as second-placed Wrexham host Swansea, who are third.

"To have our home is massive, in building who we are and how we work, our identity," she added.