Adran Premier
The Adran Premier, currently known as genero Adran Premier (for sponsorship reasons), is the highest level of league competition for women's football in Wales. It is the women's equivalent of the men's Cymru Premier, and it is organized by the Football Association of Wales. As of 2022, the league is ranked 41st overall by the UEFA Women's association club coefficients.[2]
| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Country | Wales |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Adran North Adran South |
| Domestic cup(s) | FAW Women's Cup |
| League cup(s) | Adran Trophy |
| International cup(s) | UEFA Women's Champions League |
| Current champions | Swansea City[1] |
| Most championships | Cardiff Met. (6 titles) Swansea City (6 titles) |
| Website | Adran Premier |
| Current: 2022-23 | |
History
In its first three seasons, the league was divided into two Conferences that played a double round robin, with the winner of both contesting a final for the championship. The first season featured no relegation, from the 2010–11 season onwards, the last placed team in each conference got relegated.[3]
Since 2012–13 the league is played in one group only. In 2015–16 two teams were relegated. The eight clubs who formed the League were Aberystwyth Town Ladies, Caernarfon Town Ladies, Llanidloes Ladies, Manorbier Ladies, Newcastle Emlyn Ladies, Swansea City Ladies, UWIC Ladies and Wrexham Ladies.
The league was increased to five teams per Conference in 2010–11,[4] with Caerphilly Castle Ladies and Trefelin Ladies joining the South and Llandudno Junction Ladies joining the North. Manorbier Ladies ceased playing activities after their inaugural season.[5]
Llandudno Junction's stay in the league lasted just one season before they were relegated; they were replaced by Northop Hall Girls.
In its first three years the league was divided into two conferences, north and south. Both winners then played a championship play-off for the title and right to play in the UEFA Women's Champions League. A relegation system was introduced in the second season, when the last place in each conference was relegated. The league changed the format to a single division for the 2012–13 season.[6] The league was also expanded for the second time. The number of teams in the league has fluctuated in preceding years and has contained eight, ten and twelve teams in various seasons.
In May 2021, the Football Association of Wales announced a restructuring of the league, including cutting the number of teams from nine to eight, the splitting the second tier into northern and southern conferences, and the introduction of a U19 development league. The restructuring would see Abergavenny Women's FC, Caerphilly's Cascade Ladies YC and Briton Ferry Llansawel Ladies demoted to the second tier and Barry Town United Ladies FC and The New Saints joining the Premier League.[7] The choice of top-tier teams in the restructuring was met with a significant amount of criticism, especially as Abergavenny had finished within the top four during the 2020–21 season and The New Saints did not have a complete senior women's side.[8][9] FAW head of women's football Lowri Roberts stated that the Association would not be reversing their decision, adding that "we have to be able to compete with Tier 3 in England. The WSL and Championship in England are professional and semi-professional and we’re a long way off that. It’s unlikely we’ll get to a professional level."[10]
In August 2021, the league announced a rebranding initiative, changing the name from "Welsh Premier Women's League" to "Adran Premier", adopting the Welsh word adran (division). For sponsorship reasons it is named the "Genero Adran Premier" (sponsored by Welsh firm Genero).[11] The rebranding is claimed as an effort to remove the word "Women's" from the league name to achieve better parity with the men's game.[11]
Competition format
The club with the highest number of points at the end of the season will be the League Champions. In the event of two or more clubs having the same number of points the League winners will be decided by the difference between goals scored and goals against. In the event of more than one club having the same goal difference, the club that has scored the highest number of goals will be the Champions.[12]
Promotion and relegation
One club may be promoted to the Adran Premier and the equivalent number relegated from the competition. One from the Adran North or one from the Adran South. To determine the club to be promoted from the Adran North or Adran South - the qualified clubs from the two leagues concerned will play off.[13]
European qualification
| Rank | Association | Coefficient |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | Estonia | 5.500 |
| 41 | Wales | 5.500 |
| 42 | Georgia | 5.000 |
UEFA grants European places to the Football Association of Wales, determined by Wales' position in the UEFA country coefficient rankings. The Welsh Football Association in turn allocate a number of these European places to the final Welsh Premier Women's League positions. As of 2023, Wales was ranked 40th in Europe – granting them one placement in the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying rounds.
