Cymru Premier
Seven teams have won the competition since its inception: TNS (16), Barry Town United (7), Bangor City (3), Connah's Quay Nomads (2), Rhyl (2).[3] At the time, despite the FAW being a FIFA and UEFA member it had not previously organised a national league, only the Welsh Cup.Prior to the inaugural season, Bangor City, Newtown and Rhyl agreed to play in the League of Wales.Colwyn Bay continued in the English pyramid for a further 24 years before transferring to the Welsh pyramid in 2019, leaving only two of the Irate Eight remaining - Newport County, who won promotion to the Football League in 2013, and Merthyr Town, the successor club to Merthyr Tydfil following its liquidation in 2010.In 2008, Wrexham were relegated from the Football League and after an absence of 15 years, returned through automatic promotion at the end of the 2022–23 season.[5][6] Some have called for all Welsh teams to be recruited into Cymru Premier, but in particular the lower ranked Merthyr Town as they are in the English non-league setup.[5] An online poll by Y Clwb Pêl-droed on Twitter found 56.7% in favour of Merthyr Town joining the Welsh football system.[8][9] In September 2024, the FAW confirmed the new league format would start in the 2026/27season and would consist of 16 teams each playing each other home and away before being split into three tiers of six, four and six clubs.The 2009–10 season saw Bala Town promoted to the Welsh Premier League after they won the Cymru Alliance in 2008–09.If one of the five teams has already qualified for Europe by winning the JD Welsh Cup, then the remaining four sides will contest the Playoffs directly from the Semi-Final stage.Results in Europe have been mixed – some notable successes, such as Barry Town's run to the first round proper of the UEFA Cup, drawing 3–3 with Aberdeen at Jenner Park, Bangor City's win over FC Sartid of Yugoslavia and Barry's 3–1 victory over FC Porto in the UEFA Champions League (albeit losing 3–9 on aggregate), stand alongside some heavy defeats, such as The New Saints' 12–1 aggregate defeat to Amica Wronki of Poland.In August 2024 The New Saints became the first club from Wales' top flight to enter the group stage of a European competition, when they beat FK Panevezys 3–0 on aggregate to qualify for the UEFA Conference League.For the first four seasons of the league's existence, its results were not featured on the Press Association's vidiprinter service and consequently had not appeared on the BBC's Final Score or Sky's Soccer Saturday.Sgorio took over the "Clwb Pêl-droed" slot previously produced by the BBC and in 2010/11 the half-hour highlights programme was dropped in favour of one live game per week.Weekly highlights of all league games are shown on S4C on a Monday night at 17:30, and thereafter on Sgorio's social media and YouTube channels.The advent of the League has brought increased media coverage for its member clubs, notably from the Western Mail and Daily Post, as well as local press.Of the 20 clubs that played in the inaugural season of the League of Wales, ten have since been relegated yet to return, with one, Ebbw Vale, folding in 1998.Notes: Marc Lloyd Williams scored 319 goals in 467 appearances, making him the most prolific goalscorer in the league's history.