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| Football in Wales | |
|---|---|
| Country | Wales |
| Governing body | Football Association of Wales |
| National team | men's national team |
| First played | 1876; 149 years ago (1876) |
| National competitions | |
| Club competitions | |
| International competitions | |
Association football is one of the most popular sports inWales, along withrugby union.[1][2][3] Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during theVictorian period, and in 1876 aWales national football team played their first international match. Football has always had a close rivalry with the country'sde facto national sportrugby union, and it is much discussed as to which is Wales' more popular game. TheFootball Association of Wales (FAW), was established in 1876 to oversee the Wales national team and govern the sport in Wales, later creating and running theWelsh football league system.[4]
Welsh professional club teams traditionally played in the same leagues as their English counterparts, structured into regional divisions. This often resulted in teams from north and south Wales not facing each other as thetransport links between the two regions were poor. In 1992 theCymru Premier was formed to create a national league. Five Welsh clubs refused to join, but despite this the teams that come top of the Cymru Premier have a greater chance of playing inEuropean competition, as the top three clubs are drawn into theUEFA Champions League and theUEFA Europa League. They also have the opportunity to compete in theWelsh Cup, the most prestigious cup competition in Welsh football.
Currently, the four biggest clubs in Wales are professional clubs in theEnglish Football League between the second and fourth tiers. Those areWrexham,Swansea City,Cardiff City andNewport County. Both Cardiff and Swansea have won domestic cup titles in England and have played in the top division.
Until 2016 the Wales national team rarely qualified for the major international tournaments, with its only appearance in the World Cup occurring in1958. However, they reached the semi-finals ofUEFA Euro 2016 and the last 16 ofUEFA Euro 2020, as well as having qualified for the2022 World Cup. This has led to some players from Wales not being seen at the biggest international tournaments, though many of them have made a name for themselves at club level. Welsh players of note includeTrevor Ford,Cliff Jones,John Charles,Ian Rush,Mark Hughes,Neville Southall,Ryan Giggs,Aaron Ramsey andGareth Bale[5] while in WalesIvor Allchurch,Fred Keenor andJack Kelsey are cherished.[6]
Dragon Park, the Wales National Football Development Centre, is located in Newport.[7][8][9]
As the Welsh domestic league system is not professional, many Welsh people support teams from England or Wales that compete in England. The most supported football club in Wales isLiverpool.[10][11]
The game that would become Association football was first codified in Britain in the mid-19th century, and by the 1860s and 1870s became established in industrial towns inthe Midlands andnorth of England. The north Wales towns ofWrexham andRuabon also adopted the sport in this era.[12]Wrexham A.F.C. is Wales' oldest professional club and the third oldest in the world.[13] This interest led to the formation of theFootball Association of Wales (FAW) in 1876 by Welsh solicitorLlewelyn Kenrick and this was followed in 1877 by the creation of theWelsh Cup.[14] In 1877 the FAW formed the firstWales national football team who played theirfirst game that year, losing 4–0 away toScotland.[15]
The Wrexham area was the centre of football in Wales for the first twenty years, with the south of the country preferring to follow the emerging sport ofrugby union. The first time an international game was held in the south was in 1894, hosted in Swansea, which was the 46th match the Wales team had played. More telling in the north / south divide that existed in the sport was that it was not until the 67th fixture that the first southern player was selected for the national team.[12] The 1890s and early 1900s saw an increase in competitive association football in south Wales, but theTriple Crown success of theWales rugby team in the1893 Home Nations Championship heralded the start of the first "Golden era" of Welsh rugby, culminating in the famousGame of the Century, where a sell out crowd atCardiff Arms Park watched Wales win against the previously undefeatedOriginal All Blacks in 1905, all of which would contribute to rugby union becoming perceived as the primary sport in the area. The modern era of association football in Wales is agreed to have begun during the 1909–10 season when the first of six teams from the south joined theSouthern Football League.[12]Wrexham F.C. had already joined the Birmingham and District League during the 1905–06 season, but the introduction ofSwansea,Newport,Ton Pentre,Merthyr Tydfil,Aberdare andRiverside into the Southern Leagues saw an increase in popularity of the sport in Wales. This was cemented with vital wins in the league and then in 1915, Swansea's surprise win over the then reigning League Champions,Blackburn Rovers F.C. in theFA Cup.
In May 2012 the FAW,Scottish Football Association and theFootball Association of Ireland formally declared an interest in co-hostingUEFA Euro 2020.[16]
The two major trophies for Welsh club teams playing in England are the1927 FA Cup forCardiff City and the2013League Cup trophy forSwansea City.
TheCymru Premier, formerly named the League of Wales and the Welsh Premier League, was founded in 1992 as Wales did not have a national league at that time.[17][18] Teams relegated from the Cymru Premier are either relegated to theCymru North (Northern Wales) or theCymru South (Southern Wales). Originally the Premier league had 18 teams, but from the 2010–11 season onwards there have been only 12, following a proposal by the clubs in the League.[19]
Northern Wales has a league at Tier 2 level—theCymru North, which has a feeder league structure of its own with two regional leagues feeding it—theArdal Leagues North East and North West (covering all of the north including Wrexham). Again, the champions or runners-up of these leagues can be promoted given suitable ground facilities.
Below these third tier leagues are even more localised leagues: in Central Wales there are three leagues feeding into theMid Wales League (covering Ceredigion and Powys, Montgomeryshire, and Mid Wales South areas respectively), while below League One North 1 and 2 there are theNorth Wales Coast East &West leagues' Premier Divisions and theNorth East Wales League's Premier Division, and these even have feeder leagues of their own such as the former's First Divisions and the latter's Championship.
