My idea is to have the English league sides such as Cardiff City, Wrexham Swansea City Newport and Merthy Tydfil in the Welsh league but allow English sides from the Welsh - English borders into the league. So that clubs such as Hereford, Shrewsbury, Chester etc could join. At present Welsh sides do poorly in Europe as the English based sides refuse to play in the league is to get Welsh marches sides into the league. Currently a small number of teams based in Wales play in the English leagues, of which Cardiff City and Swansea City are in the Football League. Other teams that play in the English leagues are Wrexham, Newport County, Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay. I would like to put all of these teams in the Welsh league. Now the problem is that these clubs to do not want to play in a league that gets attendances of a few 100 instead of playing in a league where the teams get thousands watching their matches. But if we invite English sides from Welsh borders, into the league, with the Welsh sides, (based in the English league) from the old Welsh Marches that would mean a few larger sides in the league. That would surely be an attractive proposition for the teams to play in.
The Council of Wales, based at Ludlow Castle, was reconstituted as the Council of Wales and the Marches, with statutory responsibilities for the whole of Wales together with, initially, Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire.
Now obviously we would struggle to get clubs that get into the championship into the Welsh league, but say clubs like Chester or Shrewsbury that are never going to do much in the English league, they may want to play in the Welsh league. As they could win Welsh cups, Welsh league cups, the Welsh league and play in Europe.
The target clubs to attract to the Welsh league from England would be A) the Welsh clubs in the league and B) small clubs in the Welsh marches that are not big enough to do much in England but big enough to make an impact in Welsh Marches league.
So this would be
Welsh sides in English league to invite
A) Cardiff, Wrexham, Swansea, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr, Newport
B) English sides from the Welsh Marches
The major clubs to bring in
Chester City, Shrewsbury Town, Gloucester City A.F.C, Hereford United Football Club
Big towns in the English countruis in the Welsh Marches
Cheshire
Big towns in Cheshire
Ceremonial county District Centre of administration Other Towns or Cities
Cheshire Cheshire East (unitary) Sandbach Alsager, Bollington, Crewe, Congleton, Knutsford, Macclesfield, Middlewich, Nantwich, Wilmslow
Cheshire West and Chester (unitary) Chester Ellesmere Port, Frodsham, Malpas, Neston, Northwich, Winsford
Halton (borough) (unitary) Widnes Runcorn
Warrington (borough) (unitary) Warrington (none)
So in Cheshire, Chester City, Runcorn, Macclesfield could all join.
Big Towns in Shropshire
Telford, Shrewsbury, Wellington, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Newport, Ludlow, Market Drayton, Whitchurch, Shifnal, Bayston Hill, Wem
So towns that would be big enough to join could be Telford, Shewsbury, Wellington, and Oswerstry already have a side.
Big towns in Herefordshire
The major settlements in the county include Hereford, which is the county town and Herefordshire's only city, as well as the towns of Leominster, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Kington and Bromyard.
So Hereford United could be a good side to bring in, with maybe Leominister.
Big towns in Worcestershire
The county town and only city is Worcester. The other major settlements, Kidderminster, Bromsgrove and Redditch are satellite towns of Birmingham. There are also several market towns: Malvern, Bewdley, Evesham, Droitwich Spa, Pershore, and Tenbury Wells.
So big towns to bring into the league from here couold be Worcester City F.C, Kidderminster Harriers F.C, Redditch United F.C, Malvern Town FC
Big towns in Gloucestershire
Cheltenham, Cirencester, Gloucester
So just Cheltenham Town, Cirenchester and Gloucester City A.F.C. from Gloucestershire
Also the other borders sides such as Bristol City, and Bristol Rovers, and Tranmere Rovers could be invited to.
So imagine the Welsh sides and Chester City, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Telford, Shewsbury, Wellington, Hereford United, Leominister, Worcester City FC, Kidderminster Harriers F.C, Redditch United F.C, Malvern Town FC, Cheltenham Town, Cirenchester and Gloucester City AFC could all join the league with Cardiff, Swansea, Colwyn Bay, Newport and Merthyr. Plus possibly Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Bath, and Tranmere Rovers. that would surely equal a strong league that could attract sponsors and interest, and do well in Europe.
An ideal target could be a 20 team league of
1. Cardiff
2. Swansea
3. Colwyn Bay
4. Newport
5. Merthyr
6. Wrexham
7. Cheltenham Town
8. Kidderminster Harriers F.C
9. Hereford United
10. Telford
11. Gloucester City
12. Cheltenham Town
13. Chester City
14. Macclesfield
15. Runcorn
16. Rhyl
17. Bangor City
18. Llanelli
19. TNS
20. Carmarthen Town
A league to match any in Europe. Plus we could have Bristol City, Bristol Rovers too.
I had this idea on the 21st of July 2009, but have decided to write it up on the 23rd of July 2009, then today I posted it on my blog.
Record League Champions of 2009
Rank Club Titles Years
1 Barry Town 7 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003
2 Total Network Solutions/The New Saints 4 2000, 2005, 2006, 2007
3 Bangor City 2 1994, 1995
3 Rhyl 2 2004, 2009
4 Cwmbran Town 1 1993
4 Llanelli 1 2008
isle of man houses
