The Cymru Leagues is an umbrella name for the top two tiers 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 ...

. It consists of the

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. It was found ...

at Tier 1, as well as the

Cymru North The Cymru North is a regional association football, football league in Wales, covering the northern half of the country. It initially had clubs with semi-professional status. Together with the Cymru South, it forms the second tier of the Welsh fo ...

and

Cymru South The Cymru South is a regional association football, football league in Wales, covering the southern half of the country. It initially had clubs with semi-professional status. Together with the Cymru North, it forms the second tier of the Welsh fo ...

at the second tier.

Tier 1

The

is the national

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 of Wales. It has both

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

and

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

status clubs and is at the top of the

. Prior to 2002, the league was known as the League of Wales (LoW), but changed its name as part of a sponsorship deal to the Welsh Premier League. The league has been rebranded as the Cymru Premier for the 2019–20 season.

Tier 2

The

and

are the two

leagues in Wales that form the second level of the

. They have

status clubs. The first year of their operation was 2019–20, with the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; ) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, its Wales women's national football team, correspo ...

owning and administering the Tier 2 leagues for the first time. These changes followed from a review of the Welsh Football Pyramid, where the Tier 2 was called the FAW Championship The tier is split regionally, with the

covering clubs playing in northern Wales, and the

covering clubs playing in southern Wales. The winners of each division are eligible for promotion to the

, subject to the clubs meeting FAW criteria for Tier 1 grounds, playing facilities and financial operations. Relegation from the Cymru North is to three regional based Tier 3 leagues: the

Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) The Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) was a football league in Wales and operated at level 3 and 4 of the Welsh football league system in Flintshire and Wrexham County Borough, but with some teams from Denbighshire (Corwen and Llangollen Town) ...

, 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 ...

and the

Mid Wales Football League The Central Wales Football League ''(formerly the Mid Wales Football League)'' is a football league in Wales at tier four of the Welsh Football pyramid, run by the Central Wales Football Association. The league consists of two regionally based di ...

. The Cymru South has relegation to the Tier 3

Welsh Football League Division One The Welsh Football League Division One, known as the Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was a association football, football league in South Wales. It formed the top division of the Welsh Football League and ...

. 52 teams applied for Tier 2 certification, with teams assessed against a number of infrastructure criteria, including: safety policy and evacuation plan, covered seating, pitch dimensions, dressing room & sanitary facilities. Following the meeting of the FAW's first decision body, 43 clubs were successful in gaining Tier 2 certification.

Member clubs for 2022–23 season

The clubs for the second season were as follows:

Cymru Premier

The Cymru Premier is a twelve-club league. * Aberystwyth Town *

Bala Town Bala Town Football Club () is a Welsh professional football club from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the . They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Although the current Bala Tow ...

* Barry Town United F.C *

Caernarfon Town Caernarfon Town Football Club () is a professional Welsh football club based in Caernarfon, Gwynedd. They play in the . They are nicknamed "the Canaries" because of the club's yellow and green strip, a nickname that dates from 1895. Caernarfon ...

Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay () is a town, Community (Wales), community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic counties of Wales, historic county boundaries of Denbighshire (h ...

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 ...

Haverfordwest County Haverfordwest County Association Football Club () is a Welsh professional football team based in Haverfordwest, Wales. They currently play in the (Welsh top tier) also qualified for UEFA Conference League and UEFA Youth League. The club was fo ...

* Newtown * Pen-y-Bont *

Pontypridd Town Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

The New Saints The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club, commonly known as The New Saints () or TNS FC, are an English professional football club that play in the , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They a ...

Cymru North

The Cymru North is a sixteen-club league. * Airbus UK Broughton * Bangor 1876 * Buckley Town *

Caersws Caersws (; ) is a village and community (Wales), community on the River Severn, in the Wales, Welsh county of Powys; it was formerly in Montgomeryshire. It is located west of Newtown, Powys, Newtown, halfway between Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury. ...

* Chirk AAA *

Denbigh Denbigh ( ; ) is a market town and a community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. It was the original county town of the Denbighshire (historic), historic county of Denbighshire created in 1536. Denbigh's Welsh name () translates to ...

* Flint Town United * Gresford Athletic *

Guilsfield Guilsfield (, "Apiaceae, Hemlock-field") is a village and community (Wales), community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales. It lies beside Guilsfield Brook about three miles north of Welshpool. It is located on the B4392 road and a disused b ...

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 ...

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

* Llanidloes Town * Mold Alexandra *

Porthmadog Porthmadog (), originally Portmadoc until 1972 and known locally as "Port", is a coastal town and community (Wales), community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd, Wales, and the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Caernarfonshire. It li ...

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 ...

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

Cymru South

The Cymru South is a sixteen-club league. *

Afan Lido Sandfields () is a mainly residential district of Port Talbot, Wales. The area is located in South Wales on a narrow coastal plain between Mynydd Dinas and the sea. The M4 motorway, A48 road, A48 trunk road and South Wales Main Line run nearby. ...

Ammanford Ammanford ( ) is a town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire, Wales. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census the community had a population of 5,445, and the wider built up area had a population of 8,285. Ammanford is se ...

* Abergavenny Town * Baglan Dragons * Briton Ferry Llansawel * Caerau (Ely) * Cambrian & Clydach Vale * Carmarthen Town * Cwmbran Celtic * Goytre United * Llanelli Town *

Llantwit Major Llantwit Major () is a town and community (Wales), community in Wales on the Bristol Channel coast. It is one of four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan, with the third largest population (13,366 in 2001) after Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Barry and ...

* Pontardawe Town *

Taffs Well Taff's Well () is a semi-rural village, community and electoral ward located at the south-eastern tip of Rhondda Cynon Taf, north-west of the city centre of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. Known locally as the 'Gates to the Valleys' by some and ...

Trefelin BGC Trefelin Boys & Girls Club, often shortened to Trefelin BGC, is an association football club who play their home games at Ynys Park in Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot, Wales. Their men's team play in the . Trefelin BGC was founded in 1984. Initi ...

Relegation (historical)

Teams relegated from the Cymru North and the Cymru South at the end of the 2019–20 season dropped to the newly-established

Ardal Leagues The Ardal Leagues are a association football, football league in Wales. The word "ardal" translates as "district" in English, with Wales split into four regions at this level. They have clubs with amateur/semi-professional status and sit at the t ...

which operated for the first time in the 2021–22 season. The bottom three teams from each of the tier 2 leagues were relegated.

References

External links

Official site of the JD Cymru Leagues
{{Football in Wales Sports leagues established in 2019 2019 establishments in Wales Football leagues in Wales Professional sports leagues in the United Kingdom