Football Association of Wales officials to meet over structure of season

Football Association of Wales officials are to meet next week to discuss the current season structure. 

After the Welsh Government’s latest coronavirus review, it was announced that Wales would remain at Alert Level Four, meaning their ‘elite’ status remains revoked.

Welsh football will only resume once the Alert Level is lowered by the Welsh Government. The next review of restrictions is in three weeks time, which would extend the current hiatus of football to two months.

It has prompted the desire for a meeting to discuss what will happen for the remainder of the season, reports the BBC.

The Cymru Premier and Welsh Premier Women’s League have already begun their seasons, meanwhile Round One of the Nathaniel MG Cup is all but completed bar one fixture.

However the Cymru Leagues has yet to begin and were due to start in January, before stricter restrictions were imposed in December. They had already agreed to a shortened campaign of 15 fixtures with some teams playing eight home games and seven away fixtures.

The same is for the JD Welsh Cup which is all but certain to adopt a revised format, with only the current two tiers of Welsh football deemed as ‘elite’. 

Divisions below Wales’ third tier of men’s football are governed by their respective league committee and a number of leagues have taken the decision to cancel their season in recent weeks. 

A possible suggestion to a revised format of the Cymru Premier could be to end the season once all teams reach the end of Phase One, which is of 22 fixtures. 

However, the Cymru Leagues received National Lottery funds and it is unclear whether it accounts for a full 32-game season. 

Currently, The New Saints are leading the division, having played 17 of the 22 Phase One fixtures.

Cardiff Met meanwhile are top of the Welsh Premier Women’s League, however they’ve only played five fixtures.

(Featured Image: Adam Evans)