Soccer in Wales
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Soccer (football) is a popular sport in Wales. In south Wales rugby union has historically been more popular, but recently soccer has overtaken it as the most popular sport in Wales.[1]
The sport first established itself in Wales in the 1860s, in the area around Wrexham. Wrexham AFC, formed in 1864, are the oldest club in Wales that still exists today.
In 1876 the Football Association of Wales (FAW) was formed to better organise Welsh soccer, and the next year the Welsh Cup competition was created. It took until 1893-94 for any south Wales team to play in the Welsh Cup, with Cardiff losing 4-1 in their game against Ironbridge.[2]
Over time the top Welsh teams were driven away from Welsh leagues and towards English competition. The Southern Football League featured many Welsh teams, including Cardiff City and Swansea City who both joined the Football League in 1920, and remain the two biggest teams in Wales today. Newport County and Merthyr Town also joined in the same year, as the Football League expanded to include lots of Southern League teams, but had less success. Two more Welsh teams, Wrexham and Aberdare Athletic joined the League in 1921. Aberdare left in 1927 but the other 5 remain in English football to the present day.
It took until 1992 for a national league to be formed in Wales, and when the League of Wales finally was formed it didn't include the best teams in Wales, as they still played in English leagues. Smaller clubs like Bangor City and Barry Town transferred from English non-league into the Welsh system in the next few years, but the bigger teams remained in the higher-level English system. Colwyn Bay finally returned to Welsh football in 2019.[3] In 2025 the FAW offered Merthyr Town £6 million to join the Welsh leagues,[4] but they rejected the offer, preferring to remain in the more competitive English leagues.
Currently the top league in Wales, now known as the Cymru Premier, is dominated by The New Saints. TNS are actually based in Oswestry, just over the border in England. This all makes a very unique situation, where the best Welsh teams play in English leagues, and the best Welsh league team is from England. As a result few fans support teams in the Welsh league system, instead supporting the Welsh teams in English leagues, or big Premier League teams near the border such as Liverpool and Everton.