Clubs
2022–23
| Club | City | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| Abergavenny Women | Abergavenny | Pen-Y-Pound Stadium |
| Aberystwyth Town Women's | Aberystwyth | Park Avenue |
| Barry Town United Women | Barry | Jenner Park |
| Cardiff City Women | Cardiff | Cardiff International Sports Stadium |
| Cardiff Met WFC | Cardiff | Cardiff Met Cyncoed Campus |
| Pontypridd United Women | Pontypridd | UWS Sports Park |
| Swansea City Ladies | Neath | Llandarcy Academy of Sport |
| The New Saints FC Women | Oswestry | Park Hall |
List of champions
In the first three seasons, a final between the north and south division winners determined the champion.
| Season | Champion | Runners-up | Third place | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009–10 | Swansea City Ladies | Caernarfon Town | N/a (Final: 4–0) | |
| 2010–11 | Swansea City Ladies | Caernarfon Town | N/a (Final: 3–1) | |
| 2011–12 | Cardiff Met. Ladies F.C. | Wrexham Ladies | N/a (Final: 3–0) | |
| 2012–13 | Cardiff City | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Wrexham Ladies | |
| 2013–14 | Cardiff Met. Ladies | PILCS LFC | Cardiff City | |
| 2014–15 | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Swansea City Ladies | PILCS LFC | |
| 2015–16 | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff City | |
| 2016–17 | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Cardiff City | [14] |
| 2017–18 | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Swansea City Ladies | Abergavenny | [15] |
| 2018–19 | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff City | [16] |
| 2019–20 | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Cardiff City | [17] |
| 2020–21 | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Cardiff City | |
| 2021–22 | Swansea City Ladies | Cardiff Met. Ladies | Cardiff City | [18] |
| Titles | Team |
|---|---|
| 6 | Cardiff Met. Ladies |
| 6 | Swansea City Ladies |
| 1 | Cardiff City |
Adran Trophy
The Premier League Cup (now Adran Trophy) has been held since 2014.
Winners:
- 2014: Cardiff Met. Ladies F.C.[19]
- 2015: PILCS[20]
- 2016: Swansea City Ladies F.C.[21]
- 2017: Cardiff Met. Ladies[22]
- 2018: Cyncoed Ladies F.C.[23]
- 2019: Cardiff Met. Ladies[24]
- 2020: Final cancelled[25]
- 2021: Swansea City Ladies[26]
- 2022: Cardiff Met. Ladies[27]
See also
References
- ^ "SWANSEA CITY LADIES SEAL THIRD CONSECUTIVE GENERO ADRAN PREMIER TITLE". Swansea City A.F.C. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ "Women's association club coefficients". UEFA. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Tenby Observer (15 October 2010). "Manorbier Ladies call it a day".
- ^ "Wrexham Odds on for Play-off place". shekicks.net. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
- ^ "Women's football: FAW announce the make-up of new tiers - BBC Sport". Bbc.com. 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Abergavenny condemns FAW restructure of Welsh women's football". The National Wales. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Welsh Premier Women's League shake-up 'unjust and wrong', say relegated clubs - BBC News". BBC News. June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "FAW chief Lowri Roberts responds to restructuring outcry". The National Wales. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ a b "Launch of Genero Adran Leagues marks new era for domestic football in Wales" (Press release). Cymru Football. 16 August 2021.
- ^ "Welsh Premier Women's League 2018/19 Rules" (PDF). Retrieved 19 July 2019.
- ^ "Genero Adran Leagues and Adran Trophy competition formats confirmed for 2022/23". Adran Leagues. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
- ^ "Net draw hands Swansea Welsh title". shekicks.net. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
- ^ "#WPWL: Cardiff Met secure title for fifth time". shekicks.net. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
- ^ "Summary - Welsh Premier Women's League - Wales - Results, fixtures, tables and news". Women Soccerway. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
- ^ "Summary - Welsh Premier Women's League - Wales - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Women Soccerway". int.women.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^ . Swansea City. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on 9 Apr 2022.
- ^ . www.shekicks.net. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ Houldsworth, Andy; Harris, Jon. "PILCS Come From Behind to Claim League Cup". www.welshpremier.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "She Kicks - News Section: Swans Exact Welsh Premier Cup Final Revenge". www.shekicks.net. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "She Kicks - News Section: Cardiff Met Win Welsh Premier League Cup". shekicks.net. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
- ^ "She Kicks - News Section: Cyncoed lift the League Cup for first time". Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Cardiff Met beat Swansea Ladies 3-1 to win Welsh Premier Women's Cup". BBC Sport. 5 April 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2019.
- ^ The 2019–20 WPWL Cup Final (Cardiff Met.–Swansea City) was cancelled, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"FAW / 2019/20 FAW Cup Competitions Terminated". www.faw.cymru. Retrieved 27 September 2020. - ^ "#WPWLCup: Swansea City Ladies come from behind to lift trophy". She Kicks. 27 May 2021.
- ^ "Cardiff Met beat Cardiff City to win Genero Adran Trophy". BBC Sport. 27 March 2022.
External links
- Official website
- League at uefa.com