The Racecourse Ground hosted its first football game in 1872

Wrexham Football Club have confirmed they plan to transfer ownership of the Racecourse ground to a new company then lease the stadium back to the club.

The Welsh club are "for sale" and chief Ian Roberts revealed talks with possible new owners of Wales' oldest pro football club are "quite advanced."

Roberts denies the controversial ground transfer is asset-stripping as fans voice their fears to local politicians.

"We're not selling it out of the group, we're moving it sideways," he said.

Chairman Roberts expects the transfer of the ground to be completed "sometime this month" to a new, but so far unnamed, company.

The new company would be a subsidiary of Wrexham Village, the holding company which owns Wrexham FC, which in turn owns the Racecourse, the club's Colliers Park training facility and the Super League rugby franchise Crusaders RL.

But the sale is contentious with some fans of the Blue Square Bet Premier League side and Wrexham Supporters' Trust have written to Roberts seeking "clarification."

Fans have also raised their concerns with Wrexham MP Ian Lucas, Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths and Wrexham council leader Aled Roberts.

Ian Roberts said both the football club and the Crusaders would be charged rent to help meet the £300,000 running costs of the 15500-capacity ground.

"We are not asset stripping," Roberts told BBC Sport.

"The Racecourse Ground is staying within the group that is currently owned by Wrexham village. We have advertised the football club for sale.

"We have an number of interested parties who wish to buy the football club but, for one reason or another, they are not that interested in the Racecourse.

"They are prepared to pay a lease for it and we'll grant them a long lease.

"Some people have said they want to take the club on, invest some money into the squad and get it back into the Football League.

"We do have a rugby league club as well so must maintain a ground. It costs circa £300,000 a year to run the Racecourse.

"Nothing will change, the football club will be no worse off than it is now because we have no intention of charging more than it is currently paying."

Rugby league club Crusaders RL also share and pay towards the 138-year-old ground - the oldest international football stadium in the world - since the franchise's relocation from Bridgend before the start of last season.

The financially-troubled Crusaders, who only recently came out of administration, were taken over by a company backed by Wrexham Village in a deal completed on Christmas Eve.

Wrexham Supporters' Trust chairman Lindsay Jones said fans fought "long and hard" to ensure the Racecourse ownership was returned to the football club during Alex Hamilton's controversial chairmanship.

Hamilton's company acquired the freehold of Wrexham's Racecourse Ground in June 2002 before the property developer became chairman in May 2004.

But after being placed in administration with debts of more than £4m, administrators took successful legal action against Hamilton's company in 2005 to hand back ownership of the Racecourse to the club.

Jones said: "We don't know what's going on, but there's a long list of other football clubs, such as Stockport, who don't own their own grounds any more and it has not been to their benefit."

Roberts said he and co-owner Geoff Moss had made vital financial contributions to keep the club afloat, including an £80,000 pre-Christmas payment of wages following a series of match postponements because of freezing weather.

Roberts also insisted a benefit of the ground transfer is helping to obtain much-needed redevelopment grants for the Racecourse.

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