Feeder league with fine dining reputation
Sunday 19 September 2010
Paul Robertsby Mark Pitman, Wales Online Sportblog
AFTER a summer of relegation controversy, the Welsh Football League eventually kicked off the new season earlier this month as sixteen teams from across South Wales compete to earn a place in the Principality Welsh Premier League, or at least that is the theory.
Unlike its equivalents across Europe, promotion to the national top-flight is sadly a rare occurrence as its clubs struggle to meet the necessary criteria or find themselves unable to fund their ambitions of joining the 'Super-12' teams that make up the recently re-launched Welsh Premier League.
Despite the season being just a few weeks old, the situation come next May already appears written on the wall with only a handful of clubs anywhere near reaching the increasingly stringent ground criteria to gain promotion. From those only former Welsh Premier League duo Afan Lido and Barry Town are two clubs expected to be challenging for honours while new investment at Bridgend Town coupled with a move to the Brewery Field as enabled them to also force themselves into a strong position. Aberaman Athletic have invested heavily into their ground over the last few seasons but no longer have the backing of David Morgan behind them while champions Goytre United are again expected to retain their stance of rejecting promotion if and when it is offered to them.
It is a sorry situation as the clubs who have achieved promotion from South Wales are the clubs who have been the recent success stories of the league. Back in 1995-1996 Carmarthen Town were a Welsh League club, that season they earned promotion and were joined in the top-flight one season later by Haverfordwest County. Three years later Port Talbot Town made the step-up, and after an earlier relegation, Llanelli returned to the Welsh Premier League in 2004.
The four South Wales clubs mentioned now make up a third of the twelve competing clubs in the league. What they more importantly have in common however is that they have all qualified and competed in UEFA competition since earning promotion relatively recently from the Welsh League. An incredible achievement and a lucrative return on their initial investment, an achievement that should motivate clubs currently competing in what is the feeder league of South Wales.
The South Wales success story does not stop there however, in 2007 Neath achieved promotion and have now obtained substantial investment. With high-profile signings and a move to The Gnoll, European football is surely just a matter of time away and would complete an incredible achievement with all five clubs on the M4 stretch to have represented Wales in one of World football's premier club competitions.
But then South Wales success in Europe is not exclusive to the clubs already competing in the top-flight. In the 1990's Cwmbran Town, Barry Town, Afan Lido, Ton Pentre, Inter Cardiff and Ebbw Vale all played in Europe having achieved domestic success in the top-flight. Barry Town claiming more success in Europe than any other club in the league. In fact out of the fifteen South Wales clubs to compete in the Welsh Premier League since its inaugural season in 1992, ten clubs have played in Europe and only five have not. A remarkable achievement and another source of motivation for those currently just one level below.
But while South Wales has enjoyed success in qualifying for European football, the real strength in the promotion issues each May has been at the opposite end of the country. The North Wales equivalent of the Welsh League, the Cymru Alliance, regularly has twice as many of its clubs challenging for promotion and over the last few seasons has provided ambitious clubs such as Airbus UK Broughton, Prestatyn Town and Bala Town to the Welsh Premier League.
The trend is set to continue this season with the six clubs relegated from the Welsh Premier League last year all dropping into the Cymru Alliance. Headlined by former champions Rhyl, the league is now stronger than it has ever been before and with clubs such as Elements Cefn Druids now boasting the facility of a new stadium, the North Wales clubs are determined to win back their place amongst the 'Super-12' and restore their dominance of the national league.
Playing in the Principality Welsh Premier League is an expensive business, but the rewards are also lucrative. Even for clubs who do not qualify for European competition, sponsorship money has increased, UEFA funding is available to develop Academy football and the profile of the league has been significantly raised by the support of broadcasters S4/C who now show a live match each Saturday. The recent re-launch of the league and its reduction of clubs has seen an initial increase in attendances and the top-flight is slowly but surely becoming more respected by the Welsh football public and media.
The Principality Welsh Premier League offers clubs in the pyramid system a fantastic opportunity and it is one that has been, and continues to be, embraced by clubs in the North. In the South however it continues to be a different story. It is not the fault of the Welsh League, who strive to support clubs and their ambitions. The FAW Trust have supported clubs in the pyramid through their ground improvement scheme and have invested thousands of pounds to help clubs reach the necessary ground criteria, therefore the governing body cannot be blamed either.
Maybe it is the years of negativity from their peers that have prevented other clubs from making the big step into the top-flight? Maybe it is from witnessing the demise of clubs who have once played in the league and are now leagues and light-years away from a return, or in the case of Ebbw Vale, Inter Cardiff and Maesteg Park, no longer in existence. The rewards are great but then so are the risks involved.
There does however seem to be a possible solution sneaking into the South Wales game and one that could see the next generation of South Wales clubs competing in Europe. Neath and Bridgend are two clubs who took care of their ground criteria issues with moves to rugby grounds in The Gnoll and The Brewery Field respectively. With the domestic issues in place the two sides now appear to have substantial investment behind them and are favourites to at least challenge at the top of their respective leagues.
The Cymru Alliance may have ten former Welsh Premier League clubs pushing for a return to the top-flight, but only two of them have ever competed in Europe. The Welsh League may not have the quantity of promotion hopefuls that its North Wales equivalent boasts, but has in the past provided the Welsh Premier League with some of its most famous and successful clubs.
Neath are currently closing in on adding a European campaign to their CV as the other four Welsh Premier South Wales clubs now boast, while Bridgend have plans in place to become the sixth in the not to distant future. The Welsh League now needs its other member clubs to follow their lead.