Welsh Football League

The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football league system. Level 3 – the Welsh Football League Division One and level 4 Welsh Football League Division Two. It folded in 2020 after the Football Association of Wales took over the running of tier 3 leagues and the responsibility for tier 4 passed to regional football associations.

Welsh Football League
Founded1904 (1904)
(as "Rhymney Valley League Div. 1")
Folded2020
Country Wales
Number of teams32 (16 in each division)
Level on pyramid1 (1904–1992)
2 (1992–2019)
3 & 4 (1992–2020)
Domestic cup(s)Welsh Cup
Welsh Football League Cup

The Welsh Football League's history stretches back to 1904 when the competition was first formed and Aberdare were crowned first champions of a seven-team First Division. Abergavenny were champions of Division 2 and Trelewis the winners of Division 3.

The first season in 1904–05

In April 1904, the Merthyr Express newspaper reported that a new football league would be formed in addition to the South Wales League which had been in existence since 1891.

This new competition would be named the Rhymney Valley League and the reason for its creation was due to the South Wales League being overly dominated by Cardiff clubs, though the number of teams from Cardiff barely numbered more than a couple in any one season.[1]

Structure

Until 1992 and the formation of the League of Wales, the league operated at the top tier of the Welsh football league system. Between 1992 and 2019, it operated as three divisions, with the winners of Welsh Football League Division One eligible for promotion to the Welsh Premier League. The league comprised 16 teams, with the bottom two relegated to Welsh Football League Division Two[2]

Former divisions
gollark: I AM ON A MPBILE SEVXIE
gollark: VIA MECHANISMS BEYOND YOUR COMPREJENSION
gollark: *NONE* ARW AKDKSAFE
gollark: DUE GLG LYRICPY MODERAGIO ROLR ABUSE
gollark: COMPSRTMENTAL DLSTA 2.3 JNEBKTABLY APPROAJCES

References
  1. "South Wales League History". Welsh Football Data Archive (WFDA). Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
  2. Karel Stokkermans and Roberto Di Maggio (5 July 2018). "Second Level". Wales 2017/18. RSSSF. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.