Wrexham

The club was formed on 4 October 1864, in The Turf Tavern (named the Turf Hotel by 1872), by members of the Wrexham Cricket Club who wanted a sporting activity for the winter months. This makes them the fifth oldest association football team (after Sheffield, Cray Wanderers, Hallam, and Notts County), the third oldest professional club (after Notts County and Stoke City) and the oldest in Wales. Their first game was played on 22 October 1864 at the Denbighshire County Cricket Ground (later known as the Racecourse Ground), against the Prince of Wales Fire Brigade.

In these early years, Wrexham were leaders of the campaign to restrict teams to eleven players on the pitch at any one time (as early matches could feature teams with up to seventeen players on each side). In 1876, the newly formed Football Association of Wales (FAW) organised the Welsh national team's first international match against Scotland, where trials were held at the Racecourse Ground and two Wrexham players made the squad (i.e. Edwin Cross and Alfred Davies).

In the 1877–78 season, the FAW inaugurated the Welsh Cup competition, to run on similar lines to the English FA Cup. Wrexham won the final of the inaugural competition, defeating Druids F.C. 1–0, thanks to James Davies scoring the winning goal. Due to a lack of money at the fledgling FAW, Wrexham did not receive their trophy until the next year. In this decade, Wrexham mostly played in friendly matches against Welsh and English opponents and, as such, the Welsh Cup provided most of their competitive football.

Disputes with the landlords of the Racecourse Ground –– who had raised the rent to £10 a year –– resulted in Wrexham playing their home games at Rhosddu Recreation Ground during the 1881–82 and 1882–83 seasons. As well as, changing the club's name to Wrexham Athletic for one season. However, in the 1883–84 season, the club moved back to the Racecourse Ground and have played their home games there ever since.

Additionally, in 1883, Wrexham won their second Welsh Cup, and made their first appearance in the FA Cup. In the FA Cup, Wrexham received a bye into the second round of the competition and were defeated 3–4 at home by Oswestry. Misconduct from the Wrexham crowd at the game resulted in the club's expulsion from the Football Association and subsequently, Wrexham were forced to reform in 1884 as Wrexham Olympic (a name eventually dropped in 1888).

In 1890, Wrexham joined The Combination league, playing their first game against Gorton Villa on 6 September 1890, with Arthur Lea scoring Wrexham's only goal in a 5–1 defeat, and Wrexham finished their first season in eighth place.^[] The club played in the Combination for four years before a rapid increase in costs resulted in the club joining the Welsh League in the 1894–95 season. Wrexham won the Welsh League in back-to-back seasons, but decided to return to the Combination in 1896, as despite the reduced support they received, the savings made on their traveling expenses outweighed the reduction in gate revenue.^[] The club remained in the Combination until 1905, by which time they had managed to win the league four times.

In 1905, after several unsuccessful attempts, Wrexham was finally elected to the Birmingham and District League in time for the 1905–06 season. During this debut season, Wrexham won their first league match 2–1 against Kidderminster Harriers at home in front of two thousand spectators, and finished the season sixth.^[] During their time in the Birmingham and District League, Wrexham won the Welsh Cup six times (in 1908–09, 1909–10, 1910–11, 1913–14, 1914–15, and 1920–21). Additionally, Wrexham reached the First Round proper of the FA Cup for a second time, in the 1908–09 season, before losing a replay 1–2 to Exeter City after extra time.^[]

In 1921, Wrexham was a founding member of the newly formed Third Division North of the Football League. In this debut season, Wrexham achieved many of the club's Football League "firsts", such as: Ted Regan scoring Wrexham's first league hat-trick; and, Brian Simpson becoming the first Wrexham player to be sent off during a league match, against Southport in January 1922. Charlie Hewitt was the club's first-ever manager during this period.^[]

From the 1926–27 season to the 1939–40 season, Wrexham were a consistent presence in the Third Division North. In the 1928–29 season, a record thirty-two league goals from Albert Mays helped Wrexham achieve third place and also, marked the debut of club legend Tommy Bamford. Bamford went on to score 201 goals for the club during his time at the Racecourse Ground. In the following season (1929–30), Wrexham recorded their biggest league win at the time, when they defeated Rochdale 8–0.^[] During the 1932–33 season, Wrexham had their best Third Division North performance, when they finished runners-up to Hull City and won 18 of their 21 home games during the course of the season.^[] In the final season during this period (1939–40), Wrexham appeared in their now-familiar red and white kit colours for the first time. The club's best FA Cup performance prior to the Second World War was in the 1927–28 season, where Wrexham fought their way to the fourth round before they lost 0–1 to Birmingham City.^[]

