| Season | 2016–17 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 August 2016 – 22 April 2017 |
| Champions | The New Saints (11th title) |
| Relegated | Rhyl Airbus UK Broughton |
| Champions League | The New Saints |
| Europa League | Connah's Quay Nomads Bala Town Bangor City |
| Matches | 192 |
| Goals | 587 (3.06 per match) |
| Biggest home win | The New Saints 10–0Rhyl (28 August 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Airbus UK Broughton 0–7Newtown (14 April 2017) |
| Highest scoring | The New Saints 10–0Rhyl (28 August 2016) Bala Town 4–6The New Saints (22 April 2017) |
2017–18 → | |
The2016–17 Welsh Premier League (known as theDafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season of theWelsh Premier League, the highestfootball league withinWales since its establishment in 1992.The New Saints are the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 22 June 2016.[1] The season began on 12 August 2016 and ended on 22 April 2017; the Europa League play-offs will followed afterwards.
Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups at the end of January 2017 – the top six and the bottom six.
On 30 December 2016,The New Saints brokeAjax's 44-year-old world record for the longest winning streak in top-flight football with their 27th consecutive win in all competitions.[2] Their record run of 27 wins came to an end with a 3–3 draw on 14 January 2017.[3]
On 4 March 2017, The New Saints defeatedBangor 4–0 to clinch their sixth straight Welsh Premier League title and eleventh Welsh league title overall.[4]
This was the final season the league was sponsored by Dafabet.
Haverfordwest County andPort Talbot Town were relegated out of theWelsh Premier League theprevious season, whileCefn Druids were promoted as winners of theCymru Alliance andCardiff Metropolitan University were promoted as winners ofWelsh Football League Division One. It will be Cardiff Metropolitan University's debut campaign in the league under that name, although they were formerly members when known as Inter Cardiff.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | Aberystwyth | Park Avenue | 5,000 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | Broughton | The Airfield | 1,600 |
| Bala Town | Bala | Maes Tegid | 3,000 |
| Bangor City | Bangor | Nantporth | 3,000 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | Cardiff | Cyncoed Campus | 1,620 |
| Carmarthen Town | Carmarthen | Richmond Park | 3,000 |
| Cefn Druids | Wrexham | The Rock | 3,000 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Connah's Quay | Deeside Stadium | 1,500 |
| Llandudno | Llandudno | Park MBi Maesdu | 1,013 |
| Newtown | Newtown | Latham Park | 5,000 |
| Rhyl | Rhyl | The Corbett Sports Stadium | 3,000 |
| The New Saints | Oswestry | Park Hall | 2,000 |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The New Saints(C) | 32 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 101 | 26 | +75 | 85 | Qualification for theChampions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Connah's Quay Nomads | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 58 | Qualification for theEuropa League first qualifying round[b] |
| 3 | Bala Town | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 61 | 46 | +15 | 57 | |
| 4 | Bangor City(O) | 32 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 52 | Qualification for theEuropa League play-offs[c] |
| 5 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 39 | |
| 6 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 36 | |
| 7 | Newtown | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 45 | Qualification for theEuropa League play-offs[c] |
| 8 | Cefn Druids | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 39 | |
| 9 | Llandudno | 32 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 35 | |
| 10 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 41 | 63 | −22 | 34 | |
| 11 | Rhyl(R) | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 38 | 76 | −38 | 30 | Relegation to theCymru Alliance |
| 12 | Airbus UK Broughton(R) | 32 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 37 | 78 | −41 | 21 |
Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.
| Home \ Away | ABE | AIR | BAL | BAN | CMU | CMR | CDR | CQN | LND | NTW | RHL | TNS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | — | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–5 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | 0–1 | — | 2–4 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 0–3 | 1–4 |
| Bala Town | 4–0 | 3–3 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 0–2 |
| Bangor City | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | — | 1–3 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 |
| Carmarthen Town | 0–5 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 2–4 |
| Cefn Druids | 0–3 | 2–2 | 4–4 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 0–2 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Llandudno | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–5 |
| Newtown | 2–2 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–3 | 3–3 |
| Rhyl | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | — | 1–2 |
| The New Saints | 2–1 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 10–0 | — |
Top six[edit]
Source:Welsh Premier League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win. | Bottom six[edit]
Source:Welsh Premier League Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
|
Teams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season participated in play-offs to determine the third participant for the2017–18 UEFA Europa League, who qualified for thefirst qualifying round.
| Bangor City | 3–2 | Newtown |
|---|---|---|
| Taylor-Fletcher Nardiello Roberts | BBC Sport Soccerway | Boundford Mitchell |
| Carmarthen Town | 1–2 | Cardiff Metropolitan University |
|---|---|---|
| Griffiths | BBC Sport Soccerway | Roscrow Corsby |
| Bangor City | 1–0 | Cardiff Metropolitan University |
|---|---|---|
| Rittenberg | BBC Sport Soccerway |
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newtown | 22 | |
| 2 | The New Saints | 15 | |
| The New Saints | |||
| 4 | Bala Town | 14 | |
| 5 | Bangor City | 13 | |
| 6 | The New Saints | 12 | |
| 7 | Connah's Quay Nomads/Newtown | 11 | |
| Carmarthen Town | |||
| 9 | Airbus UK Broughton | 10 | |
| Cefn Druids | |||
| Bangor City |
The league's rules are contained as a section of the Handbook of the Football Association of Wales.[6]