The first Welsh club to join the English football Pyramid was Wrexham when they joined and became founding members of The Combination in 1890. The club was founded in 1864 and had spent the previous 36 years playing friendlies and competing in the Welsh Cup which they won twice during that period.
After 4 seasons of mid-table finishes, the club decided to join the Welsh Senior League due to the costs of travelling to the North West of England but re-joined The Combination after 2 seasons due to falling attendances.
Just two years later, Rhyl and Bangor City also joined The Combination, having spent the preceding years competing in the Welsh Amateur leagues and the Welsh Cup, but both clubs re-joined the Welsh football pyramid following the winding up of the competition at the conclusion of the 1910-11 season.
The turn of the 20th century sparked a wave of Welsh clubs joining the English football pyramid as no fewer than 6 clubs joined between 1906 and 1913. Although many clubs left after a few years and yo yoed between the two pyramids, roughly 10 teams spent most of the 20th century in the English Pyramid including the likes of Cardiff and Swansea but the formation of the League of Wales in 1992 would lead to a number of Welsh clubs leaving the English Pyramid.
Before 1992, Wales had no National League and the top two divisions in the Welsh Football Pyramid were the Cymru Alliance for the North and the Welsh Football League for the South.
In 1991, the Football Association of Wales CEO Alun Evans formed the League of Wales. One of the reasons for its formation was due to the FAW’s fears that they’d lose their seat on the IFAB board along with the ‘home nation’ FAs.
Another reason was the improved transport infrastructure. In the early 20th century, most clubs found it easier to travel east to places such as Bristol, Birmingham and the North West than North or South through the midlands of Wales.
At the time there were 11 Welsh teams in the English Football Pyramid, 3 in the Football League and 8 in non-league. The FAW decided to let the 3 football league clubs (Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham) remain in their respective divisions but requested that the other 8 teams, dubbed the ‘irate 8’ by the media, join the new League of Wales.
Bangor City, Newtown and Rhyl agreed to join the Welsh football pyramid in time for the 1992-93 season and the FAW issued the remaining 5 clubs Newport, Colwyn Bay, Merthyr Town, Barry Town and Caernarfon Town with an ultimatum.
Join the League of Wales and remain in their current stadiums or continue playing in the English Pyramid and be exiled.
All five clubs accepted exile and games were played just over the English-Welsh border at Worcester City’s St George's Lane and Gloucester City's Meadow Park. Barry Town succumbed to the pressure of the FAW and joined the League Of Wales after one season.
The 4 remaining clubs were the victors of a court ruling in 1995 that allowed them to return to their stadiums in Wales but still play in the English Football Pyramid. Even though they were allowed to return to The Oval, Caernarfon Town decided to join the League of Wales due to the club’s poor performances in the English Leagues.
In 2013, Swansea City won the League Cup after beating Bradford City 5-0. Swansea were concerned that they wouldn’t qualify for the Europa League, one of the prizes for winning the League or FA Cup, but UEFA assured both Swansea and Cardiff that they’d still qualify for the Europa or Champions League if won the required cup or finished in the necessary league position.
In February 2019, Colwyn Bay announced their intention to re-join the Welsh Pyramid for the 2019-20 season after 35 years in the English Pyramid and revealed that they planned to hold talks with the Welsh FA over the following weeks. Bill Murray, the club’s chairman, said that in order for the club to remain competitive they’d need £100,000 more revenue per year.
The club told supporters they had three options; 1) Stay as we are and see the club die. 2) Stay in England on a drastically reduced budget and slide further down the pyramid. 3) Start again in local Welsh Football and look to re-build from there to possibly challenge for Welsh Premier status in three or four years.
On 11th March, Bill Murray announced that the club had formally applied to join the Welsh football pyramid following a vote by the shareholders where leave won by 91,600 share votes to 55,624. Two weeks after the vote, the FAW announced that they had accepted Colwyn Bay’s application, adding that they’d start the 2019/20 season in the newly formed “Tier Two League”.
Colwyn Bay’s exit left just 5 Welsh clubs in the English pyramid.
Correction: Merthyr should be pronounced "Mer-tha", not "Mer-thire"