During the Second World War years, when long cross-county trips were impossible due to the war, Wrexham played in the Regional League West against local teams from Merseyside and Manchester, amongst others in the northwest region. The club's position as a barracks town meant that the team could secure the services of many famous guest players such as Stanley Matthews, Stan Cullis, and others.^[]

In the post-war period, the club made its first-ever tour abroad in 1949, when the team played three matches against the British army in Germany.^[] In the 1956–57 season, Wrexham reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, where they played Manchester United's Busby Babes in front of a crowd of 34,445 people at the Racecourse, which still remains a club record. The 5–0 defeat did not spoil the occasion for the large home crowd, and later that season Wrexham managed to win the Welsh Cup for the first time in 26 years.

Following the 1959–60 season, the club was relegated to a lower tier for the first time in their history and consequently, were dropped into the newly created Football League Fourth Division. However, the appointment of Ken Barnes as player-manager during the 1961–62 season, helped Wrexham achieve promotion back to the Third Division, as well as their greatest league victory to date (i.e. the 10–1 trouncing of Hartlepool United). Two years after this promotion, Wrexham was relegated to the Fourth Division again, and in 1966 they finished rock-bottom at 92nd in the Football League after an extremely disappointing season.

John Neal was appointed manager of Wrexham in 1968, succeeding Alvan Williams who had brought Neal to the club as his assistant.^[] He guided the club to a 9th-place finish in 1969, before leading Wrexham to their second Football League promotion in 1970 with a second-place finish and promotion to the Third Division.^[] With Welsh clubs now able to qualify for the European Cup Winners' Cup by winning the Welsh Cup, Wrexham played their inaugural match in Europe against Swiss side FC Zurich in Switzerland on 13 September 1972, the game finishing 1–1. In the return leg, Wrexham won 2–1, advancing to the second round with a 3–2 win on aggregate. The second round drew Wrexham against Yugoslav side Hajduk Split. Over the course of two games, the score finished 3–3 on aggregate with Wrexham matching their more illustrious opponents, but they were knocked out of the competition due to the away goals rule.^[]

The 1972–73 season saw the completion of the new Yale stand, with a capacity of up to 5,500. The terrace contributed to the bottom tier of the stand. The 1973–74 season saw Wrexham change their badge from the Maelor crest to a brand new badge that had much more resemblance to the Welsh roots of the club, with three feathers on the top of the badge and two dragons, one on either side of the badge and facing inwards. This is still the badge for today's team. This season also saw Wrexham reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in another cup run. After victories over Shrewsbury Town, Rotherham United, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Southampton, their cup run finally came to an end with a loss to first division side Burnley at Turf Moor, with 15,000 Wrexham fans present to watch the match. Also that season Wrexham just missed out on the promotion spots, finishing in 4th place at the end of the season.^[]

1975–76 saw John Neal's starlets captained by Eddie May, again shocking the football world by reaching the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup after another sparkling cup run and defeats of several higher quality opponents. In the first round, Wrexham beat Swedish team Djurgårdens IF 3–2 on aggregate. They then managed to knock out the Polish side Stal Rzeszow 3–1 on aggregate. Wrexham played Belgian champions Anderlecht in the quarter-finals and narrowly lost 2–1 to the eventual winners of the competition.^[] The 1976–77 season saw Wrexham again beat First Division opposition in both Cup competitions as they went on another cup run, defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the Football League Cup and Sunderland in the FA Cup. However, the league season was a traumatic one as the club, on the verge of promotion to the second division with only four matches left to play, needing just three points to reach their goal, missed out after a poor run.^[]

