Wrexham AFC has faced criticism following their use of a private jet for traveling to and from an away match against promotion contenders Wycombe Wanderers in League One.
The aircraft, leased from Jersey, covered a distance of 1,178 miles (1,896 km), completing an aerial trip in 37 minutes rather than taking a three-hour bus ride for the game scheduled on March 15th.
During the same period, the club’s co-owner, actor Ryan Reynolds, committed to the United Nations to “actively engage and promote” sustainability initiatives designed to make the sporting industry greener and more eco-friendly.
Wrexham has been contacted for their input.
The team was only aboard the plane for approximately 250 miles of the nearly 1,200-mile entire journey, as their flight transported them from Hawarden Airport in Flintshire to Oxford.
On March 14th, the aircraft departed from Jersey for Hawarden to collect the team, then proceeded to Oxford prior to returning to Jersey.
The return trip was made the next day.
Wrexham secured a victory with a score of 1-0 and now lead their promotion challengers by three points, though they have played one additional game.
Wrexham undertook 16 domestic flight journeys.
During their promotional campaign from the National League two seasons back.
Meanwhile,
A study conducted in 2023 revealed that Premier League teams made use of air travel for 81 matches out of every 100 played.
During a span of two months, the briefest duration was 27 minutes.
In his book titled “My Wrexham Story,” striker Paul Mullin mentioned that flights turned into a common solution following a royal visit to the Racecourse Ground, which resulted in the team having to endure a nearly five-hour bus trip just before kickoff.
He mentioned that co-owner Rob McElhenney stated the squad would be able to travel to every match located over two hours away by car.
Out of Wrexham’s 23 opponents in League One, just eight clubs are located within a two-hour drive.
Critiques about the choice to travel for the game against Wycombe were shared online.
TikTok by advocacy group Fossil Free Football
who mentioned that the team would have incurred over an hour of travel time on the roads for journeys to and from airports.
Airplanes generate greenhouse gases—primarily carbon dioxide (CO2)—by consuming fuel. When these emissions enter the atmosphere, they exacerbate global warming.
In 2023, private flights were responsible for approximately 15.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, which is comparable to the annual output of roughly 3.7 million gasoline-powered vehicles.
according to research
.
Fossil Free Football stated: “Nobody wants this issue to escalate at any level, whether it be grassroots football where
Already, 120,000 games per season have been canceled.
, into professional football where we observed phenomena such as
The Wimbledon surface collapsed following a severe storm in the previous year.
”
The video likewise criticized Reynolds as hypocritical for going to the UN headquarters in New York to participate.
Football for the Goals
, an initiative from the United Nations designed to make the sport more environmentally friendly.
- Climate change: Should you choose flying, driving, or taking the train?
- An easy-to-follow overview of climate change
- Are flights genuinely going to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, and what will this mean for travelers in terms of costs?
