By Webmaster/Rheolwr y Wefan
March 14 2003

Bangor fan Livzy talks us through his thoughts on the future of the Welsh pyramid in his latest 'moiderings'. With new, stricter UEFA guidelines looming, should the Welsh Premier be increased or decreased in size? So the English Pyramid is considering a serious re-vamp to the “non-league” structure. A Conference Premier on top and Conference One (North and South) followed by regional feeder leagues. Big change – big shake up – and, potentially, a lifeline for the (more or less) relegated Colwyn Bay.

Not really of great interest to me but if the English FA can change the way 90+ clubs operate, why on earth cant the FAW look at the Welsh Premier and improve things for the member clubs? At a recent meeting it was decided that the League be reduced to 14 clubs. This figure was arrived at completely arbitrarily. UEFA wanted 10. Others wanted 20 so the “committee” decided on 14 as a compromise. Fair enough but how on earth will that work? A league of ten can play each other four times to give 38 league matches. (4 more than we currently play).

20 teams play each other twice to give 38 again. But 14? Play each other twice and its only 26 matches – that’s a third less than now. Play each other three times and its 39 matches but you then have the added hassle of who plays two “homes” in season one. It could be possible that a club would end up with more away games than home ones – actually playing only one-in-three at home. Could any WP side reduce its income by 33% and survive? In my view the League now has an obvious choice – either extend the Welsh Premier to 20 or reduce down to 10.

People often say that Scotland is the best reason NOT to go to a ten-team league but, in my view, they are a shining example. Yes, its dominated by the Old Firm and everybody else is playing for third place or a good Cup run, but is that really any different to the Welsh Premier with 15 semi-professional side and only two full-timers? Wouldn’t the football improve with teams facing each other more often? Wouldn’t managers get to be m ore tactically aware knowing their opposition better? Wouldn’t player be better equipped to adapt their game having played against their opposite numbers more often?

On the other side of the argument is extending to 20 sides playing in the top flight. Wouldn’t that benefit the feeder leagues as, initially at least, there would be extra promotion slots available? Wouldn’t it benefit the supporters who could visit more Welsh towns and villages to follow their team’s away trips? Wouldn’t it benefit the league as a whole that football was being played at the highest level in more areas of the country? It’s a tough one to call but my vote goes either way. The one place it definitely doesn’t go is to the random, quizzically decided upon number fourteen. Once again the FAW/WP needs to take a step back and think, really think, about their choices before putting the proverbial pen to paper.