Arfon Griffiths took over as player-manager for the 1977–78 season. They reached both the League and FA Cup quarter-finals that season, and Wrexham finally clinched promotion to the second division when they beat Rotherham United 7–1 at a packed Racecourse, Wrexham went on to win the Third Division Championship that year.^[] In the 1978–79 season Wrexham made it to the fourth round of the FA Cup, where they lost to Tottenham Hotspur 3–2 in the replay after the first game finished 3–3. The Spurs team had stars amongst their ranks such as Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, and Glenn Hoddle, and Wrexham were bested in getting knocked out.^[] Following Arfon Griffiths' resignation from the manager's position in 1981, his assistant Mel Sutton was put in charge, with a third-round FA Cup win over Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest in another cup run, the highlight of the season.^[]

The summer of 1982 saw Bobby Roberts appointed the club's new manager. Relegation meant the club had dire financial problems, resulting in the sale of many of the club's experienced and talented players. Frank Carrodus, Ian Edwards, Mick Vinter and Wayne Cegieski had already left during the summer, Steve Fox, Joey Jones, Dixie McNeil and Billy Ronson soon followed. Wrexham were again relegated to the Fourth Division after plummeting from apparent mid-table security. The club's slide continued into the following season, and only goal difference prevented Wrexham from being forced to apply for re-election to the League.^[]

The 1984–85 season saw Wrexham take on FC Porto in European competition. Wrexham won the home leg with a 1–0 victory, but in the second leg, Porto showed their class and were 3–0 up after 38 minutes. However, Wrexham pulled goals back and the game finished 4–3, making it 4–4 on aggregate with Wrexham advancing on away goals. The second round draw was to pair Wrexham with Italian side AS Roma, managed by Sven-Göran Eriksson. Wrexham lost 3–0 on aggregate over the two legs. Their league performance was even more dire than the previous year, and by the time Bobby Roberts was finally removed from his post, Wrexham was rock-bottom of the entire Football League.^[]

Former Racecourse favourite Dixie McNeil was appointed caretaker manager, and immediately inspired a revival that saw Wrexham win 7 of their last 10 matches and comfortably finish clear of having to apply for re-election, which earned him the job on a permanent basis that summer. His first season in charge saw the team finish mid-table position in an average season, he led the team to a Welsh Cup final win over Kidderminster Harriers. 1986 saw Wrexham make a return to European football with a first-round draw against Maltese side FC Zurrieq, whom they beat 7–0 on aggregate to earn a second-round tie against Real Zaragoza which they drew 2–2 with on aggregate but they went out on away goals.^[]

Following the Bradford City stadium fire in May 1985, legislation on ground safety at all football grounds was brought into effect. This eventually led to the closure of the Mold Road stand because it did not reach the necessary safety standards. Led by Dixie McNeil, Wrexham reached the Fourth Division play-offs in 1989, having finished seventh in the league. Wrexham beat Scunthorpe United in the semi-final 5–1 on aggregate, but narrowly lost to Leyton Orient 2–1 in the final. After Wrexham started the next season with just 3 wins from 13 league games, Dixie McNeil resigned before his inevitable sacking.^[]

He was replaced, initially on a temporary basis, by Brian Flynn, but his appointment was made permanent a month later. However the club continued to struggle domestically, and Flynn was forced to make three important signings in Mark Sertori, Eddie Youds and Alan Kennedy which saw the team finish in twenty-first place, therefore avoiding relegation.^[] At the start of the 1990–91 season it was announced there would be no relegation to the Conference Premier as a team had already voluntarily left the league. That season Wrexham finished in ninety-second place. Wrexham were knocked out of the European Cup Winners' Cup in the second round by Manchester United 5–0 on aggregate, who eventually went on to win the trophy.^[]

The 1991–92 season saw Wrexham still in a poor financial state, as they continued to struggle on the field. With the club knocked out of the League Cup and struggling in the league, it was left to the FA Cup to keep the season alive. Having beaten Telford United and Winsford United, they were drawn to play the previous season's First Division champions Arsenal. Wrexham produced one of their most memorable nights to beat the 2–1 after being behind, with a thunderous Mickey Thomas free kick and a Steve Watkin goal. They lost in the next round to West Ham United 1–0 in a replay after the first game had finished 2–2.

