18-587: The Cymru Leagues is an umbrella name for the top two tiers of the Welsh football league system . It consists of the Cymru Premier at Tier 1, as well as the Cymru North and Cymru South at the second tier. The Cymru Premier is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system . Prior to 2002,
36-708: A maximum of 16 clubs. In an attempt to avoid dividing the current Mid-Wales teams across all four leagues, the North-East league contains a large contingent of the Mid-Wales teams. The North-West league contains the sides near the North Wales coast. To be eligible to join the league, clubs need to meet the criteria for FAW tier 3 certification. The Ardal Leagues structure replaces the former tier 3 leagues: Welsh Football League Division One , Mid Wales Football League Division One , Welsh Alliance League Division 1 and
54-480: A number of infrastructure criteria, including: safety policy and evacuation plan, covered seating, pitch dimensions, dressing room & sanitary facilities. Following the meeting of the FAW's first decision body, 43 clubs were successful in gaining Tier 2 certification. The clubs for the second season were as follows: The Cymru Premier is a twelve-club league. The Cymru North is a sixteen-club league. The Cymru South
72-850: A promotion pathway to Division Two of the Gwent County League (tier 6). Champions (or runners-up) of these leagues are eligible for promotion if they satisfy FAW criteria. The South Wales Alliance League offers a promotion pathway to leagues affiliated to the South Wales Football Association. Champions of local leagues in the towns and cities of South Wales play off to be promoted into the South Wales Alliance Division Two (tier 6), subject to meeting licensing requirements. The West Wales FA area has had its own Premier League since its creation in 2020, having previously having been
90-694: Is a sixteen-club league. Teams relegated from the Cymru North and the Cymru South at the end of the 2019–20 season dropped to the newly-established Ardal Leagues which operated for the first time in the 2021–22 season. The bottom three teams from each of the tier 2 leagues were relegated. Welsh football league system The Welsh football league system (or pyramid ) is a series of football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. It consists of four main tiers, as well as lower local leagues. While most Welsh clubs play in
108-477: Is given: League(s)/Division(s) 1 2 3 North West 15 clubs North East 16 clubs 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 From the 2023-24 season, the following structure will follow. For each division, its official name and number of clubs is given: League(s)/Division(s) 1 2 3 North West 15 clubs North East 16 clubs 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cymru Alliance The Cymru Alliance League (known for sponsorship reasons as Huws Gray Alliance)
126-542: Is split into a north and central Wales league, Cymru North , and a corresponding league for south Wales, Cymru South . The champions of each of these leagues can be promoted to the Cymru Premier, subject to acceptable ground facilities, and if the champions cannot meet the criteria the runner-up team may be considered. The Cymru North replaced the Cymru Alliance whilst the Cymru South incorporated most of
144-742: The Cymru Premier , subject to the clubs meeting FAW criteria for Tier 1 grounds, playing facilities and financial operations. Relegation from the Cymru North is to three regional based Tier 3 leagues: the Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) , the Welsh Alliance League and the Mid Wales Football League . The Cymru South has relegation to the Tier 3 Welsh Football League Division One . 52 teams applied for Tier 2 certification, with teams assessed against
162-806: The Montgomeryshire League , the Mid Wales South League as well as the Aberystwyth League . These offer promotion to the tier 4 Mid Wales League East and West divisions. Local leagues are affiliated to Gwent FA, South Wales FA, and West Wales FA respectively, with promotion up the pyramid possible. In the Gwent Football Association Area, clubs from the Newport and District , East Gwent , Gwent Central and North Gwent leagues have
180-677: The Welsh National League Premier Division , leagues based in South Wales, Mid Wales, North West Wales and North East Wales respectively. There are three relegated clubs from each of the tier 3 leagues at the end of each season. Below this are six local tier 4 leagues, each run by one of the area associations of Welsh football: The winners of each league are eligible for promotion to the Ardal Leagues subject to meeting FAW tier 3 certification. In
198-654: The Welsh pyramid and most clubs in that pyramid are Welsh, five Welsh clubs play in English leagues, and four English clubs play in Welsh leagues . At the top is the Cymru Premier , which is the only national league in Wales and is run by the Football Association of Wales . Since 2019–20, the Football Association of Wales runs the second tier for the first time after a review of the Welsh league pyramid. Tier 2
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#1732790280930216-563: The clubs of the then-highest division of the Welsh Football League . Since the 2020–21 season, the Football Association of Wales has run the third tier after a review of the Welsh league pyramid. Tier 3, called the Ardal Leagues is split into a Northern and Southern League, with each league divided into two regionally based divisions, giving North East, North West, South East and South West leagues, each consisting of
234-552: The event that winners do not meet the criteria, the runner-up is also eligible for promotion, again subject to meeting the same tier 3 certification requirements. Below the North Wales Coast East and West there are Division One leagues at tier 5 and North East Wales Football League has a championship division, also at tier 5. In this area there are four leagues at tier 5 - the Ceredigion League ,
252-544: The league champions did not hold a Domestic Licence, then the team which finished second, if in possession of a Domestic Licence, could be promoted instead. The most successful club in the league was Caernarfon Town with three titles. The Cymru Alliance also operated the Cymru Alliance League Cup , a knock out competition contested by members of the league The teams also participated in Welsh Cup ,
270-557: The league was known as the League of Wales (LoW), but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal to the Welsh Premier League . The league has been rebranded as the Cymru Premier for the 2019–20 season. The Cymru North and Cymru South are the two football leagues in Wales that form the second level of the Welsh football league system . They have semi-professional status clubs. The first year of their operation
288-480: The only FA area to not have one. Promotion to this tier 4 league is possible from the champions of the Pembrokeshire , Carmarthenshire , Swansea Senior and Neath & District Leagues , subject to meeting FAW licensing requirements. The top divisions of each of these leagues are at tier 5. From the 2023-24 season, the following structure will follow. For each division, its official name and number of clubs
306-661: Was 2019–20, with the Football Association of Wales owning and administering the Tier 2 leagues for the first time. These changes followed from a review of the Welsh Football Pyramid, where the Tier 2 was called the FAW Championship The tier is split regionally, with the Cymru North covering clubs playing in northern Wales, and the Cymru South covering clubs playing in southern Wales. The winners of each division are eligible for promotion to
324-484: Was a football league in north and central Wales which formed the second level of the Welsh football league system . From the 2019/20 season onwards, it was replaced by the Cymru North . If the team which finished top of the league held a Domestic Licence, it could apply for promotion to the Welsh Premier League and was replaced by one of the bottom two teams in the Welsh Premier League. If
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