FAW Licensing – Where the issues lie?

As an avid Welsh football fan, I like to see football across the country develop in any form, whether it’s on a National stage or at grassroots level. Lately many clubs have been celebrating their achievements of being granted the appropriate licenses so their club can move on to the next level. The criteria for the license depends on many things and some clubs have the resources to be able to make those changes to meet the criteria and move on to the next level, unfortunately that’s not the story for every club. In this piece, I will question why should a team be denied the chance to move on to the next level if they’ve done their talking on the pitch.

The two teams promoted to the JD Cymru Premier for the 2020/21 season didn’t win their respective leagues in 2019/20, Flint Town United and Haverfordwest County will be welcomed additions to the top tier in Wales, but one does feel sorry for Prestatyn Town and Swansea University who did their talking on the pitch and were declared champions of their leagues. However both will be staying in the second tier for next season, if that’s through unadequate facilities or gaps in paperwork, unfortunately I don’t have the answer for why both were denied their licenses for the top tier. I’ve always been under the impression that in football, the talking should be done on the pitch, major trophies are won on the pitch and are not won because a club has better facilities than another. Flint Town United and Haverfordwest County have done incredible work to make sure they met the criteria for a Tier 1 license and have also provided us with great entertainment on the pitch. Both clubs have been busy in the transfer market to make sure they will be competitive in a tough league. Unfortunately the story is not the same for a number of clubs who have missed out on relevant licenses but have been fantastic on the pitch.

An example is STM Sports, a club who reached the final of the Nathaniel MG Cup this season, a wonderful achievement for a club who were in the second tier, but have been demoted to Tier 3 after they didn’t meet the relevant criteria, STM Sports finished fifth in the JD Cymru South having played 20 games. However the FAW deemed that STM Sports did not meet the relevant criteria for Tier 2, months earlier the club were representing the FAW in a National final. On the pitch STM Sports have been brilliant, unfortunately they do not have the resources to be able to meet Tier 2 status and due to that fact and not due to the fact they haven’t been good enough on the pitch, they’ve been relegated.

Last week it was clubs who had applied for Tier 3 status who learned their fates for the upcoming season, many clubs had gone to put extraordinary work to make sure that their grounds and facilities would meet the criteria. A club that’s nearby to me is Y Felinheli, Champions of Division 2 of the Welsh Alliance last season, where a group of volunteers have worked their socks off so that they could meet the criteria for Tier 3 and deservedly Y Felinheli were granted Tier 3 status. But even without the work at their ground, I’d still question why Y Felinheli weren’t granted Tier 3 status because they won the relevant title last season to go up to Tier 3 by merit of what they had done on it. On the flip side, Greenfield FC were rejected a Tier 3 license a club who had made major strides on the pitch in the last few seasons. Greenfield won the Welsh Alliance Division 2 title in 2015/16 and in 2018 were in the final of the FAW Trophy. Greenfield had established themselves in the third tier of Welsh football and always made Alpha Park a tough visit, as JD Cymru Premier new boys Flint Town United would know after their Welsh Cup clash last season. Greenfield finished 6th in the 2019/20 Welsh Alliance Division 1 but were unfortunately denied a Tier 3 license for the 2020/21 season, a huge shame for the club. Obviously during the pandemic, making sure grounds are of an adequate standard is one hell of a task. As the pandemic hampered work on grounds such as Greenfield’s, clubs can appeal for an extension so that they can meet the criteria. Appeals must be in by 6th of July for a final inspection on the 7th, which is a baffling decision by the FAW only to give clubs 24 hours to make the changes, a near enough impossible task.

Llanberis FC, a club who’ve been in the third tier for nigh on 30 years will not be playing third tier football next season, through absolutley no fault of their own. On the pitch they were solid enough last season finishing 10th in a very competitive Welsh Alliance Division 1. However, the FAW criteria for a Tier 3 license have somewhat hampered a club like Llanberis who play at Ffordd Padarn. At one side of the ground, you have a bypass, on the other side you have houses, it’s impossible for Llanberis to make their pitch the adequate size to meet the standards, the club have everything else, a stand, good pitch, adequate changing rooms, basically everything you’d ever need from your local village football team which is exactly what Llanberis are. A club with an ethos of developing young players from the area while playing in a competitive environment, if there’s a ceiling on how far a club like Llanberis can go, then what would be the motivation for players to sign for a club like them? You could win every game of the season, have a striker that scores 30+ goals but won’t win promotion because of something that’s out of the players’ hands.

The FAW have let some clubs achieve relevant status by means of ground share, while this is a short-term fix, how is it fair on clubs who’ve tried to work on their own grounds but have missed out on licenses? What would stop a club such as Greenfield asking Flint Town United or Holywell for a ground share as those grounds would obviously be of an adequate standard. A club such as Llanrug United could ask Caernarfon Town for a share of The Oval, the request probably would be refused but if it wasn’t, a club like Llanrug United could achieve a Tier 3 status because of another club’s hard work which is something that a few clubs have benefited from in the recent announcements.

My opinion is that football is not a political point scoring system, which in a way it has become here in Wales. If the system needs changing that’s fine, but change in a way that motivates clubs to play football. Clubs like Prestatyn Town, Swansea University, STM Sports, Bodedern Athletic, and Greenfield just to name a few have been left disappointed after failing in their bids to gain the relevant criteria for their leagues. Prestatyn Town and Swansea University should be celebrating their promotions to the JD Cymru Premier because they won their respective leagues. Football is a game that’s played on the pitch and not the boardrooms, fans get excited by what they see on the pitch not if one club has a better stand than another. I’d rather a 6 goal thriller between Llanystumdwy and Llanerchymedd than a drab 0-0 draw between The New Saints and Connah’s Quay at Park Hall. I’ve always been of the opinion that if you’re good enough on the pitch, then you should reap the rewards of that and not because you as a club have better facilities that another which is essentially what is happening for many clubs in Wales at the moment. I understand that many people will agree with the new criteria that the FAW have provided for certain tiers in the Welsh system. Why should football clubs be denied their place in a league because of something that’s off the pitch? It’s a game that’s played on the pitch, always has been, always will be. Managers don’t lose their jobs because of facilities, they lose it because of what’s happening on the pitch, because of the football that’s played on it. Prestatyn Town and Swansea University have achieved title success on the pitch and are being denied promotion because of factors off it.