In an attempt to change the fortunes of the club after several seasons in the doldrums at the bottom of the football league pyramid, the 1992–93 season saw Wrexham manager Brian Flynn make a shrewd signing when he enlisted the services of Gary Bennett, who soon settled and helped Wrexham into the promotion race. Wrexham's season came to a head on 27 April 1993 when with two games left they traveled to Northampton Town requiring a win to gain promotion to the next tier of English football. The game ended with a 2–0 victory to Wrexham and the 5,500 travelling "Reds" supporters there were jubilant when promotion had finally been achieved.^[] The 1994–95 season would see Wrexham achieve more success in cup competitions, this time going on a run through the FA Cup. Having beaten Stockport County and Rotherham United, they faced Premier League side Ipswich Town at the Racecourse, with Wrexham running out 2–1 winners thanks to goals from Gary Bennett and Kieron Durkan. In the next round, Wrexham was drawn away to Manchester United and despite taking the lead at Old Trafford, United went on to win 5–2.^[]

The 1995–96 season once again saw Wrexham in European action, with their opposition this time coming in the form of Romanian team Petrolul Ploiești; the home leg ended in a 0–0 draw but Wrexham lost 1–0 in the away leg, with the Romanians scoring the only goal of the match, and Wrexham were subsequently knocked out of the tournament.^[] The 1996–97 season saw Wrexham set off on another strong run in the FA Cup and beat more top-flight opposition. Following wins at Colwyn Bay and Scunthorpe United, they were drawn to play West Ham United at home, the game ending in a 1–1 draw on a snow-covered pitch. The replay at Upton Park ended in a shock 1–0 win to Wrexham as Kevin Russell scored in the dying minutes to send Wrexham into the fourth round. After also beating Peterborough United and Birmingham City in the following rounds, they played Chesterfield in an all-Division-2 FA Cup quarter-final, Wrexham narrowly losing to the Spireites 1–0.^[]

June 1997 was the date for the official opening of Colliers Park, which was Wrexham's new training ground and was situated just outside Gresford on Chester Road. It was built at a cost of £750,000 and is widely regarded to be one of the best training grounds outside of the top flight. It has been used for training by many visiting teams that play at a higher standard over the years, such as Barcelona. The 1999–2000 season saw Wrexham again beat a top-flight team in the FA Cup, this time in the shape of Middlesbrough. The final score of the match was 2–1, with the second-half goals coming from Robin Gibson and Darren Ferguson after being behind the Premiership outfit. Wrexham went on to win the FAW Premier Cup in May 2001.

At the start of the 21st century, the club was dogged with many problems off the pitch, including then chairman Alex Hamilton, attempting to get the club evicted from the stadium so that he could use and sell it for his own development purposes – the saga involved the sale of the Racecourse Ground to a separate company owned by Hamilton immediately after he became the club's chairman. The club was included in FIFA Football 2004 for the first time and remained playable up to FIFA 08. In the summer of 2004, Hamilton gave the club a year's notice to quit the ground.

The club's fans developed an affinity with the fans of fellow football league club Brighton & Hove Albion, who themselves had managed to successfully depose their chairman and keep control of their stadium after he had sold the ground for development purposes in almost the same circumstances. On 3 December 2004 the club was placed in financial administration by the High Court in Manchester as the club owed £2,600,000, including £800,000 which was owed to the Inland Revenue in unpaid taxes. Wrexham became the first League club to suffer a ten-point deduction under the new rule for being placed in administration, dropping them from the middle of the League One table to the relegation zone after the point deduction, and subsequently condemned Wrexham to relegation.

Despite their financial troubles, Wrexham went on to win the 2004–05 Football League Trophy by defeating Southend United 2–0 after extra time, in Wrexham's first appearance at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The winning goals were scored by Juan Ugarte and Darren Ferguson as Wrexham ran out winners in front of nearly 20,000 Wrexham fans. Wrexham still retained an outside chance of escaping the drop in the 2004–05 season following an end-of-season winning streak; however, their faint hopes of staying up were ended with a 2–1 home loss to Brentford on 3 May 2005. The 10-point deduction proved decisive in determining Wrexham's fate, as the club finished with 43 points compared to 20th-placed Milton Keynes Dons' 51 – a net points tally of 53 after deduction, which had condemned them to relegation.

