Linfield & Wrexham: twin Celtic passions

I first visited the Racecourse in October 1988, when Linfield played a UEFA Cup game there (against Finnish opposition) due to a two-match ban on playing at home.  I was so overwhelmed by the hospitality we were shown that night that I visited the old Centre Spot shop on the Mold Road after the game and bought a Wrexham scarf and a couple of old programmes. 

From there my interest in the club just increased - before this, unlike most people over here, I had never followed any particular cross-channel team.  I was back again a year later for our second European game, and a couple more times for the pre-season friendlies which were a regular feature for a few years. 

I had also met up with a few Wrexham fans who regularly travelled to Belfast for the matches here. Since the friendlies seemed to have run their course a few years ago, I began making the odd trip over to support the Reds in competitive fixtures. 

Because I still go to all Linfield’s games, my trips to the Racecourse tend to be fitted around the Irish League fixture list, and so they tend to be a bit erratic – I didn’t get across at all last season, but I’ve already made it twice this year (Reading and Walsall).

Are you a Wrexham fan 'in exile'? If so, and if you’d like to tell your story, please send it to Red Passion