Exiles ruled out of Welsh Cup again

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Published on Wednesday, 20 June 2012 19:21

THE six exiled clubs have been told they cannot compete in next season’s Welsh Cup.

Wrexham, Newport County and Merthyr Town all accepted an invitation to return to the competition last season after a 17-year absence.

And the FAW hoped to add Swansea City and Cardiff City to boost the cup’s profile, but the duo declined.

But earlier this year Uefa ruled that clubs in the English pyramid would not allowed to represent Wales in Europe if they qualified via the Welsh Cup.

And, following that decision, the FAW appears not to have extended their invite to the exiles for this year’s competition.

Wrexham and Newport’s involvement was blighted by fixture clashes which meant they were forced to field a combination of reserve and youth players in defeats at the hands of Airbus UK Broughton and The New Saints respectively.

Meanwhile TNS, who won the cup, will find next month if they have been successful in their attempt to enter the English FA Cup.

The Oswestry-based outfit seem unlikely to succeed in their bid with the FA claiming new applicants had to be entered in last year’s FA Trophy to qualify.

The Saints have also applied to enter next year’s FA Trophy which could potentially open up the possibility of a successful entry into the FA Cup the following year.