The Clwyd Football League was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league formed in 1974 as an amalgamation of the Dyserth League and the Halkyn Mountain League. The top division was at different periods at the second, third and fourth levels of the

Welsh football league system The Welsh football league system (or League system, pyramid) is a series of association football, football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. It consists of four main tiers, as well as lower local leagues. While most W ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. The league ran until 2011 when a split led to the formation of the Clwyd East Football League comprising

Flintshire Flintshire () is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, the Dee Estuary to the north-east, the English county of Cheshire to the east, Wrexham County Borough to the south, and Denbighshire to the west. ...

teams under the North East Wales Football Association and the

Vale of Clwyd and Conwy Football League The Vale of Clwyd and Conwy Football League () was a football league formed in 2011 following the split of the Clwyd Football League, which itself was formed in 1974 as an amalgamation of the Dyserth League and the Halkyn Mountain League. The P ...

, made up of Denbighshire, Conwy county and Vale of Conwy sides, under the North Wales Coast Football Association.

History of league formation

The Clwyd Football League was proposed in February 1974 as an amalgamation of the Dyserth, and the Halkyn Mountain Leagues. Both these leagues were operating at division three level in the North Wales and the new format was intended to have division two status, which no league in the area then enjoyed. The newly named Clwyd Football League was set up in time for the 1974-75 season with 10 clubs being accepted, lower than the intended 14 - they were: *

Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Nomads Football Club () is a Welsh professional association football, football club based in Connah's Quay, Flintshire. They play in the . The club was founded in 1946 as Connah's Quay Juniors and adopted the Connah's Quay Nomads ...

*Courtaulds Flint * Courtaulds Greenfield * Denbigh Town * Flint Town United *Point of Ayr *

Prestatyn Town Prestatyn Town Football Club () is a Welsh professional football club based in Prestatyn, Denbighshire. They play in the . History Early years Records show that football has been played in Prestatyn since the early 1890s with games being playe ...

*Rhyl Wanderers * Saltney Social *Summers Sports The inaugural champions were Prestatyn Town. At the league AGM in June 1975, a further proposal was put forward to allow smaller clubs from the Dyserth and Halkyn Mountain Leagues to be given a new incentive to join the leagues, with the bigger clubs moving up to the Clwyd Premier League. The amalgamation of the Dyserth, Halkyn and Flintshire Youth Leagues was proposed to be embraced by the Clwyd Premier League within five divisions. A further meeting was convened at Courtaulds Greenfield FC on 10 July. Of the 30 clubs present, 25 voted for the amalgamation with three against. Four divisions were agreed upon with the second and third divisions being made up of clubs from the Halkyn Mountain and Dyserth Leagues and the existing Clwyd Premier League clubs forming the top tier. The Flintshire Youth League would form the basis of the fourth division restricted to under-18 players. Approval was then sought from the parent League – the

Welsh National League (North) The Welsh National League (North) was a football league in north and central Wales which formed the first level of the Welsh football league system between 1921 and 1930, and was part of a short-lived plan to create a national football league in ...

– at their AGM on Saturday 12 July and permission was unanimously granted. At a meeting took place in

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

on the 24 July to formulate the league. The number of clubs prepared to participate in the new league had reached 45 and they were asked to formally adopt the constitution of the new body. It was agreed that the Clwyd Premier League would become Division Two, with the

being Division One, and limited to 12 clubs. Division Three would also be limited to 12 clubs, made up of the top six clubs in each of the Dyserth and Halkyn Leagues. Division Four would have unlimited membership and include the remaining Dyserth and Halkyn clubs plus any new applicants. Division Five, the youth division, would also be unlimited with the Flintshire Youth League clubs forming the initial membership plus any new applicants. . Dyserth League clubs formally accepted membership of the new league at a special meeting on the 29 July at Rhyl FC. A proposal by Pilkingtons FC, seconded by St Asaph City, that the Dyserth League be formally disbanded was adopted.

Geographic area

The boundaries of the league stretched eastwards along the North Wales coast as far as the English border at

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

, covering the whole of

, parts of

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

, and

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

Promotion and relegation

All new clubs who joined the league normally entered Division One, or Two, although there were some exceptions when the Vale of Conwy League was functional, the champions, or the runners up were admitted to the Premier Division. Clubs being promoted from Division 1 (normally the top two), were subject to ground criteria, and dressing rooms must have been on site, and the playing area must have a spectator rail, or at least be roped off during matches. One team from the top two in the Premier Division could be promoted to the

Welsh Alliance League The Welsh Alliance Football League (formerly the ''Lock Stock Welsh Alliance Football League'', for sponsorship reasons) was a football league formed in 1984, and discontinued in 2020 following the reorganisation of the Welsh football pyramid for ...

League Champions

The following clubs were the senior champions of the league during its duration. Some of the leagues records are missing - tables for four years (1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87 and 1987–88) are missing. It has been suggested that this is due to two league officials falling out and blaming the other for the omissions.

1970s

*1974–75: –

*1975–76: –

*1976–77: – Courtaulds Greenfield *1977–78: – Courtaulds Greenfield *1978–79: – Flint Town United *1979–80: –

1980s

*1980–81: –

*1981–82: –

*1982–83: –

*1983–84: –

*1984–85: – Pilkingtons (St Asaph) *1985–86: – United Services *1986–87: –

Holywell Town Holywell Town Football Club () is a Welsh football club from Holywell, Flintshire. They are nicknamed 'The Wellmen', and play their home games at the Bartons North Wales Stadium (commonly known as 'Halkyn Road'), Holywell. They currently pla ...

*1987–88: –

*1988–89: – Mostyn *1989–90: –

reserves

1990s

*1990–91: – Connah's Quay Albion *1991–92: – Llandyrnog United *1992–93: – St Asaph City *1993–94: – Flint Town United reserves *1994–95: – Halkyn United *1995–96: – Saltney Community Centre *1996–97: – Colwyn Bay Y.M.C.A. *1997–98: – Rhyl Delta *1998–99: –

*1999–2000: – Abergele Town

2000s

*2000–01: –

Rhydymwyn ) is a village in Flintshire, Wales, located in the upper Alyn valley. Once a district of Mold, it was recognised as a separate parish from 1865. It is now part of the community of Cilcain. Geography The geology of the area consists of a layer ...

*2001–02: – Sealand Leisure *2002–03: –

Rhyl Rhyl (; , ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire in Wales. The town lies on the coast of North Wales, at the mouth of the River Clwyd. To the west is Kinmel Bay and Towyn, to the east Prestatyn, and to the south-east Rhuddlan ...

third team *2003–04: –

third team *2004–05: – ABS Sports *2005–06: – Castle Rhuddlan *2006–07: –

reserves *2007–08: –

reserves *2008–09: –

reserves *2009–10: – Abergele Rovers

2010s

*2010–11: – Abergele Rovers

References

{{Football in Wales 5 1974 establishments in Wales Sports leagues established in 1974 Sports leagues disestablished in 2011 2011 disestablishments in Wales Defunct football competitions in Wales