| Competition: | League of Wales |
| Season: | 1992–93 |
| Winners: | Cwmbran Town (1st title) |
| Relegated: | Llanidloes Town Abergavenny Thursdays |
| Continentalcup1: | Champions League |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | Cwmbran Town (preliminary round) |
| League Topscorer: | Steve Woods (29) |
| Biggest Home Win: | Ebbw Vale 10–0 Briton Ferry Athletic (6 January 1993) |
| Biggest Away Win: | Bangor City 0–6 Hollywell Town (31 October 1992) Abergavenny Thursdays 0–6 Afan Lido (16 January 1993) Llanidloes Town 0–6 Aberystwyth Town (24 April 1993) |
| Highest Scoring: | Ebbw Vale 10–0 Briton Ferry Athletic (6 January 1993) (10 goals) |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 1232 |
| Nextseason: | 1993–94 |
The 1992–93 League of Wales was the inaugural season of the League of Wales, the top division of Welsh football. The League was made up of 20 member clubs that joined from leagues within both the English football league system and Welsh football league system.
The new league was formed for the 1992–93 season. At the time, Wales was unusual in world football in that despite the Football Association of Wales (FAW) being a FIFA member and, along with the other three home nations (England, Northern Ireland and Scotland), holding a permanent seat on the International Football Association Board (IFAB), it did not organise a national league.[1] With African and Asian nations feeling that the FAW were taking advantage of this fact, FAW Secretary General, Alun Evans announced in October 1991 that the new league would start at the beginning of the next season.[2] [3] [4]
There were cross-regional leagues, such as the Cymru Alliance and the Welsh Football League along with the long established National competition, in the form of the Welsh Cup. However it was always felt that organising a national league would prove too difficult, due to the poor transport links between the North and South, combined with the fact that the larger clubs tended to ply their trade in the English football league system. At the time, Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham were playing in The Football League, with Newport County having been relegated at the end of the 1987–88 season. The FAW decided to allow the remaining Football League teams to continue to play in the English system. Of the non-league clubs: Bangor City, Barry Town, Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Tydfil, Newport, Newtown and Rhyl, the FAW gave them the ultimatum of joining the Welsh football league system or continue to play in the English system and be forced to play home games on English soil.[4]
The 'Irate Eight', as they were dubbed by the Welsh press, appealed against this decision arguing that they should continue to play where they wished. However, with the exception of Merthyr Tydfil who were playing in the Football Conference, they were all told that they must join the new league. Of the eight only Bangor City, Newtown and Rhyl decided to join the new league, although Rhyl's application was late meaning they were forced to play in the Cymru Alliance, with the remaining five, dubbed 'The Exiles', would continue to play in the English System.[5] [6] Barry Town, who changed their name to Barri while ground-sharing with Worcester City at St George's Lane, continued to play in the Southern Football League Midland Division along with Newport who were ground-sharing with Gloucester City.[7] [8] Caernarfon Town and Colwyn Bay continued to play in the Northern Premier League, with Caernarfon Town ground-sharing with Curzon Ashton at their Tameside Stadium and Colwyn Bay doing the same with Northwich Victoria at the Drill Field.[9]
As the new league was to top the Welsh football league system, the FAW sought re-organise the Welsh football pyramid, by placing the League of Wales at the top of the pyramid with the largest regional divisions, the Cymru Alliance and the Welsh Football League, being placed below this as feeder leagues. With this in mind the FAW sought to invite clubs from these leagues to become members of the League of Wales. Of the two leagues eight clubs left the Cymru Alliance with ten clubs leaving the Welsh Football League.[10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
| Club | Ground | Manager | Captain | Previous league | Pos. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abergavenny Thursdays | Pen-y-Pound | Welsh Football League National Division | 1st | |||
| Aberystwyth Town | Park Avenue | Tomi Morgan | Welsh Football League National Division | 3rd | ||
| Afan Lido | Afan Lido Sports Ground | David Rees Phil Robinson | Welsh Football League National Division | 8th | ||
| Bangor City | Farrar Road Stadium | Paul Rowlands | Northern Premier League Premier Division | 20th | ||
| Briton Ferry Athletic | Old Road Stadium | Welsh Football League National Division | 2nd | |||
| Caersws | Recreation Ground | Cymru Alliance | 1st | |||
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Halfway Ground | Ray Jones | Cymru Alliance | 6th | ||
| Conwy United | Y Morfa | Cymru Alliance | 5th | |||
| Cwmbran Town | Cwmbran Stadium | Welsh Football League National Division | 7th | |||
| Ebbw Vale | Eugene Cross Park | Welsh Football League National Division | 11th | |||
| Flint Town United | Cae-y-Castell | Cymru Alliance | 4th | |||
| Inter Cardiff | Cardiff Athletics Stadium | Welsh Football League National Division | 12th | |||
| Haverfordwest County | Bridge Meadow Stadium | Welsh Football League National Division | 4th | |||
| Holywell Town | Halkyn Road | Cymru Alliance | 11th | |||
| Llanelli | Stebonheath Park | Alwyn Mainwaring | Welsh Football League National Division | 10th | ||
| Llanidloes Town | Victoria Avenue | 12th | ||||
| Mold Alexandra | Alyn Park | Cymru Alliance | 10th | |||
| Maesteg Park | Tudor Park | Welsh Football League National Division | 6th | |||
| Newtown | Latham Park | Brian Coyne | Northern Premier League Division One | 14th | ||
| Porthmadog | Y Traeth | Cymru Alliance | 3rd |
| Goals | Player | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 39 | Steve Woods | Ebbw Vale |
| 26 | Tim O'Connor | Afan Lido |
| 25 | David O'Gorman | Connah's Quay Nomads |
| Chris Summers | Inter Cardiff | |
| 23 | David Taylor | Conwy United |
| 22 | Francis Ford | Briton Ferry Athletic |
| 21 | Chris Davies | Connah's Quay Nomads |
| 20 | Kevin Morrison | Aberystywth Town |
| 18 | Mitch Patton | Afan Lido |
| 17 | Michael Davies | Aberystwyth Town |
| Ian Howat | Holywell Town |
Source:[28]