In October 2005, Birmingham High Court decided that Alex Hamilton's company CrucialMove had improperly acquired the freehold of the ground and the decision went against him. Hamilton then took this to the Appeal Court in London and it ruled on 14 March 2006 that the stadium must remain in the hands of the club's administrators. On 30 April 2006 the administrators reached an agreement with local car dealer Neville Dickens, subject to agreement by the shareholders and creditors (which was achieved on 30 May), for Dickens to take over control of the club and all its assets. Had the club still been in administration by 3 June then Wrexham would have automatically been expelled from the League because of their financial situation. Wrexham Football Club (2006) Ltd is the name of the "phoenix" company that took over the assets of the old Wrexham Association Football Club Limited – technically, the club is no longer known as Wrexham Association Football Club due to the takeover of the club by Neville Dickens and Geoff Moss and their associates; this is reflected on new merchandise, although most fans will still refer to it as "Wrexham AFC".^[]

The 2006–07 season started well for Wrexham, as they went 8 games unbeaten. However, the club would then struggle with Denis Smith eventually being sacked in January 2007 with Wrexham in the bottom half of the division and after a poor run of results. He was replaced by coach Brian Carey. Wrexham finished 19th in League Two with 51 points after an impressive late run of form which saw them win 4 out of their last 5 games, which included defeating local rivals Shrewsbury in the last derby match at Gay Meadow.^[] Wrexham's league status was saved on the last day of the season with a vital 3–1 victory on 5 May 2007 over Boston United at home which sent their opponents down to the Conference Premier and ensured that Wrexham would stay in the Football League.

Expectations were high for the 2007–08 season, with fans expecting a promotion push.^[] However, the season started badly with the club in 24th by November 2007.^[] Brian Carey was eventually sacked, and on 15 November 2007, Brian Little was named as Wrexham's new manager and the replacement to Carey, who took the role of assistant manager. After a promising start to his reign, Wrexham experienced a run of seven straight league defeats, prompting the club to bring in eleven new players during the January transfer window.^[] Wrexham went six matches unbeaten before some poor form which saw defeats against some fellow strugglers.^[] Wrexham were finally relegated to non-League following a 2–0 defeat away at Hereford United, ending the club's 87-year stay in the Football League.

The 2008–09 season started well, with a 5–0 home victory against Stevenage Borough. However a run of poor results followed, with Wrexham being left in the mid-table battle, only four points above the relegation zone and only keeping two clean sheets all season. Following a 3–0 home defeat against Rushden and Diamonds, and fans calling for his dismissal, Little left Wrexham by mutual consent. Little was replaced by Dean Saunders. Wrexham's first full season in the Conference Premier ended in a disappointing 10th place. The following year, 2009–10, ended in a similar fashion with Wrexham finishing in 11th position, well off the pace of the promotion battle.

In 2010, the club entered into a ground share at the Racecourse Ground with Celtic Crusaders rugby league club, which lasted until 2016. This ground share was credited with helping Wrexham through its administration with then Chief Executive Paul Retout stating "We can’t survive if only 1,800 fans are coming through the gates".

In March 2011, the ownership of the club became subject to two bids: one from Wrexham Supporters' Trust and another from local businesswoman Stephanie Booth. Wrexham's MP and AM indicated that they would prefer Wrexham Supporters' Trust to secure the bid. A third bid later came in, but after WST and Booth came to an agreement, their bid was then re-accepted. In April 2011, the club was served with a winding-up order from HMRC, with an unpaid tax bill of just under £200,000. The team finished the 2010–11 season in 4th place, qualifying for a playoff spot, but were beaten 5–1 on aggregate by Luton Town in the semi-final.

During the 2011–12 season, Wrexham were invited back into the Welsh Cup after 16 years, entering at the third round stage. New manager Andy Morrell guided Wrexham to a record tally of 98 points but this was not enough to gain automatic promotion, as they ended the season only 5 points adrift of Fleetwood Town, who gained the only automatic place. Wrexham lost in the play-offs to Luton Town again. Wrexham earned themselves places in both the FA Trophy final and the Conference Premier play-off final, their first two appearances at Wembley Stadium in the club's 150-year history to date, and within five weeks of one another. In the FA Trophy final, Wrexham won on penalties after a 1–1 draw with Grimsby Town. A 5–2 aggregate win over Kidderminster Harriers in the two-legged play-off semi-final saw Wrexham through to the final versus Newport County, the first play-off final to feature two Welsh teams; Newport defeated Wrexham 2–0.

