Ardal South West odds as title and relegation race predicted

The Ardal South West 2024/25 season gets underway on Tuesday (July 23) night.

Only one team came down from the Cymru South and that was Pontardawe Town. Their two-year stay in the division came to an end as they were relegated on goal difference.

It’s been a summer of change at Parc Ynysderw. Their manager Garry Taylor has stood down from his post and was replaced by Ben Williams, a Youth Development Phase Coach at Swansea City. They have lost several good players including Joe Lloyd who has headed to Llanelli Town.

Cymru Leagues and Ardal Leagues transfer tracker: Every deal from summer window

Jamal Roberts celebrates scoring for Cardiff Dracs against Pontyclun in the Ardal South West. (Image: Josh Thomas/@JDPThomas

In late May, Cefn Cribwr had a week of promise but it ended up with them finishing the season with nothing. The title race was out of their hands as Penrhiwceiber Rangers won the league in their final game. On the same day, they lost to the Ardal South League Cup to Swansea University, and then just six days later they lost in the play-off final to Newport City.

The good thing for Cribwr now is that they have returned to Cae Golf. They’re back in their own borough after spending two seasons in Tonypandy. Scott Dryden’s men finally playing in front of their own supporters might give them that edge over their rivals.

Cardiff Dracs finished third last season but a whole nine points off second and 12 off of Penrhiwceiber. Nana Baah has experience winning the second tier however with Caerau Ely and he’ll relish managing a team that might not be as fancied as much as the rest.

As for the new teams in the division, no actual champion came up from the feeder divisions. All three feeder divisions only send teams that finished second and third.

From the South Wales Premier League, Bridgend Street who have spent three years away from the third tier finished second. They could have won the title had FC Cwmaman not won their final match.

FT @Treherbert_Snrs 8-0 @TreharrisAthFC

A dominant & very impressive performance from the home side. Difficult to see how these sides are playing at the same level currently. Treherbert on a run of three consecutive promotions and could be dark horses for a fourth this season https://t.co/ODUETaJePA pic.twitter.com/BGnryhiCBS
— Ben Thomas (@BThomasJourno) June 28, 2024

Treherbert BGC finished third in what was a closely contested title race in the end. They finished three points behind Cwmaman and two points.

Across the South from the West, Clydach and Evans & Williams have come up from the West Wales Premier League. Evans & Williams, now playing at Llanelli Town’s Stebonheath Park finished eight points behind league winners Rockspur.

Clydach, who finished fourth and a whole 16 points behind Rockspur, filled one of the vacancies after Canton moved over to the South East.

Here’s a table-style run-through of the likelihood of each of the 16 teams winning the league from the top to the bottom. The teams at the top of course stand the best chance of winning it and then the bottom teams are being tipped for relegation.