2020–21 Cymru Premier

The 2020–21 Cymru Premier (Welsh: Uwch Gynghrair Cymru 2020–21) (known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons) was the 29th season of the Cymru Premier (formally known as the Welsh Premier League), the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. Connah's Quay Nomads were the defending champions. Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups after phase 1 matches were completed.

Cymru Premier
Uwch Gynghrair Cymru

Season	2020–21
Dates	12 September 2020 – 29 May 2021
Champions	Connah's Quay Nomads
Relegated	No relegation
Champions League	Connah's Quay Nomads
Europa Conference League	The New Saints Bala Town Newtown
Matches played	192
Goals scored	600 (3.13 per match)
Top goalscorer	Chris Venables (24 goals)
Biggest home win	The New Saints 10–0 Flint Town (3 October 2020)
Biggest away win	Cefn Druids 0–7 Newtown (30 April 2021)
Highest scoring	The New Saints 10–0 Flint Town (3 October 2020)
← 2019–20 2021–22 → All statistics correct as of 26 September.

COVID-19 restrictions were put in place by the FAW. Starting Monday 10 August 2020, clubs could train in groups of 15 and contact training was allowed at all-levels of football. However, competitive and exhibition matches were not allowed to take place at this time.^[1]

On 21 August 2020, The Football Association of Wales received confirmation that the JD Cymru Premier has been granted elite athletic status by the Welsh Government, meaning that the 2020–21 season could commence on 11 September 2020.^[2]

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the previous season, and one team each promoted from the second tier, the Cymru North and Cymru South.

The two bottom placed teams from the 2019–20 season, Airbus UK Broughton and Carmarthen Town, were relegated to the Cymru North and the Cymru South respectively for the 2020–21 season.^[3]

Flint Town United, runners-up of the Cymru North were promoted to the league due to champions Prestatyn Town's failure to secure a Tier 1 license.^[4] Similarly, Haverfordwest County, runners-up of the Cymru South, were also promoted due to champions Swansea University's failure to secure a Tier 1 license.

Stadia and locations

 

 

Aberystwyth
Town

 

Bala Town

 

Barry Town United

 

Caernarfon Town

 

Cardiff Metropolitan University

 

Cefn Druids

 

Connah's Quay Nomads

 

Flint Town United

 

Haverfordwest County

 

Newtown

 

Penybont

 

The New Saints

class=notpageimage|

Locations of the 2020–21 Cymru Premier teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Aberystwyth Town	Aberystwyth	Park Avenue	5,000
Bala Town	Bala	Maes Tegid	3,000
Barry Town United	Barry	Jenner Park Stadium	3,500
Caernarfon Town	Caernarfon	The Oval	3,000
Cardiff Metropolitan University	Cyncoed	Cyncoed Campus	1,620
Cefn Druids	Rhosymedre	The Rock	3,000
Connah's Quay Nomads	Connah's Quay	Deeside Stadium	1,500
Flint Town United	Flint	Cae-y-Castell	1,000
Haverfordwest County	Haverfordwest	Bridge Meadow Stadium	2,100
Newtown	Newtown	Latham Park	5,000
Penybont	Bridgend	Bryntirion Park	3,000
The New Saints	Oswestry	Park Hall	2,034

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Front shirt sponsor
Aberystwyth Town	Gavin Allen	Marc Williams	Acerbis	Aberystwyth University
Bala Town	Colin Caton	Chris Venables	Macron	Aykroyd's
Barry Town United	Gavin Chesterfield	Jordan Cotterill	Macron	RIM Motors
Caernarfon Town	Huw Griffiths	Gareth Edwards	Surridge Sports	Gofal Bro Cyf, Parc Gwêl y Fenai
Cardiff Metropolitan University	Christian Edwards	Bradley Woolridge	Errea	Cardiff Metropolitan University
Cefn Druids	Jason Starkey (caretaker)	Michael Jones	Errea	Wrexham Lager
Connah's Quay Nomads	Andy Morrison	George Horan	Nike	Mind
Flint Town United	Neil Gibson	Richie Faulkes	Macron	Essity
Haverfordwest County	Wayne Jones	Sean Pemberton	Joma	West Wales Properties
Newtown	Chris Hughes	Craig T. Williams	Errea	Control Techniques
Penybont	Rhys Griffiths	Rhys Wilson^[5]	Macron	Nathaniel House of Cars
The New Saints	Anthony Limbrick	Paul Harrison	Legea	SiFi Networks

