The Welsh football league system (or pyramid) is a series of football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them.
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At the top is the Welsh Premier League, which is the only national league in Wales. Below it is the second tier of leagues, covering north and south Wales. The south is covered by the Welsh Football League while the north and centre is covered by the Cymru Alliance. The champions of each of these leagues can be promoted to the Welsh Premier League, subject to acceptable ground facilities, and if the champions cannot meet the criteria the runner-up team may be considered.
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.
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).
For each division, its official name, sponsorship name (which often differs radically from its official name) and number of clubs is given:
| Level | League(s)/Division(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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1 |
Welsh Premier League 12 clubs |
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2 |
Cymru Alliance 16 clubs |
Welsh Football League Division One 16 clubs |
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3 |
Welsh National League Premier Division 16 clubs |
Welsh Alliance League Division One 16 clubs |
Mid Wales Football League Division One 15 clubs |
Welsh Football League Division Two 16 clubs |
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4 |
Welsh National League Division One 13 clubs |
Welsh Alliance League Division Two 11 clubs |
Mid Wales Football League Division Two 16 clubs |
Welsh Football League Division Three 18 clubs |
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5 |
Gwynedd League 10 clubs |
Clwyd League Premier Division 12 clubs |
Aberystwyth League Division One 11 clubs |
Montgomeryshire League Division One 10 clubs |
Ceredigion League Division One 12 clubs |
Mid Wales South League 15 clubs |
Gwent County League Division One 15 clubs |
South Wales Amateur League Division One 16 clubs |
South Wales Senior League Division One 16 clubs |
Carmarthenshire League Premier Division | Neath & District League Premier Division | Pembrokeshire League Division One | Swansea Senior League Division One 13 clubs |
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6 |
Anglesey League 12 clubs |
Caernarfon & District League First Division 11 clubs |
Clwyd League Division One 13 clubs |
Aberystwyth League Division Two 9 clubs |
Montgomeryshire League Division Two 10 clubs |
Ceredigion League Division Two 12 clubs |
Gwent County League Division Two 14 clubs |
South Wales Amateur League Division Two 16 clubs |
South Wales Senior League Division Two 16 clubs |
Carmarthenshire League Division One | Neath & District League Division One | Pembrokeshire League Division Two | Swansea Senior League Division Two | ||||||||||||||
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7 |
Caernarfon & District League Second Division 11 clubs |
Gwent County League Division Three 14 clubs |
Aberdare Valley League Premier Division | Bridgend & District League Premier Division | Cardiff & District League Premier Division | Cardiff Combination League Premier Division | Merthyr & District League Premier Division | Port Talbot Football League Premier Division | Rhondda & District League Premier Division | Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley Alliance League Premier Division | Vale of Glamorgan League Premier Division | Carmarthenshire League Division Two | Neath & District League Division Two | Pembrokeshire League Division Three | Swansea Senior League Division Three | ||||||||||||
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8 |
East Gwent League Division One | Gwent Central League Premier Division | Newport and District League Premier Division | North Gwent League Premier Division | Aberdare Valley League Division One | Bridgend & District League Division One | Cardiff & District League Division One | Cardiff Combination League Division One | Merthyr & District League Division One | Port Talbot Football League Division One | Taff Ely & Rhymney Valley Alliance League Division One | Vale of Glamorgan League Division One | Carmarthenshire League Division Three | Swansea Senior League Division Four | |||||||||||||
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9 |
East Gwent League Division Two | Gwent Central League Division One | Newport and District League Division One | North Gwent League Division One | Cardiff Combination League Division Two | Vale of Glamorgan League Division Two | |||||||||||||||||||||
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10 |
East Gwent League Division Three | Gwent Central League Division Two | Newport and District League Division Two | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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11 |
Newport and District League Division Three | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 18 Welsh Premier League clubs met on April 13, 2008 and agreed to a restructuring proposal put forward by League of Wales secretary John Deakin, which would reduce the top tier to 12 teams and will introduce a second division of 12 teams from 2010-11.[1]
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