Brickfield Rangers - Clywedog Park

Brickfield Rangers FC

Clywedog Park

Homestead Lane

Wrexham

Clwyd

LL14 4HE

Official Website

Twitter

Ground Number: 1331
Saturday 10th August 2024
Brickfield Rangers 3-2 Kerry
Ardal  North East

 

BRICKFIELD RANGERS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was established in 1976 by a group of parents and they initially joined the Wrexham Youth League. They initially played at the Wrexham Recreation Ground, currently home to North East Wales League outfit Bellevue FC and just over a mile from their current first-team home ground. Founder and Life members Graham and Mair Bithel, Dave and Mary Baines and Graham Parry are still very active within the club and support club activities. Up until 1994, they played in local and youth leagues but that year took the step up to the Welsh Football League (Wrexham Area). Starting in Division 2, a 4th place finish in 1996 was good enough for promotion to Division 1. Then, at the turn of the millennium, a runners-up spot behind Hand Hotel saw them promoted to the Premier Division. They would stay there for nearly two decades, finishing as runners-up to FC Queens Park in 2017 and Buckley Town in 2018. The league was disbanded in 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. When football returned after over a year's break, Brickfield Rangers were placed in the third-tier Ardal North West, They spent three seasons there, improving season-on-season to finish 7th last season. This season they have been moved to the Ardal North East for geographical reasons.

Brickfield Rangers has had a range of notable players come through its youth ranking system names like Robbie Savage, Jim and Jeff Whitley, David Hooson, Andrew Ruscoe, Gareth Evans and Aeron Edwards. The club are now into nearly 40 years of continued commitment to football in its community with twenty-four teams playing football at all levels, ranging from under 5’s through to under 19’s, playing in the Wrexham District Youth Football League and Flintshire Youth League, under 12 to 16. Girls teams, playing in the North Wales Girls Football League, two senior sides and three Special needs sections ranging from under 12 to adults who represent the club in local and national tournaments. In total over 400 players represent the club at all levels.

MY VISIT

Back when the Wycombe Wanderers fixtures came out, I was hoping that the Wrexham away game would be arranged for when I could go. I had mixed feelings when the game was announced as being a late kickoff on the opening day. It would mean a late homecoming with me up at 4 am on Sunday. I decided to make an opportunity of the situation and Flint Mountain quickly announced a Friday night game. However, I had longer to wait to see what my Saturday game would be, initially thinking that Lex XI would be a good fit. However, it was Brickfield Rangers that came out as the closest fixture. This suited me as it looked like a decent ground and club to visit. The plan was to park up somewhere, walk into town to tick the Wetherspoons, and then to the Brickfield Rangers game before on to the Wrexham game. Everything was about 25 minutes from each other so it worked out well.

From our morning game at Holywell, we popped into the pleasant town for food. I got some salt and chilli pepper chips for £4.50 from a place called Fu House. These were tasty and we left at 1.20 with the drive to Wrexham taking 30 minutes. We found a space to park near Brickfield Rangers, around five minutes from the ground. It was on the way to our second game at Wrexham and the plan was to leave the car there for the afternoon. It was £5 to get in and the scenery and people were pleasant.

The game was fairly even to start, perhaps Brickfield edged it. But it was Kerry who opened the scoring on 17 minutes, a strike from the edge of the area. Xavier Matisse was sent off for scything down a Brickfield man when he was set to score but the free kick came to nothing. They eventually equalised on 39 minutes, Harri Lucas-Jones following up after the keeper parried the initial shot. Kerry retook the lead on 54 minutes, a ball down the middle and Richard Davies lobbed the keeper for a nice goal. It was 2-2 on 75 minutes, Leroy Ngana-Stamp who had only recently come on poked the ball over the line for the equaliser. Brickfield Rangers got a late winner, a good free kick by Gerson Silva Neto who was one of the best players on the pitch. He'd been the best player on the pitch and deserved a goal. 

Last minute goal for Brickfield Rangers to lead 3-2, good free kick by Gerson Silva Neto for the winner, good player too. pic.twitter.com/pVI7VriCrm

— ⚽Russell Cox💙 (@RussWWFC) August 10, 2024

It was good to spend time with some friendly Wrexham fans and it was a great game. From the ground, it was a 25-minute walk to Wrexham via Morrisons for an Irn Bru. It was good to get fresh pictures and was a decent atmosphere. Wycombe were not the best, we were 2-0 down at halftime, hitting the bar twice in injury time. Richard Kone gave us brief hope with a great finish but Wrexham restored their lead to 3-1 thanks to some sloppy defending. Substitute Sam Vokes made it 3-2 with a scrambled goal to give us hope again. It was flattering for Wycombe who battled hard but were second best. It was just over half an hour walk back to the car and we were away just after 8. It was a good journey home but I still got back at 11.30. Even though I went straight to bed, I still overslept the following morning and was late for work by 20 minutes. It was a tiring day and I was glad when my shift finished.

THE GROUND

CLEWEDOG PARK is a nice ground to visit although it lacks lights. There is a seated stand behind each goal, around 150 in total. There is also a covered standing area along the side with around 50 capacity. There is a burger van outside the gate and a club bar although I tried neither. There are a couple of car parks you can use. plus a small amount of street parking. Nearby are Aldi & Morrisons supermarkets.