The Welsh football league system (or

pyramid A pyramid () is a structure whose visible surfaces are triangular in broad outline and converge toward the top, making the appearance roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be of any polygon shape, such as trian ...

) is a series of

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 ...

leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. It consists of four main tiers, as well as lower local leagues. While most Welsh clubs play in the Welsh pyramid and most clubs in that pyramid are Welsh, five Welsh clubs play in English leagues, and four English clubs play in Welsh leagues.

Structure of Welsh football

Tier 1: Cymru Premier

At the top is 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 ...

, which is the only national league in Wales and is run by 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 ...

Tier 2: Cymru North and Cymru South

Since 2019–20, the

runs the second tier for the first time after a review of the Welsh league pyramid. Tier 2 is split into a north and central Wales league,

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 a corresponding league for south Wales,

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 ...

. The champions of each of these leagues can be promoted to the Cymru Premier, subject to acceptable ground facilities, and if the champions cannot meet the criteria the runner-up team may be considered. The Cymru North replaced the

Cymru Alliance The Cymru Alliance League (known for sponsorship reasons as Huws Gray Alliance) was a association football, football league in North Wales, north and Mid Wales, central Wales which formed the second level of the Welsh football league system. Fro ...

whilst the Cymru South incorporated most of the clubs of the then-highest division of the Welsh Football League.

Tier 3: Ardal Leagues

Since the 2020–21 season, the

has run the third tier after a review of the Welsh league pyramid. Tier 3, called the

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 ...

is split into a Northern and Southern League, with each league divided into two regionally based divisions, giving North East, North West, South East and South West leagues, each consisting of a maximum of 16 clubs. In an attempt to avoid dividing the current Mid-Wales teams across all four leagues, the North-East league contains a large contingent of the Mid-Wales teams. The North-West league contains the sides near the North Wales coast. To be eligible to join the league, clubs need to meet the criteria for FAW tier 3 certification. The Ardal Leagues structure replaces the former tier 3 leagues: Welsh Football League Division One, Mid Wales Football League Division One, Welsh Alliance League Division 1 and the Welsh National League Premier Division, leagues based in South Wales, Mid Wales, North West Wales and North East Wales respectively. There are three relegated clubs from each of the tier 3 leagues at the end of each season.

Tier 4: Area leagues

Below this are six local tier 4 leagues, each run by one of the area associations of Welsh football: * Central Wales League (run by Central Wales Football Association) * North East Wales Football League Premier Division (run by North East Wales Football Association) * North Wales Coast East Football League Premier Division and North Wales Coast West Football League Premier Division (run by North Wales Coast Football Association) * Gwent County League Premier Division (run by Gwent County Football Association) * West Wales Premier League (run by the West Wales Football Association) * South Wales Alliance League Premier Division (run by South Wales Football Association) The winners of each league are eligible for promotion to the Ardal Leagues subject to meeting FAW tier 3 certification. In the event that winners do not meet the criteria, the runner-up is also eligible for promotion, again subject to meeting the same tier 3 certification requirements.

Lower tier leagues

North Wales

Below the North Wales Coast East and

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

there are Division One leagues at tier 5 and North East Wales Football League has a championship division, also at tier 5.

Central Wales

In this area there are three leagues at tier 5 - the Ceredigion League, the Montgomeryshire League, and the Aberystwyth League. These offer promotion to the tier 4 Mid Wales League East and West divisions.

South Wales

Local leagues are affiliated to Gwent County FA, South Wales FA, and West Wales FA respectively, with promotion up the pyramid possible. In the Gwent County FA Area, clubs from the Newport and District, East Gwent, Gwent Central and North Gwent leagues have a promotion pathway to Division Two of the Gwent County League (tier 6). Champions (or runners-up) of these leagues are eligible for promotion if they satisfy FAW criteria. The South Wales Alliance League offers a promotion pathway to leagues affiliated to the South Wales Football Association. Champions of local leagues in the towns and cities of South Wales play off to be promoted into the South Wales Alliance Division Two (tier 6), subject to meeting licensing requirements. The West Wales FA area has had its own

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

since its creation in 2020, having previously having been the only FA area to not have one. Promotion to this tier 4 league is possible from the champions of the

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Swansea Senior and Neath & District Leagues, subject to meeting FAW licensing requirements. The top divisions of each of these leagues are at tier 5.

Current system (until 2025-26)

From the 2023-24 season, the following structure will follow. For each division, its official name and number of clubs is given:

New system (From 2026-27 onwards)

From the 2026-27 season, the following structure will follow. For each division, its official name and number of clubs is given:

External links

''Welsh Football Magazine''s page on the Welsh Pyramid
(archived 1 November 2009)

References

{{League systems Football leagues in Wales

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...