The Turf Hotel can been seen on the left of this 1948 photograph

The Racecourse may be Wales's oldest sports ground, with a history including cricket, boxing and flying displays.

It began with horse races on what was the town's outskirts, with the Turf Hotel overlooking the winning post.

To mark the occasion, Wrexham fans held another equestrian race dressed as inflatable pantomime horses at half-time against Lincoln City.

The Racecourse soon became the home of Welsh football, with international games taking place there, as well as Welsh Cup finals Glyn Davies, Wrexham FC Collectors and History Society

Research of the ground's history has it that the first race, called the Town Purse, was on Tuesday 29 September 1807, with a prize of 20 guineas, worth about �3,600 today.

The course ran anti-clockwise around the area now partly occupied by the North East Wales Institute, with races beginning and ending by the Turf.

After some 50 years, the races were stopped following concerns that they encouraged crowd trouble, including drunkenness.

Redevelopment aims to make it the "Millennium Stadium of the north"

In the 1860s, the venue began to be used for autumn sports, including donkey races and cycle races.

As well as horse racing, the Racecourse was also used by Wrexham Cricket Club, and it was the club's members who formed Wrexham Football Club in 1872 as a way of keeping active during the winter months.

Pioneering aviator

Glyn Davies, of Wrexham FC Collectors and History Society, said: "With the growth of football in north Wales, the Racecourse soon became the home of Welsh football, with international games taking place there, as well as Welsh Cup finals."

Mr Davies said the venue was used for a flying display in October 1912 - the year of the last Wrexham Races - by a pioneering aviator called Gustav Hamel.

The following June, Hamel returned and decided to land on the pitch.

Mr Davies said: "Unfortunately, it had been raining, and after touching down near the town end goal, Hamel was unable to stop on the wet surface before colliding with the crowd barrier at the other end of the ground.

"No-one was hurt and the aircraft only suffered minor damage, but it was enough to prevent any further flying so the display was abandoned."

An announcement about the 200th anniversary was made during Saturday's home game, with seven "riders" wearing inflatable pantomime horse costumes making a fund-raising circuit of the ground.

The team marked the big day with a morale-boosting 1-0 win over Lincoln City, which lifted them off the bottom of League Two.