Welsh Football League

Welsh Football League

Founded	1904 (as Rhymney Valley League Division 1)
Country	Wales
Number of teams	48 (16 in each division)
Level on pyramid	1 (1904–1992) 2, 3 and 4 (1992–present)
Promotion to	Welsh Premier League
Relegation to	Carmarthenshire League Premier Division Gwent County League Division One Neath & District League Premier Division Pembrokeshire League Division One South Wales Amateur League Division One South Wales Senior League Division One Swansea Senior League Division One
Domestic cup(s)	Welsh Cup Welsh Football League Cup
Current champions	Barry Town United (2016-17)
Website	League Website
2016–17 Welsh Football League Division One 2016–17 Welsh Football League Division Two 2016–17 Welsh Football League Division Three

The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) is a club football league in Wales. Division One of the Welsh Football League is at Level 2 of the Welsh football league system, immediately below the national Welsh Premier League.

The Welsh Football League's history stretches back to 1904 when the competition was first formed and Aberdare were crowned first champions of a seven-team First Division. Abergavenny were champions of Division 2 and Trelewis the winners of Division 3.

The Cymru Alliance and feeder leagues to the Cymru Alliance are its equivalent in North Wales and Mid Wales.

The Welsh Football League Division Three is above the Level 5 leagues: Carmarthenshire League, Gwent County League, Neath & District League, Pembrokeshire League, South Wales Amateur League, South Wales Senior League and the Swansea Senior League.

It also has its own knock-out competition, the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League Cup. Cardiff City Reserves has the record of trophies won with 7 titles.

The first season in 1904–05

In April 1904, the Merthyr Express newspaper reported that a new football league would be formed in addition to the South Wales League which had been in existence since 1891.

This new competition would be named the Rhymney Valley League and the reason for its creation was due to the South Wales League being 'overly dominated by Cardiff clubs, though the number of teams from Cardiff barely numbered more than a couple in any one season.^[1]

Structure

The league is made up of three divisions (named the Welsh Football League Division One, the Welsh Football League Division Two and the Welsh Football League Division Three) each having 16 clubs. There is promotion and relegation between the divisions, with the top three teams in each division being promoted to the one above and the bottom three being relegated to the one below. The winner of the First Division may be promoted to the national Welsh Premier League (subject to ground facilities), the highest level of Welsh football.

Current Leagues

• Welsh Football League Division One
• Welsh Football League Division Two
• Welsh Football League Division Three

External links

• Welsh Football League official site

References