In the south, the Tier 2 level league is theCymru South— which has promotion from the two otherArdal Leagues - South East and South West. This covers the whole of the southern Wales geographical area, and it is not until the fourth tier of the pyramid that local leagues appear. Promotion to, and relegation from the Ardal Leagues is structured, as in the north, on three regional football associations (Gwent FA, South Wales FA, and West Wales FA). Each can send one promoted team into League One.
In the Gwent FA area, there is one senior league, theGwent County League, whose champions (or runners-up) are eligible, if they satisfy FAW criteria. (Below the three divisions of the Gwent County, there are theNewport and District, East Gwent, Central Gwent and North Gwent leagues)
The South Wales FA area has theSouth Wales Alliance League — whereby the champions could be promoted to Ardal Leagues subject to meeting criteria. Below these two leagues are local leagues in the towns and cities of South Wales, the champions of which may play off to be promoted into the South Wales Alliance.
The West Wales FA area has its ownPremier League since its creation before the 2020–21 season and until then that FA was the only one not to have set up a senior league in its area – this means that there are four local leagues (Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath & District) with all their champions potentially having to play-off for the one available promotion place. However, as few west Wales clubs can face the prospect of the travelling implications of moving up to the Premier League, this four-way play-off idea is in theory rather than practice. The latest clubs to gain promotion from this region wereLlansawel in 2006 (from the Neath & District League),West End in 2005 (from the Swansea Senior League),Ystradgynlais in 2004 (from the Neath & District League),Cwmamman United in 2002 (from the Neath & District League) andGarden Village in 1999 (from the Carmarthenshire League).
Swansea City andWrexham currently play in theEFL Championship,Cardiff City play inEFL League One, andNewport County competes inEFL League Two.Merthyr Town currently compete inNational League North, England's Sixth Tier. These five teams have all played in theEnglish football league system since their founding, and all declined the offer to move into the League of Wales, now known as theCymru Premier, when it was founded in 1992.[20] However, the Welsh teamsBangor City,Barry Town,Caernarfon Town,Colwyn Bay,Newtown andRhyl did move into the Welsh league system from the English league system. Welsh teams participating in the English football league system can enter the EnglishFA Cup competition, but not theWelsh Cup.
Welsh teams participating below level 4 of theEnglish football league system are governed by the FAW for disciplinary and administrative matters, whereas Welsh teams at level 4 and above of the English football league system are administered by the English FA for the 2011–12 season onwards.[21]
From 1996 to 2011, the FAW only allowed teams in the Welsh league system to enter theWelsh Cup. Prior to 1996, Welsh teams playing in the English league system were invited to participate along with some English teams located near the Welsh border. As this rule excluded the biggest Welsh clubs from the Welsh Cup, the FAW launched theFAW Premier Cup in the 1997–98 season to include the top Welsh Premier League teams and the top Welsh teams in the English league system. The FAW Premier Cup was discontinued after the 2007–08 season. On 20 April 2011, theFootball Association of Wales invited the six Welsh clubs playing in the English league system to rejoin the Welsh Cup for the 2011–12 season with Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town accepting.[22] The invitation was not offered for the 2012–13 season.
There are also a number of English-based teams in the Welsh leagues, seeList of association football clubs playing in the league of another country.
| Welsh clubs in English leagues | |
|---|---|
| Club | League |
| Swansea City | EFL Championship |
| Wrexham | EFL Championship |
| Cardiff City | EFL League One |
| Newport County | EFL League Two |
| Merthyr Town | National League North |
| Competition | Who Qualifies | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League second qualifying round | Champions ofCymru Premier | |
| UEFA Europa League first qualifying round | Runner-up ofCymru Premier Winner of UEFA Europa League play-off (3–7 place in league) | 8th place will take place of a domestic cup winner who finishes in 3–7 place |
| UEFA Europa League second qualifying round | Winners ofWelsh Cup |
TheWales women's national football team has yet to qualify for aWorld Cup.
In 2024, Wales qualified for theUEFA Women's Euro 2025, which will be held inSwitzerland, after defeating theRepublic of Ireland 2–1. This is the first time Wales has been represented at theEuropean Championship.[23]
| Clubs byFacebook followers in Wales (2017)[10] | |
|---|---|
| Club | Followers |
 Arsenal | 50,000 |
 Cardiff City | 70,000 |
| Chelsea | 57,000 |
| Everton | 40,000 |
| Liverpool | 125,000 |
| Manchester City | 32,500 |
| Manchester United | 95,000 |
| Swansea City | 60,000 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 45,000 |
| West Ham United | 20,000 |
| Clubs byFacebook followers inCardiff (2017)[10] | |
|---|---|
| Club | Followers |
| Arsenal | 7,000 |
| Cardiff City | 25,000 |
| Chelsea | 6,500 |
| Liverpool | 15,000 |
| Manchester United | 12,500 |
| Swansea City | 3,000 |
| Tottenham Hotspur | 5,500 |
| Stadium | Capacity | Tenants | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millennium Stadium | 74,500 | Wales |  |
| Cardiff City Stadium | 26,828 | Cardiff City |  |
| Swansea.com Stadium | 20,520 | Swansea City |  |
| Racecourse Ground | 15,500 | Wrexham | |
| Park Avenue | 5,500 | Aberystwyth |
{{cite news}}:|last= has generic name (help)| United Kingdom |
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|---|---|
| England | |
| Scotland | |
| Wales | |
| Northern Ireland | |
| Gibraltar | |
| Records | |
