List of Welsh Premier League clubs

Park Avenue, home of Aberystwyth Town, one of the longest-serving members of the league

The Welsh Premier League (Welsh: Uwch Gynghrair Cymru) is an association football league based in Wales. Formed in 1992 as the League of Wales, a name it retained until 2002, it was the first national football league in the country.^[1] In its inaugural season 20 teams played in the league, but it has since been significantly restructured and has 12 member clubs in the 2013–14 season. Although it is the highest level of the Welsh football league system, the Welsh Premier League has never included the country's professional clubs, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham and Newport County. For historical reasons these clubs all play within the English league system.^[2] Instead the Welsh Premier League consists primarily of clubs from small towns and villages and the majority of the players are semi-professional. As of 2013, The New Saints, who have played in Oswestry in England since 2005,^[3] are the only full-time professional team in the league.^[4]

Since its formation, 38 clubs have taken part in the Welsh Premier League. The only clubs to have played in the league in every season since it was formed are Aberystwyth Town, Bangor City and Newtown. Conversely two other founder members, Abergavenny Thursdays and Llanidloes Town, were relegated at the end of the league's inaugural season and have never returned. Two other clubs, Llangefni Town and Cardiff Grange Harlequins, have spent only a single season in the league. The most recent team to make its debut in the league was Bala Town, who gained promotion to the league for the first time in 2009. A system of promotion and relegation exists between the Welsh Premier League and the two regional leagues at the second level of the Welsh league system, the Cymru Alliance in the north of the country and the Welsh Football League in the south.^[5]

Clubs

The table show the first and most recent seasons in which each club competed in the league, up to the most recent completed season (2013–14). Some clubs' membership was intermittent between their first and most recent seasons. The name shown for each club is the most recent under which the club played in the Welsh Premier League, and the table is initially sorted in alphabetical order of these names. Any other names under which the club played in the league are shown in footnotes. A dagger symbol () indicates that the club was a founder member of the league.

List of Welsh Premier League clubs

Club	First season	Most recent season	Total seasons	Best finish	Times champions	Current status (2013–14)	Ref(s).
Abergavenny Thursdays	1992–93	1992–93	1	20 !20th	–	Withdrew from Gwent County League in 2013, current status unclear	[6][7]
Aberystwyth Town	1992–93	2013–14	22	04 !4th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[8]
Afan Lido	1992–93	2012–13	13	02 !2nd	–	Playing in Welsh Football League Division One	[9]
Airbus UK Broughton[nb1]	2004–05	2013–14	10	02 !2nd	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[10][11]
Bala Town	2009–10	2013–14	5	05 !5th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[12]
Bangor City	1992–93	2013–14	22	01 !1st	7 !3	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[13]
Barry Town	1994–95	2003–04	10	01 !1st	3 !7	Playing in Welsh Football League Division Three as Barry Town United	[14][15]
Briton Ferry Athletic	1992–93	1996–97	4	17 !17th	–	Merged with Llansawel in 2009 to form Briton Ferry Llansawel	[16]
Caernarfon Town	1995–96	2008–09	13	05 !5th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[17]
Caersws	1992–93	2009–10	18	04 !4th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[18]
Cardiff Grange Harlequins	2005–06	2005–06	1	18 !18th	–	Playing in Welsh Football League Division Three	[19]
Carmarthen Town	1996–97	2013–14	18	03 !3rd	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[20]
Cefn Druids[nb3]	1999–2000	2013–14	12	12 !12th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[21][22][23][24]
Cemaes Bay[nb2]	1995–96	1997–98	3	12 !12th	–	Playing in Anglesey League	[25][26][27]
Conwy United	1992–93	1999–2000	8	03 !3rd	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance as Conwy Borough	[28]
Cwmbran Town	1992–93	2006–07	15	01 !1st	9 !1	Playing in Gwent County League Division One	[29]
Ebbw Vale	1992–93	1997–98	6	03 !3rd	–	Defunct; folded in 1998	[30]
Flint Town United	1992–93	1997–98	6	04 !4th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[31]
Gap Connah's Quay [nb4]	1992–93	2013–14	20	05 !5th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[32][33]
Haverfordwest County	1992–93	2012–11	16	03 !3rd	–	Playing in Welsh Football League Division One	[34]
Holywell Town	1992–93	1998–99	6	05 !5th	–	Playing in Welsh Alliance League Division One	[35]
Llanelli	1992–93	2013–14	17	01 !1st	9 !1	Defunct; folded in 2013	[36][37]
Llangefni Town	2007–08	2007–08	1	18 !18th	–	Playing in Welsh Alliance League Division One	[38]
Llanidloes Town	1992–93	1992–93	1	19 !19th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[39]
Maesteg Park Athletic	1992–93	1994–95	3	15 !15th	–	Defunct; folded in 2010	[40]
Mold Alexandra	1992–93	1994–95	3	13 !13th	–	Playing in Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division	[41]
Neath[nb5]	2007–08	2011–12	5	03 !3rd	–	Defunct; folded in 2012	[42][43][44]
Newtown	1992–93	2013–14	22	02 !2nd	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[45]
Oswestry Town	2000–01	2002–03	3	15 !15th	–	Merged with Total Network Solutions (now The New Saints) in 2003	[46]
Port Talbot Town[nb6]	2000–01	2013–14	14	04 !4th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[47][48]
Porthmadog	1992–93	2009–10	13	09 !9th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[49]
Prestatyn Town	2008–09	2013–14	6	05 !5th	–	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[50]
Rhayader Town	1997–98	2001–02	5	12 !12th	–	Playing in Cymru Alliance	[51]
Rhyl	1994–95	2009–10	17	01 !1st	8 !2	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[52]
Technogroup Welshpool Town[nb7]	1996–97	2009–10	10	04 !4th	–	Playing in Mid-Wales League	[53][54]
New Saints, The !The New Saints[nb8]	1993–94	2013–14	21	01 !1st	3 !8	Playing in Welsh Premier League	[55][56][57]
Ton Pentre	1993–94	1996–97	4	03 !3rd	–	Playing in Welsh Football League Division One	[58]
UWIC Inter Cardiff [nb9]	1992–93	2000–01	9	02 !2nd	–	Playing in Welsh Football League Division Two as Cardiff Metropolitan University	[59][60][61][62][63]

Notes

References