Why Welsh Premier League should resist calls for summer football

The prospect of summer football has become a talking point again for the Welsh Premier League.

Following Barry’s exit, Head of Competitions Andrew Howard, mentioned how Cliftonville, who play in the NIFL Premiership, are exploring the option of moving to a summer football format. 

Welsh Premier League legend Marc Lloyd-Williams suggested after the success of the Inter-Island games, that a move to the summer could work.

Calls for summer football tends to be spoken about when clubs from Wales are knocked out from Europe at an early stage. This is due to a number of countries playing their football in the summer months. 

Following the introduction of the preliminary round last season, no Welsh Premier League side has made it through to the next round, falling at the first hurdle.

So is it time for the Welsh Premier League to follow calls for the summer league? Jordan Jones explains why he’s against the idea.

European performances

Over the last number of years, the League has been close to losing its fourth European spot. The New Saints have been one of the teams to thank, given they’ve earned the majority of coefficient points for the league in recent years.

Assessing the clubs performances last night, it was a mixed bag for Welsh clubs.

Barry Town United didn’t necessarily lose to Cliftonville because they weren’t already in a league season, instead, European experience showed. Cliftonville had qualified for the last number of years, whilst Barry’s young were newcomers to European football.

Met played a side, who like them play from August and ends in May. The Archers were knocked out because of the away goals rule. They competed with a side with a better pool of resources than them. That doesn’t kill off the European argument entirely, but it showcases how clubs in Europe are competitive, even when playing from the autumn months.

The Welsh Premier League is at is where it should be at the moment. It’s a breeding ground for young talent to go onto the professional game and that’s fine. It’s been the kickstart to some players careers. 

Success can be defined on European performances but there are other matters to consider. 

Will attendances improve?

The Welsh Premier League at the moment currently finds itself competing with Cardiff City, Newport County, Swansea City and Wrexham in regards to attracting the Welsh public to games.

The league has tried to combat this in tailoring fixtures for clubs on different days, as they try to attract supporters of teams whose teams are playing away that weekend.

Despite winning promotion in 2018, Cardiff City’s average attendance in the Sky Bet Championship was 20,164, placing them just under mid-table in the attendance rankings.

Are those Cardiff City fans going to suddenly support other Cardiff clubs? With such average support, Cardiff City fans will be more inclined to support their team away from home, rather than follow the Welsh pyramid. In a population of 335,145, the Bluebirds have just a reported 25,000 fans. 

Research in 2017 found that the most well-supported club in Wales is 2019 Champions League winners Liverpool. 

Cardiff City have 70,000 fans in Wales overall, the third in Wales, whilst Swansea City are just below them with 10,000 fewer. 

Instead of catering for supporters who may seek their football fix in the summer months, clubs should seek to get the local community involved more in the club. By capturing the feeling of following your local club, the marketing will come with it.

This can be done by targeting the supporters of English clubs, highlighting the importance of community clubs.

How will it impact the new structure?

Welsh football is currently in the midst of a much-needed restructuring and any drastic disruptions could affect it.

The FAW are now in control of Tier Two and will have a much needed restructure of Tier Three, regionalising the leagues even further.

Not only would the Welsh Premier League have to consider summer football, but the two tiers below would also have to consider it. That’s a buy in

That’s a buy-in of at least 45 clubs and if you were to include the whole of Tier Three, that would take you up to 109.

It is important that with such changes that clubs are given time to deal with the demands of the restructuring.

The restructuring has opened up the opportunities for clubs to decide whether they would prefer to play on an amateur basis or instead buy into a plan which will modernise and professionalise Welsh football.

Player availability

Moving to a summer league, may affect player availability in the lower leagues.  A majority of players below the Welsh Premier League work secondary jobs. 

Playing a ten-month season alongside employment, these players deserve a rest. Would players commit to playing in the summer months, knowing they wouldn’t have time for family breaks after a long year?

How do European leagues compare?

Going from 21st to 24th in the coefficient rankings, Belarus, Sweden, Noway and Kazakhstan are the highest ranked European leagues.

In total, there are 11 summer leagues out of 54 in Europe. 

One of the leagues Wales pays most attention to is the Republic of Ireland.

The Republic of Ireland is currently 37th in the coefficient rankings, 11 places higher than Wales.

In 2016, Dundalk were on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League and instead competed in the Europa League grip stages.

Wales has yet to compete in its 27-year history in the group stages of a European competition.

Should Wales move to a summer league, the pressure would be put onto clubs to qualify for European competitions, given the move. 

(Featured Image: Lewis Mitchell)