In June 2013, members of Wrexham Supporters Trust voted on whether they should change the club's name back to Wrexham AFC. As a result, the name was changed.

In February 2014, Andy Morrell stepped down as manager. Billy Barr was appointed as interim manager before being replaced a few weeks later by Kevin Wilkin. Wrexham finished the 2013–14 season in 17th place. In 2018–19, Wrexham finished in 4th place but lost the play-off quarter-final to Eastleigh. In 2019–20, the club finished 19th on points per game after the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the lowest position in the club's 150-year history.

In November 2020, American actor Rob McElhenney and Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, through their RR McReynolds Company LLC, bought the club. The deal received the backing of 98.6% of the 2,000 members of the Wrexham Supporters Trust that voted and was completed in February 2021. They were included in FIFA 22 as part of the "Rest of World" section, becoming the first non-league team to be featured in the series.

Following the takeover, a docuseries called Welcome to Wrexham was produced by Boardwalk Pictures for FX. The series debuted on 24 August 2022 on FX and Hulu in the United States, followed by a release on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland the next day. The acquisition by Reynolds and McElhenney and the attendant publicity from Welcome to Wrexham had a significant impact on the club's visibility, leading to its acquiring a new global fanbase with no precedent for a team in the fifth tier. The club's fortunes began to attract dedicated coverage from global sporting media that would not typically be afforded teams outside the Premier League. This, in turn, inspired a debate about the potential replicability of this strategy for other lesser-known clubs and leagues, with The Guardian remarking that "everybody wants to ‘do a Wrexham’, but not everybody can."

During the 2021–22 season, under the leadership of newly hired manager Phil Parkinson, Wrexham finished second before losing the play-off semi-final 5–4 to Grimsby Town after extra time. Wrexham also reached the 2022 FA Trophy final which they lost 1–0 to Bromley.

During the 2022–23 season, the team progressed to the fourth round in the 2022–23 FA Cup, being the only National League team to do so, beating Coventry City in an upset in the third round, and eventually being knocked out by Sheffield United in a replay. The first game against Sheffield United, which ended in a 3–3 draw, was ESPN's most followed football game across its digital platforms. Wrexham vied with Notts County throughout the season to lead the league, trading the first spot back and forth, and both setting new National League records for wins, goals, and goal difference, while 20+ points ahead of the third place team by the end of the season. Wrexham secured winning their first league title in 45 years, and were promoted to the EFL League Two after a 15-year absence, following a 3–1 win against Boreham Wood. The club amassed a tally of 111 points that season, a record for the top five divisions of English league football, beating Notts County to the championship and single automatic promotion spot. Wrexham's income increased to over £10 million in the year ending in June 2023.

During the 2023–24 season, Wrexham secured a second successive promotion, taking the club to EFL League One, the third tier of the English football system and ultimately finished second behind Stockport County. Wrexham was awarded Category Four status as an EFL academy from the 2023/24 campaign with the short-term aim to reach Category Three status and operate an Under-18 side. Club Necaxa's backers purchased 5% of Wrexham AFC in April 2024 and both owners, in turn, purchased a minority stake in Necaxa. The academy was awarded Category Three status as an EFL academy from the 2024/25 season. The football club joined the European Club Association in August 2024.

The 2024–25 season began with Wrexham's first League One match in 19 years, and with the 5,000th recorded league match for the club, winning at home 3–2 to Wycombe Wanderers. The Allyn family of Skaneateles, New York was announced as a new minority investor in the club in October 2024, reportedly taking a near-15% stake, and the club's worth rose to £100m. The club's financial statements for the 2023/24 season revealed in March 2025 that the loans from Reynolds and McElhenney, grown to £15m, had been fully repaid and that the turnover of £26.7m set a record for a League Two side. Wrexham AFC joined the Football for the Goals initiative of the United Nations in the same month. On 26 April, Wrexham won promotion to the EFL Championship after beating Charlton Athletic 3–0 at home and finished second behind Birmingham City. They became the first club in the history of England's top five football divisions to achieve back-to-back-to-back promotions. This led to the club's valuation increasing to about £150m according to football finance expert Kieran Maguire, an increase of 7400% within 4 years.