What next after Cymru Premier sees a reduction in European spots?
Caernarfon, Wales 29 May 2021. JD Cymru Premier UEFA Europa Conference League play-off Final between Caernarfon Town and Newtown AFC. Credit: Will Cheshire / Clwb Peldroed.
Newtown’s Play-Off Final success which saw them qualify for the Europa Conference League on Saturday will be the last of its kind or at least for a few years.
The Robins became the fourth team to qualify for European football after Bala, Connah’s Quay and The New Saints booked their place earlier in the month.
But those kinds of scenes will be put on hold for at least a season after the Cymru Premier lost a European spot due to their faltering coefficient situation.
Wales’ top tier has dropped down to 51st in the rankings, ranking only higher than Iceland, Estonia, Andorra, and San Marino.
As a result, from the 2021/22 season, Wales will only have three European representatives which will cause some problems for the league format.
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In a normal season, the league champions qualify for the Champions League, the runners-up qualify for the Europa League and then there is a spot for the Welsh Cup winner and the play-off.
The National League board will now be tasked with creating a format for the league that fills the gap of not having an end-of-season play-off for European football.
A suggestion is that the end-of-season play-offs could continue to use a European spot as the prize and that second-place could be included, however, you would struggle to include the side who finished seventh-placed.
You could also consider that Welsh Cup winners in recent years have been the side who has finished either first or second with only Bala and Llanelli being an exception to that rule. It means there could be six teams involved depending on whether they possess the relevant UEFA Licence.
Unfortunately, there is not much to go by on how Wales could deal with the change.
Northern Ireland, who are now sitting high in 42nd, once fell below 51st and lost a European spot.
They saw their league champions enter the preliminary round of qualifying in the Champions League, as well as a loss of a spot, before entering their runners-up and Irish Cup winners.
The NIFL Premiership does split like the Cymru Premier but runs to 33 games and teams are scheduled to play every other team for the third time.
There is hope for Wales that this will only be a short-term measure. It is why despite being rivals in the league, the eight teams who won’t be playing in Europe this season will need to cheer on sides who are usually their opponents.
Fortunately, both Bala Town and The New Saints will be seeded, meaning they could get favourable draws, though there is no guarantee of victory.
It will also be interesting to see whether UEFA will revert back to two-legged affairs after the COVID-19 pandemic saw them revert to a one-legged winner-takes-all match.
The carrot of European football can sometimes be viewed as what funds a season for the clubs who get there. As a result of one less spot, it means clubs may be a bit more cautious when trying to achieve glory this season.
Already, we have seen Connah’s Quay revert back to part-time status whilst the Cefn Druids have put on hold their plans of a hybrid model.
