| Druids blast Super 10 proposal |
| Saturday 20 December 2008 | ||||
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NEWI Cefn Druids' secretary Mike Beech says his side's victory over Rhyl's "ageing pros" is proof the Welsh Premier League should not be split up to form a Super 10. Beech also hit out at the ambitions of the FA of Wales for the league's top clubs to make progress in European competition - saying clubs such as Rhyl, The New Saints and Llanelli are "a long way short of the pace" on the continent. The Ancients secretary's comments come amid plans to split the league into two divisions, with the top 10 clubs fighting it out each year for European qualification. On Thursday, a league board meeting heard clubs' responses to the idea, which would more than likely see clubs such as Druids, Caernarfon Town and Porthmadog in a second tier where they would battle for promotion to the top flight.
However, last weekend then saw the big three all go down to shock defeats - with leaders Rhyl losing 4-3 at home to Druids, The Saints suffering a 1-0 loss away to Airbus UK Broughton, then Gap Connah's Quay beating champions Llanelli 3-1 at the Deeside Stadium. Beech said: "That's what the Welsh Premier League needs - the result we had, the result Airbus had and the result Connah's Quay had. What this league needs to inject a bit of excitement is little clubs like us going to Rhyl and doing a job." He added: "A 10-team league is never going to work. You're going to have to play each team four times, you'll probably have to play them in the League Cup, then if you get through you might have to play them again in the later rounds, and you could play the same team in the Welsh Cup - so you could end up playing the same team eight times in one season. "There will probably only be Neath and Afan Lido from south Wales in the second tier so that will cost each team £700 to get to South Wales four times a year, and clubs can't afford that." Right to competeBeech said smaller clubs had earned their right to compete alongside the league's big boys, adding: "You're not telling me that Hull City are not justified in being in the English Premier League."Everybody in the league is there on merit, whether or not you've got deep pockets, like Rhyl claim they have. If they have then fair enough, good luck to them - but it didn't help them on Friday night. "They're ageing pros taking a couple of years to earn an extra few quid before they finally end up playing for the Dog and Duck on a Sunday." One of the FAW's aims in creating a Welsh Premier "Super 10" is to help the country's top clubs develop so they can be more competitive in European competition. However, Beech said: "We keep hearing about how the FAW would love to get the clubs through the first round of the Champions League, but it's not going to happen. "The reason is they're not good enough, and there's no hiding from it. They're a long way short of the pace." [Gareth Bicknell, Daily Post]. |
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