Football in Wales

Association football in Wales is governed by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), which was established in 1876. The FAW oversees the Wales national football team and the Welsh football league system.

Popularity and attendances for club matches varies across the country, with the largest cities/towns such as Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham having the largest followings.

Contents

League System

Premier League

The Welsh Premier League was founded in 1992, as Wales didn't have a national league at the time. The Premier League broke away from the Welsh Football League but if the sides are relegated they are either relegated to the Cymru Alliance (North Wales) or the Welsh Football League (South Wales). Originally the league had 18 teams, but for the 2010-11 season onwards there is only 12 after a proposal by the clubs in the League.

Second Tier and onwards

North Wales

In the north the Cymru Alliance has only one division, and has a feeder league structure of its own with three regional leagues feeding it—the Mid Wales League (covering Brecknockshire, Radnorshire, Montgomeryshire and Ceredigion) the Welsh Alliance League (covering all of the north except Wrexham) and the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) (covering the small region around Wrexham). Again, the champions or runners-up of these leagues can be promoted into the Cymru Alliance, given suitable grounds.

Below these third tier leagues are even more localised leagues: in Central Wales there are four leagues feeding into the Mid Wales League (covering Ceredigion, Montgomeryshire, Mid Wales South, and Aberystwyth areas respectively), while below the Welsh Alliance there are the Gwynedd League and the Clwyd League and these even have feeder leagues of their own such as the Anglesey League. The Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) has three lower divisions of its own but no feeder leagues below it.

South Wales

In the south, the Welsh Football League has three divisions all covering the whole of the South Wales geographical area, and it is not until the fifth tier of the pyramid that local leagues appear. Promotion to, and relegation from the Welsh League is structured, as in the north, on three regional football associations (Gwent FA, South Wales FA, and West Wales FA). Each can send one promoted team into the Welsh Football League. This is straightforward enough in the Gwent FA area, where there is one senior league, the Gwent County League, whose champions (or runners-up) are eligible, if they satisfy Welsh Football League criteria. (Below the three divisions of the Gwent County, there are the Newport and District, East Gwent, Central Gwent and North Gwent leagues)

The South Wales FA area is more complicated however, as this region has two senior leagues of identical status covering the same area, each with two divisions - the South Wales Senior League and the South Wales Amateur League - often the champions of these leagues have to play off for the single promotion place to the Welsh Football League. Below these two leagues are local leagues in the towns and cities of South Wales, the champions of which can confusingly be promoted into either of the higher leagues.

The West Wales FA area is the only one not to have set up a senior league in its area - this means that there are four local leagues (Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath & District) with all their champions potentially having to play-off for the one available promotion place. However as few west Wales clubs can face the prospect of the travelling implications of moving up to the Welsh Football League, this four-way play-off idea is theory rather than practice. The latest clubs to gain promotion from this region were Llansawel in 2006 (from the Neath & District League), West End in 2005 (from the Swansea Senior League), Ystradgynlais in 2004 (from the Neath & District League), Cwmamman United in 2002 (from the Neath & District League) and Garden Village in 1999 (from the Carmarthenshire League).

Welsh teams in the English leagues

Swansea City are in the Premier League and Cardiff City in the Football League, with Newport County, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay and Merthyr Town in feeder leagues. These six teams have all played in the English football league system since their founding and all declined the offer to move into the League of Wales, now known as the Welsh Premier League, when it was founded in 1992. However, the Welsh teams Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Newtown and Rhyl did move into the Welsh league system from the English league system. All Welsh teams in the English league system are governed by the FAW for disciplinary and administrative matters.

From 1996 to 2011 the FAW only allowed teams in the Welsh league system to enter the Welsh Cup. Prior to 1996 Welsh teams playing in the English league system were invited to participate along with some English teams located near the Welsh border. As this rule excluded the biggest Welsh clubs from the Welsh Cup, the FAW launched the FAW Premier Cup in the 1997-98 season to include the top Welsh Premier League teams and the top Welsh teams in the English league system. The FAW Premier Cup was discontinued after the 2007-08 season. On 20 April 2011, the Football Association of Wales invited the six clubs playing in the English league system to rejoin the Welsh Cup for the 2011-12 season but only Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town accepted [1].

There are also a small number of English-based teams in the Welsh leagues, see List of association football clubs playing in the league of another country.

Cup Competitions

Qualification for European competitions

Competition Who Qualifies Notes
UEFA Champions League second qualifying round Champions of Welsh Premier League
UEFA Europa League first qualifying round Runner-up of Welsh Premier League
Winner of UEFA Europa League play-off (3-7 place in league)
8th place will take place of a domestic cup winner who finishes in 3-7 place
UEFA Europa League second qualifying round Winners of Welsh Cup

See also

References