Cymru Premier
| File:Logo Eng.jpg Website.png | |
| Founded | 1992 |
|---|---|
| Country | Wales |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of clubs | 18 |
| Relegation to | Cymru Alliance Welsh Football League First Division |
| Domestic cup(s) | Welsh Cup Loosemore's League Cup |
| International cup(s) | Champions League UEFA Europa League |
| Current champions | Rhyl (2008–09) |
| Most championships | Barry Town (7 times) |
| Website | www.welshpremiership.com |
| Current: 2009–10 | |
The Welsh Premier League is the national football league for Wales and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales, but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal. Currently, the full sponsored name of the league is the Principality Building Society Welsh Premier Football League.
A troubled start
The league was formed in October 1991 by Alun Evans, Secretary General of the Football Association of Wales, as he believed that the Welsh international football team was under threat from FIFA. Wales, along with the other three home nations (England, Northern Ireland and Scotland), had a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB) and it was thought that many FIFA members were resentful of this and pressing for the four nations to unite into one combined side for the whole of the United Kingdom.
The new league was formed for the 1992-93 season. At the time, Wales was almost unique in world football in that it didn't have a national league of its own. Traditionally, the best teams in Wales had always played over the border in the English leagues. Aberdare Athletic, Cardiff City, Merthyr Town, Newport County, Swansea City and Wrexham have all been members of the Football League.
Because of poor transportation links, it has always been much easier for Welsh clubs to travel east-west than north-south so clubs tended to look east to England for competitors and many of the top semi-professional sides in Wales also played in the English football league system; Bangor City were founder members of the Football Conference (then the Alliance Premier League) in 1979 and reached the FA Trophy final in 1984, before transferring to the new League of Wales in 1992.
The formation of the League of Wales saw the start of a bitter dispute between the Football Association of Wales (FAW) and those non-league clubs who wanted to remain part of the English football league. The 'Irate Eight', as they were dubbed, consisted of Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport County, Newtown and Rhyl.
Prior to the inaugural season, Bangor City, Newtown and Rhyl returned to play in Wales. However as Rhyl's application to join the league was late, they were placed in the second level of the pyramid system. Because of FAW sanctions, the remaining five clubs were forced to play their home matches in England. Following a season in exile at Worcester City, five became four, as Barry Town joined the Welsh league system.
A court ruling in 1995 allowed the remaining four clubs to return to Wales to play their home matches while still remaining within the English system; despite this victory, Caernarfon Town decided to join the League of Wales. However, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil and Newport County remain in the English league pyramid system.
For the first four seasons of the league's existence, its results had not been featured on the Press Association's vidiprinter service and consequently had not appeared on Final Score. The PA started featuring the league's results at the start of the 1996/97 season, which was also when the PA began providing the results for the Irish League.
Demographics
One of the problems facing the league is its failure to attract teams from the major population centres which hampers the chances of high attendances at matches. In addition, as the largest centres of population, Cardiff, Swansea, Newport and Wrexham are home to teams playing in the English football league system, it is debatable whether a club from those areas would have the support to be competitive in the Welsh Premier League. As such, the League is made up of clubs from smaller towns and even villages. It has recently been proposed that these Welsh clubs plying their trade in the English football pyramid could field reserve or representative teams in the league.[citation needed]
Promotion and relegation
Clubs are promoted to the league from the two regional feeder leagues; the Cymru Alliance in the north and the Welsh Football League in the south. Clubs who finish as champions - or as runners-up if the champions decide not to seek promotion - of the feeder leagues are promoted subject to an application for membership being received and accepted and the stadium and infrastructure safety criteria of that League being met.
No teams were promoted to the Premier League following the 2005/06 season. However, Cardiff Grange Quins, who finished bottom of the top division, resigned leaving the league to operate with an odd number of clubs for 2006/07.
Eighteen clubs competed in the Welsh Premier League for the 2007/08 season as both Neath Athletic (Welsh Football League) and Llangefni Town (Cymru Alliance) were promoted while Cwmbran Town were relegated to Division 1 of the Welsh League. For 2008/09, Prestatyn Town played in the league for the first time after promotion form the alliance, while Llangefni Town once again played in the Alliance after only one season. The following Season - 2009/10, saw Bala Town F.C. join the League after the Lakesiders won the (Cymru Alliance) in 2008/09. They replaced Caernarfon Town, who finished bottom and were relegated to the Cymru Alliance.
Future change
The 18 Welsh Premier League clubs met on April 13, 2008 and voted to support a restructuring proposal put forward by Welsh Premier League secretary John Deakin which would replace the single Welsh Premier League with a First and Second Division with 10 teams in each Division for the 2010-11 season.
A further proposal was accepted that the Football Association of Wales should take full control of the Welsh Premier League and the existing Company, 'Football League of Wales Limited' should be dissolved.
These proposals were forwarded to the Football Association of Wales for their consideration.[1]
In June 2009 the clubs voted to accept an alternative proposal to reduce the premier League from 18 clubs to 12 for the 2010-11 season onwards.[2]
European competition
The champions of the Welsh Premier League qualify, along with the champions of every European domestic league, for the UEFA Champions League. The second and third placed teams qualify for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. A place in the second round of the Europa League is also awarded to the winners of the Welsh Cup. If the winners of the Welsh Cup have already qualified for Europe via their league placing (e.g. finishing first and winning the Cup) the fourth placed team inherits the Europa spot.
