Richard Sutcliffe

England

Wrexham Writer at The Athletic

Wrexham writer for @TheAthleticFC Views are my own.

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Articles

How the club, the city and football responded

5 days ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Forty years ago this weekend, 56 supporters died and more than 200 were injured in the Bradford City fire disaster. In the concluding part of our look-back at the afternoon when triumph turned to tragedy, we outline football's response along with that of the city. Part one can be found here. Only the concrete corner block housing the dressing rooms remains today from the Valley Parade where tragedy struck in 1985.
Who should stay and who should go ahead of Championship season?

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Wrexham and their Hollywood owners are about to sail into relatively uncharted waters. Not just as a club, with their last match in the second tier having been a little under 43 years ago, but also in terms of personnel, with no less than nine of a 22-man squad registered for the second half of the 2024-25 campaign yet to kick a ball in the Championship.
'I can still hear the crackling of the timber burning'

6 days ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Forty years ago this weekend, 56 supporters died and over 200 were injured in the Bradford fire as a discarded cigarette or match sparked what became, at the time, the worst stadium disaster in English football. In the first of a two-part feature, The Athletic speaks to those at Bradford City's Valley Parade on an afternoon when triumph turned to tragedy.
Award Presentation in Kirkcaldy

1 week ago | fifetoday.co.uk | Richard Sutcliffe

Watch more of our videos on ShotsTV.com and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565Visit Shots! nowFife CAMRA present Pub of the Year 2025 to Betty NicolsThe presentation will take place in Betty Nicols, 297 High St, Kirkcaldy at 2pm, Saturday 17th May. CAMRA says, "Come on down, support the event and show your appreciation for a great pub."Continue Reading
Historic promotion, Premier League in sight, scenes at the 'circus'

1 week ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Seventeen years to the day since bidding farewell to the Football League at Lincoln City's Sincil Bank, Wrexham's emotions couldn't have been more contrasting on their return. "Championship, we're on our way..." sang the 1,861 jubilant supporters, many sporting fancy dress, lucky enough to get a ticket for the final act of a season that has seen history made in north Wales.
'We could have invested in Liverpool but here, we can get our hands dirty'

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Wrexham executive director Kaleen Allyn knows that her family's minority shareholding in the upwardly mobile Welsh club represents a mere fraction of their overall portfolio of investments. But it's definitely the most fun, with Allyn's 90-year-old grandfather having become so enamoured with Phil Parkinson after meeting Wrexham's promotion-winning manager on a recent visit that he now has a prized photo of the pair on the wall at home in New York.
Tears, a pitch invasion and previous promotion heroes

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

History made, Championship status confirmed. Almost two years to the day since signing off from their 15-year stay in non-League with a trip to Torquay United, Wrexham moved to within one step of the Premier League after clinching an unprecedented third consecutive promotion.
This is the story of their third straight promotion season

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

Even for a club dubbed 'Hollywood FC' and whose players recently starred alongside Channing Tatum in a Super Bowl advert, Danny DeVito high-fiving supporters in a Los Angeles bar to celebrate a stoppage-time winner remains one of the more surreal moments this season.
Visiting the football stadium left in ruins after the Chernobyl disaster

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

On the 39th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, The Athletic 's Richard Sutcliffe recalls a visit to the nearby town of Pripyat, once home to a proud and ambitious football club, who in 1986 were about to open a brand new stadium... It was clearly a question our tour guide had asked many times. "Where do you think you are standing now?"This was the summer of 2019, and a week-long break taking in Belarus and Ukraine had reached Chernobyl.
Wrexham striker Abbie Iddenden on her scoring streak, this weekend's cup final and why the cameras help

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Richard Sutcliffe

This could truly be a weekend to savour for Wrexham. Phil Parkinson's men's team will try to clinch an unprecedented third straight promotion on Saturday evening, then, a little under 24 hours later, the women's side will try to carve out their own slice of history. For the second year running, Wrexham's women are through to the Bute Energy Welsh Cup final.