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification^[a]
1	Connah's Quay Nomads (C)	32	25	4	3	70	20	+50	79	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	The New Saints	32	24	5	3	84	17	+67	77	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3	Bala Town	32	18	6	8	67	42	+25	60
4	Penybont	32	13	7	12	42	40	+2	46	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs
5	Barry Town United	32	13	4	15	42	53	−11	43
6	Caernarfon Town	32	10	7	15	43	67	−24	37
7	Newtown (O)	32	12	6	14	57	53	+4	42	Qualification for the Europa Conference League play-offs
8	Cardiff Metropolitan University	32	11	7	14	47	46	+1	40
9	Haverfordwest County	32	10	7	15	38	56	−18	37
10	Aberystwyth Town	32	8	9	15	47	53	−6	33
11	Flint Town United	32	10	2	20	38	58	−20	32
12	Cefn Druids	32	4	4	24	25	95	−70	16

Source: Cymru Premier table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Goals scored; 5) Matches won.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner
Notes:

1. Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league splits into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches. Due to the cancellation of Cymru North and South seasons, there is no promotion or relegation.

Results

12 September 2020 - 31 May 2021

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	ABE	BAL	BAR	CAE	CMU	CDR	CQN	FTU	HAV	NTW	PYB	TNS
Aberystwyth Town	—	1–2	1–2	1–2	2–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	2–2
Bala Town	5–2	—	4–0	1–2	4–1	2–1	1–3	5–0	1–2	3–1	4–1	1–1
Barry Town United	1–0	6–2	—	3–1	1–0	4–1	0–0	6–3	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–3
Caernarfon Town	2–2	1–1	2–0	—	3–2	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–4	1–1	1–1	0–4
Cardiff Metropolitan University	1–1	1–1	1–2	0–3	—	0–0	1–2	2–1	0–0	2–1	0–1	0–1
Cefn Druids	0–4	1–3	0–1	1–2	1–1	—	0–5	1–2	4–1	2–4	0–2	0–4
Connah's Quay Nomads	2–0	1–1	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	—	2–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–0
Flint Town United	3–0	1–2	0–1	0–2	0–1	1–2	0–1	—	0–2	1–0	0–1	0–6
Haverfordwest County	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–4	0–3	—	2–2	0–4	2–1
Newtown	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–3	4–1	4–1	1–5	3–2	0–3	—	2–0	0–4
Penybont	1–1	1–5	1–0	6–0	1–0	1–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–1	—	0–4
The New Saints	4–1	0–0	2–1	4–1	2–0	5–0	1–0	10–0	3–2	2–0	2–1	—

Source: Cymru Premier
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

• On 17 August 2020 the FAW announced that all official domestic match balls will be sponsored by Macron^[6]
• Welsh television channel S4C will broadcast certain matches^[7]

Matches 23–32

Top six Home \ Away BAL BAR CAE CQN PYB TNS Bala Town — 1–0 5–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 Barry Town United 1–4 — 3–2 1–2 3–3 0–6 Caernarfon Town 3–0 0–1 — 1–6 2–2 0–2 Connah's Quay Nomads 2–0 1–0 4–0 — 0–2 0–0 Penybont 2–3 2–0 2–0 0–2 — 0–3 The New Saints 2–0 3–0 0–0 1–4 1–0 — Source: Cymru Premier Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away ABE CMU CDR FTU HAV NTW Aberystwyth Town — 1–1 5–1 0–1 2–2 1–2 Cardiff Metropolitan University 5–1 — 6–0 2–1 6–1 2–2 Cefn Druids 0–3 1–2 — 0–6 2–1 0–7 Flint Town United 0–0 2–0 5–0 — 2–0 0–2 Haverfordwest County 1–0 0–2 2–0 0–0 — 1–2 Newtown 0–4 2–3 5–0 1–0 5–1 — Source: Cymru Premier Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

UEFA Europa Conference League play-offs

Teams that finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season participated in play-offs to determine the third participant to enter the Europa Conference League first qualifying round.

