| Cymru Leagues | |
| Founded: | 2019 |
| Teams: | 44 |
| Relegation: | Ardal Leagues |
| Levels: | 1 and 2 |
| Domest Cup: | Welsh FA Cup Welsh League Cup |
The Cymru Leagues is an umbrella name for the top two tiers of the Welsh football league system. It consists of the Cymru Premier at Tier 1, as well as the Cymru North and Cymru South at the second tier.
The Cymru Premier 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. 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.[1]
The Cymru North and Cymru South are the two football leagues in Wales that form the second level of the Welsh football league system. They have semi-professional status clubs. The first year of their operation was 2019–20, with the Football Association of Wales owning and administering the Tier 2 leagues for the first time. These changes followed from a review of the Welsh Football Pyramid,[2] where the Tier 2 was called the FAW Championship[3]
The tier is split regionally, with the Cymru North covering clubs playing in northern Wales, and the Cymru South covering clubs playing in southern Wales. The winners of each division are eligible for promotion to the Cymru Premier, 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 Alliance League and the Mid Wales Football League. The Cymru South has relegation to the Tier 3 Welsh Football League Division One.
52 teams applied for Tier 2 certification,[4] 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.[5]
The clubs for the second season were as follows:
See main article: article and Cymru Premier.
The Cymru Premier is a twelve-club league.
See main article: article and Cymru North.
The Cymru North is a sixteen-club league.
See main article: article and Cymru South. The Cymru South is a sixteen-club league.
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 which operated for the first time in the 2021–22 season.
The bottom three teams from each of the tier 2 leagues were relegated.[7]