| Season | 2010–11 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Bangor City |
| Relegated | Haverfordwest County |
| Champions League | Bangor City |
| Europa League | The New Saints Llanelli AFC Neath |
| Matches | 186 |
| Goals | 639 (3.44 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Rhys Griffiths (25) |
| Biggest home win | Bangor City 8–1Port Talbot Town The New Saints 7–0Carmarthen Town |
| Biggest away win | Haverfordwest County 0–4Llanelli AFC Neath 0–4Llanelli AFC |
| Highest scoring | Bangor City 8–1Port Talbot Town |
2011–12 → | |
The2010–11 Welsh Premier League was the 19th season of theWelsh Premier League since its establishment in 1992 as the League of Wales. It was reduced to a size of 12 teams from this season following a unanimous decision by the Premier League clubs in June 2009.[1] The league season began on 13 August 2010[2] and ended on 30 April 2011.[3]The New Saints were the defending champions, but lost their crown toBangor City.
Rhyl were denied the domestic licence for competing in this season'sWelsh Premier League and were therefore relegated to the second tier. Welsh Premier League aspirantsLlangefni Town (Cymru Alliance) andAfan Lido (Welsh Football League First Division) were also denied licences meaning that no team from the second tier was promoted. Since these three teams failed to obtain licences, the best three teams originally to be relegated, with all three obtaining their licences, were spared from relegation (Bala Town,Haverfordwest County andNewtown).[4] Rhyl became the third Championship winning side to be relegated after Barry Town and Cwmbran Town. Rhyl had had the highest home attendances in the league for the last seven seasons.
| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newtown |  Darren Ryan | Stepped down | 4 August 2010[5] | Andy Cale | 7 August 2010[6] |
| Haverfordwest County |  Derek Brazil | Sacked | 15 November 2010[7] |  Gavin Chesterfield | 26 November 2010[8] |
| Haverfordwest County | Gavin Chesterfield | Resigned | 28 February 2011[9] | Derek Brazil | 28 February 2011[10] |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bangor City(C) | 32 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 80 | 44 | +36 | 70 | Qualification forChampions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | The New Saints | 32 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 87 | 34 | +53 | 68 | Qualification forEuropa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Neath(O) | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 62 | 41 | +21 | 58 | Qualification forEuropa League play-offs |
| 4 | Llanelli | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 53 | Qualification forEuropa League second qualifying round[a] |
| 5 | Prestatyn Town | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 44 | 46 | −2 | 40 | Qualification forEuropa League play-offs |
| 6 | Port Talbot Town | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 36 | |
| 7 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 42 | Qualification forEuropa League play-offs |
| 8 | Airbus UK Broughton | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 41 | |
| 9 | Newtown | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 35 | |
| 10 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 39 | 64 | −25 | 35 | |
| 11 | Bala Town | 32 | 10 | 3 | 19 | 41 | 57 | −16 | 33 | Spared from relegation[b] |
| 12 | Haverfordwest County(R) | 32 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 30 | 77 | −47 | 19 | Relegation toWelsh Division One |
Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups - the top six and the bottom six.Clubs in these groups played each other twice again to bring the total fixture count to 32.This meant a decrease in fixtures from 34 games to 32 from the previous season.
| Home \ Away | ABE | AIR | BAL | BAN | CMR | HAV | LLA | NEA | NEW | PTA | PRE | TNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Airbus UK Broughton | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 2–2 | |
| Bala Town | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 | |
| Bangor City | 2–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 8–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 | |
| Carmarthen Town | 2–3 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | |
| Haverfordwest County | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 | |
| Llanelli | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | |
| Neath | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | |
| Newtown | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–6 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | |
| Port Talbot Town | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 0–2 | |
| Prestatyn Town | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |
| The New Saints | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 7–0 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 6–1 | 5–2 |
Top six
Source:Welsh Premiership Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Bottom six
Source:Welsh Premiership Football League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
AsLlanelli AFC had already been assured of a Europa League spot by virtue of playing in the2010–11 Welsh Cup Final against Champions-League qualifiedBangor City, third-placedNeath and fifth- through eighth-placed sidesPort Talbot Town,Prestatyn Town,Aberystwyth Town andAirbus UK Broughton competed in the inaugural play-offs for the second2011–12 UEFA Europa League spot available via league placement.[12] The winners of this play-off would go on to enter the Europa League in thefirst qualifying round.
Aberystwyth Town and Airbus UK Broughton, as worst-placed teams of the play-off participants, had to compete an extra match in order to reduce the teams for the semi-finals to four. The winners of this match would face Neath in the semi-final.
| Aberystwyth Town | 2–1 | Airbus UK Broughton |
|---|---|---|
Stott 60'McCarten 85' | Report | 21' (pen.) Sheridan |
The semi-finals were held simultaneously on 15 May. Aberystwyth Town, having beaten Airbus, faced third-placed Neath in the first, while fifth-placed Prestatyn faced off against sixth-placed Port Talbot in the other.
| Neath | 2–1 | Aberystwyth Town |
|---|---|---|
| Hughes 34' Fowler 36' | Report | 89'McCarten |
| Prestatyn Town | 2–1 | Port Talbot Town |
|---|---|---|
| Hunt 84' Hayes 88' | Report | 29' Surman |
The final was held at Neath's Gnoll, as they had finished higher than Prestatyn in the league and had therefore 'earned' home advantage. Neath won the game 3-2 and will play in theEuropa League next season as a result.
| Neath | 3–2 | Prestatyn Town |
|---|---|---|
| Bond 1' Hill 55', 84' | [citation needed] | 25'Hunt 90' Fisher-Cooke |
Including matches played on 18 February 2011; Source:Soccerway
| Rank | Scorer | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jamie Reed | Bangor City | 17 |
| Rhys Griffiths | Llanelli AFC | 17 | |
| 3 | Matty Williams | The New Saints | 16 |
| 4 | Lee Trundle | Neath | 15 |
| 5 | Alan Bull | Bangor City | 12 |
| Lee Hunt | Prestatyn Town | 12 | |
| 7 | Alex Darlington | The New Saints | 11 |
| Richie Partridge | The New Saints | 11 | |
| 9 | Andy Moran | Airbus UK Broughton | 10 |
| Dave Morley | Bangor City | 10 |
