Wales Manager Travel Guide

The Welsh Premier League has produced some high calibre players in recent years, most notably Mark Delaney who has made more than 150 appearances for Aston Villa in the Premiership and Swansea City's star striker Lee Trundle. There have also been a number of Welsh Premier League players who have gone on to forge good careers in the lower divisions of the English Football League.

History

Founded in 1992, the Welsh Premier League immediately proved controversial as a number of clubs already playing in the English pyramid system including Football League clubs Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham and a number of non-league clubs refused to join. The FAW took sanctions against the non-league clubs forcing them to play their home games in England until a High Court decision in 1995 made them abandon this policy; by this time however all Welsh non-league clubs bar Newport AFC (now Newport County), Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay had opted to join the Welsh Premier League.

Historically Barry Town are by far the most successful team in the leagues short history having claimed 7 of the 14 titles on offer since 1992, including 4 in succession between 1996 and 1999. However, financial problems led to their relegation from the league in 2004, and since then TNS, bolstered by healthy financial backing, have become the team to beat. TNS (known originally as Total Network Solutions, but now called The New Saints) have been run close in recent years by Rhyl, who were champions in 2004. Llanelli, now managed by former Wales star Peter Nicholas, are also regular challengers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly Welsh League clubs have made little impact in Europe. Only Barry Town have ever progressed beyond the 1st qualifying round of the Champions Cup when they defeated FC Shamkir of Azerbaijan in 2001-02. They were defeated by FC Porto 9-3 on aggregate in the next round but their 3-1 win in the home leg of this tie (after an 8-0 reverse in the away leg) ranks as the finest win by any Welsh League side in Europe.

Barry are also the only Welsh club to qualify for the first round proper of the EURO Cup. They knocked out Dinaburg of Latvia and Budapest Vasutas of Hungary before finally succumbing to Aberdeen 6-4 on aggregate in the 1996-97 competition.

In recent years the overall performance of Welsh clubs in Europe has increased with Rhyl, Carmarthen and Llanelli all winning ties in the EURO Cup in the last two seasons.

Competitions

The current league structure sees the 18 clubs each playing twice over the course of the season home and away with the League Champions entering the Champions Cup, the runner up entering the EURO Cup and the third place side entering the EURO Vase. The bottom two sides are relegated.

The other competitions open to Welsh clubs are the Welsh Cup, the League Cup and the Premier Cup. The Welsh cup is one of the oldest cup competitions in the world, having first been played in season 1877-78. Originally it was open to all Welsh clubs and some English clubs in the border regions (Bristol City and Shrewsbury have both won the competition in the past), however only clubs playing in the Welsh league system are now permitted to enter. The winner of the Welsh Cup is granted a place in the EURO cup. The Premier Cup is open to the top 11 clubs in the welsh league and all Welsh clubs playing in the English Leagues (Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Newport County, Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay) while the League Cup is open to those clubs in the Welsh Premier League.

Which Club to Manage?

TNS, Llanelli and Rhyl are the only full-time professional clubs in the League giving them the big advantage over the rest in terms of attracting, retaining and improving talent. While there are no restrictions on signing foreign players in the Welsh Premier League, you may find it difficult in attracting overseas players to your club. One exception to this is Llanelli who have signed three Spanish players to boost their squad. Of the other sides Aberystwyth, Bangor and Haverfordwest are well supported and have squads that could challenge for a European place.

It may surprise those unfamiliar with the Welsh Premier League to learn that there isn't a single club from the three major cities (Cardiff, Swansea and Newport) playing in the league, largely because of the stranglehold of the three English league clubs in those cities. Cardiff has been represented by Inter Cardiff and Grange Quins in the past, but both clubs have since dropped out of the league.

Players

As a Welsh Premier League manager you will largely be relying on free transfers to build your squad, here are some of the best that may be available to you (players position in brackets, players available on small database or larger):

David Blower (GK)
Karl Ready (DC)
Mark Jones (DL)
Gary Last (AMC)
Tony Bird (ST)

Some of the best players already in the league are:
Lee Kendall (Haverfordwest, GK)
Gerard Doherty (The New Saints, GK)
Gary Lloyd (Llanelli DL, DM)
Tommy Holmes (The New Saints, GK)
Bari Morgan (Aberystwyth, MRC)
Simon Davies (Rhyl, MLC)
Nathan Wood (Carmarthen ST)
Graham Evans (Caersws ST)
James Thomas (Llanelli ST)

One important piece of advice for any Welsh Premier League manager is to keep an eye on young players who are given free transfers by English Premier Division and Championship clubs at the end of your first season. You may be able to greatly enhance your squad by picking up some real bargains here.

In short, if you are looking for a real Football Manager challenge where you will have to rely on all your managerial skills rather than falling back on a large budget and highly paid staff, then the Welsh Premier League is for you.

Author: Jonathan French