Results in Europe have been mixed-some notable successes, such as Barry Town's run to the first round proper of the UEFA Cup, drawing 3-3 with Aberdeen at Jenner Park, and Barry's 3-1 victory over FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League, combined with some heavy defeats, such as Total Network Solutions' 12-1 aggregate defeat to Amica Wronki of Poland.
The aforementioned Barry Town have been by some way the most successful Welsh side in Europe in the league's 15-year history, winning a total of six games in Europe.
In recent times results in Europe have generally improved; whereas in the past Welsh sides had been on the wrong end of some heavy scorelines, all Welsh sides now enter Europe with the realistic aim of at least winning their first round tie. In the last two years in particular European results have been good, with Rhyl, Carmarthen Town and Llanelli all enjoying success.
Media coverage
There is no doubt that the advent of the League has brought increased media coverage for its member clubs. Although there is sometimes complaint about the lack of it at times, the league does enjoy coverage by the Welsh national (notably the Western Mail and Daily Post) and local press.
Since the start of the 2007/08 season goals and results from the league have appeared on the Press Association vidiprinter service. Prior to this only the full time score had been displayed although the half time score had also been shown from around 2000. Both Final Score and Soccer Saturday now include the Welsh Premier League results as part of their classified football results sequence.
On television, brief highlights from one of the day's games were featured on BBC Wales' sports results programme Wales on Saturday along with occasional live matches until the corporation lost the broadcast rights to BSkyB at the end of the 2003/4 season. Sky opted to sell the Welsh Premier rights to S4C, signaling the start of a half-hour highlights show on Saturday nights and several live matches per year. Sgorio Cymru (formerly Y Clwb Pel Droed) now broadcasts in Wales & throughout the rest of the UK via digital satellite with an interactive option for English-language commentary available via digital satellite.
Welsh Clubs' European games are sometimes broadcast live also, again, usually on the BBC or S4C (although TNS's Champions League tie against Liverpool was live on ITV2).
Teams for 2009-10
Current teams in the Welsh Premier are:
| Club Name | Stadium | Championships | 2008–09 Placing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | Park Avenue | 0 | 8th |
| Airbus UK Broughton | The Airfield | 0 | 12th |
| Bala Town | Maes Tegid | 0 | 1st in Cymru Alliance |
| Bangor City | Farrar Road | 2 | 6th |
| Caersws | Recreation Ground | 0 | 17th |
| Carmarthen Town | Richmond Park | 0 | 4th |
| Elements Cefn Druids | Plaskynaston Lane | 0 | 13th |
| Gap Connah's Quay | Deeside Stadium | 0 | 9th |
| Haverfordwest County | Bridge Meadow Stadium | 0 | 7th |
| Llanelli | Stebonheath Park | 1 | 2nd |
| Neath Athletic | The Gnoll | 0 | 14th |
| Newtown | Latham Park | 0 | 10th |
| Port Talbot Town | Victoria Road | 0 | 5th |
| Porthmadog | Y Traeth | 0 | 16th |
| Prestatyn Town | Bastion Road | 0 | 15th |
| Rhyl | Belle Vue | 2 | 1st |
| Technogroup Welshpool Town | Maes y Dre Recreation Ground | 0 | 11th |
| The New Saints | Park Hall* | 4 | 3rd |
* Ground situated in Oswestry, England.
Former members of the League of Wales/Welsh Premier League
Champions
Record League Champions
| Rank | Club | Titles | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Town | 7 | 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003 |
| 2 | Total Network Solutions/The New Saints | 4 | 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007 |
| 3 | Bangor City | 2 | 1994, 1995 |
| 3 | Rhyl | 2 | 2004, 2009 |
| 4 | Cwmbran Town | 1 | 1993 |
| 4 | Llanelli | 1 | 2008 |
Players
Marc Lloyd-Williams, currently playing with Airbus UK Broughton, has scored 300 goals in 385 appearances in the League of Wales, making him the most prolific goalscorer in the league's history.[3]
Colin Reynolds holds the record for the number of appearances in the League of Wales.[4]
Sponsorship
Below is a list of the League's sponsors and what they chose to name the competition:
- 1992: Konica Peter Llewellyn Limited of Swansea (Konica League of Wales)
- 1993-2001: No sponsor .
- 2002-2004: JT Hughes Mitsubishi (JT Hughes Mitsubishi Welsh Premiership)
- 2004-2006: Vauxhall Masterfit Retailers (Vauxhall Masterfit Retailers Welsh Premier League)
- 2006-Present: Principality Building Society (Principality Building Society Welsh Premier Football League)
See also
External links
- Official Principality Welsh Premier League website
- Unofficial website for the Welsh Premier League
- Welsh Football Data Archive website
- All Welsh Premier League official club website links at footballmedia.eu
References
- ^ "Clubs vote to Re-structure the League". Welsh Premier League. 2008-04-13. Retrieved 2008-04-13.
- ^ "Clubs accept reduced Premier League".
- ^ Welsh Premier all-time leading goal scorers Welsh Premier Football
- ^ Welsh Premier all-time appearances Welsh Premier Football
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