Semi-finals

22 May 2021

17:15

Barry Town	1–3	Caernarfon Town
Edwards   44' (o.g.)	Report	Hayes   41', 50' Bickerstaff   90+5'

Jenner Park, Barry

Referee: Simon Lee Evans

23 May 2021

12:15

Penybont	0–1	Newtown
	Report	Breese   86'

The SDM Glass Stadium, Bridgend

Referee: Iwan Arwel Griffith

Final

29 May 2021

12:00

Caernarfon Town	3–5	Newtown
Kenny   18' D. Thomas   59', 74'	Report	Rushton   39' (pen.) Mwandwe   45' Davies   80', 82' Breese   86'

The Oval, Caernarfon

Referee: Huw Jones

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals^[8]
1	Chris Venables	Bala Town	24
2	Michael Wilde	Connah's Quay Nomads	18
3	Greg Draper	The New Saints	14
4	Will Evans	Bala Town	13
	Ollie Hulbert	Cardiff Met
	Eliot Evans

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
October	Scott Ruscoe	The New Saints	Chris Venables	Bala Town
November	Scott Ruscoe	The New Saints	Will Evans	Bala Town
December	Andy Morrison	Connah's Quay	Lewis Harling	Penybont
March	Andy Morrison	Connah's Quay	George Horan	Connah's Quay
April	Andy Morrison	Connah's Quay	Michael Wilde	Connah's Quay

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
Manager of the Season	Andy Morrison^[9]	Connah's Quay Nomads
Player of the Season	Michael Wilde^[10]	Connah's Quay Nomads
Young Player of the Season	Mael Davies^[11]	Penybont
Goal of the Season	Sameron Dool^[12]	Connah's Quay Nomads
Save of the Season	Connor Roberts^[13]	Aberystwyth Town

Team of the Season^[14]
Goalkeeper	Oliver Byrne (Connah's Quay Nomads)
Defenders	John Disney (Connah's Quay Nomads)			Ryan Astles (The New Saints)			George Horan (Connah's Quay Nomads)			Kane Owen (Penybont)
Midfielders	Callum Morris (Connah's Quay Nomads)			Ryan Brobbel (The New Saints)			Adrian Cieślewicz (The New Saints)			Danny Davies (Connah's Quay Nomads)
Forwards	Chris Venables (Bala Town)						Michael Wilde (Connah's Quay Nomads)

References

1. Jones, Jordan (2020-08-03). "Welsh clubs move closer to normality as contact training permitted". Y Clwb Pêl-droed - Your home for Welsh football. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
2. "FAW / Start date for JD Cymru Premier". www.faw.cymru. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
3. Jones, Jordan (16 June 2020). "Airbus UK and Carmarthen relegated, Flint and Haverfordwest up". Clwb Pel Droed.
4. "Flint Town United return to top tier of Welsh football for first time since 1998". Deeside.com. 16 June 2020.
5. Jones, Jordan (2019-05-16). "Penybont recruit four new players for upcoming Welsh Premier League season". YClwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
6. "Macron Announced as Official Ball Supplier :: Cymru Football". www.cymrufootball.wales. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
7. "S4C Announce Opening Live Fixtures :: Cymru Football". www.cymrufootball.wales. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
8. "Top Scorers - Welsh Premier League - Football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
9. "Connah's Quay Nomads: Andy Morrison and Michael Wilde win Cymru Premier awards". BBC. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
10. "Connah's Quay Nomads: Andy Morrison and Michael Wilde win Cymru Premier awards". BBC. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
11. "Foden wins Hublot Young Player of the Season award". Premier League. 5 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
12. "Gôl y Tymor 2020/21 Goal of the Season". Sgorio. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
13. "Connor Roberts | Arbediad y Tymor 2020/21 Save of the Season". Sgorio. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
14. "JD Cymru Premier 2020/21 Team of the Season". Cymru Leagues. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.