JD Cymru Premier 2019 - 2020
The Welsh Premier League has been rebranded as part of a restructuring of the top two tiers of Welsh Football. The FA of Wales has taken control of the Huws Gray Alliance and the Welsh League First Division and rebranded them as Cymru North and Cymru South respectively. Next season the FAW will take over the third tier which will be restructured into four regional divisions as part of an overarching plan to even out the imbalance between different regions, inconsistencies in promotion and relegation and reduce lengthy travel times in the lower tiers.
Llanelli Town and Llandudno were relegated last season and their places are taken by Airbus UK Broughton and Pen-y-Bont. Bangor City, who lost their Tier 1 licence last year narrowly avoided being relegated again after a 42-point penalty for yet more off-the-field irregularities was halved on appeal, resulting in their staying up on goal difference. An arbitration hearing later found in favour of the club and the remaining 21 point deduction was reversed. Supporters, frustrated at the mismanagement of their fine old club have formed Bangor 1876.
The Cymru Premier logo is the property of the FAof Wales. Crests are the property of the respective clubs.
The club usually retain one of their strips for two seasons but this time round they have replaced both sets. The population of the town is 16,200 half of whom are students so it is appropriate that the university now sponsors the teams' shirts.
The Wing Makers are back in the top tier after two seasons having won the Huws Gray Alliance title as well as the League Cup.
Bala have stayed with the same combinations of colour for their strips but updated them to the latest Macron design.
Barry finished third last season to earn a place in the Europa League Preliminary Round, their first European adventure since 2003. The first leg against Cliftonville was played at the Cardiff International Athletics Arena after Barry's artificial pitch failed to meet FIFA standards. The match ended goal-less but Barry lost the return leg in Belfast 4-0. Last season's change shirt was worn in this match.
Caernarfon had a good first season back in the top tier, finishing fourth but didn't make it through the European play-offs. Their attractive yellow and green kit is kept for another season and a smart black alternative has been introduced.
After coming agonisingly close last season, the students succeeded in becoming the first university side to qualify for European competition, beating Bala Town on penalties in the play-off final last season. After losing 1-0 to Progrès Niederkorn in the first leg they built a 2-0 lead in the return only for the Luxembourgers to score a late goal to go through on away goals.
Carmarthen had three points deducted last season for playing an ineligible player but it made no difference to the final standings (they finished ninth, five points behind Aberystwyth). Kappa have replaced Legea and provided a shirt in a proper shade of old gold. The hooped change shirt is quite a departure.
The Ancients have two bespoke strips this season: their traditional black and white stripes are embellished with red pinstripes while the red away strip is modelled on the classic Admiral strip worn by the national team in the Seventies.
The Nomads finished as runners up last season and met Kilmarnock
in the Europa League, recording a remarkable 3-2 aggregate win after overcoming a 2-1 home defeat. Partizan Belgrade proved too strong for them in following round. The team are wearing very basic Nike kit this season.
Eight titles in a row plus the Welsh Cup marked yet another successful season for TNS. Their European campaign involved trips to Kosovo, Copenhagen and Bulgaria where it ended and all before the domestic season kicked off. Revenue from these matches ensures the club can afford to remain the only fully professional side in the Welsh pyramid. Their new hooped shirt has fine diagonal green lines printed into the white bands giving the top a two-tone effect that looks odd. The blue change strip is very similar to last season's version.
As last season, red is first choice and bright yellow is the change option, both in Errea's Lucas design.
Pen-y-Bont were formed in 2013 by the merger of Bridgend Town (formed 1920) and Bryntirion Athletic (formed 1956). They play at Bryntirion Park which was improved using some of the £1m profits from the sale of Bridgend Town's old ground. They were placed in the Welsh League First Division (second tier) and in 2015 successfully applied for a Premier League licence. Last season they won the Welsh League championship with 20 points to spare to take their place in the top tier for the first time. Yellow has been added to their shirts this season to reflect the corporate colours of their main sponsor. Incidentally the owner of Nathaniel Cars is an enthusiastic collector and many of his framed football and rugby shirts are on display in the Bridgend showroom.