The time the foot-and-mouth disease affected Welsh football

The coronavirus outbreak has seen the suspension of all Welsh domestic fixtures until at least April 3.

There are no guarantees when this season will be cleared to resume, nor should there be.

The suspension of football due to the outbreak could bring back of the memories for some involved in Welsh football of 19 years ago.

And it could offer some guidance into how Welsh football can deal with the challenges it could face, regarding completing the season and how the leagues will be shaped moving forward.

It forced one league to finish without all games being completed, whilst another had to abandon their season entirely.

In 2001, the Mid Wales League season was abandoned due to the foot-and-mouth disease.

At the time, Aberystwyth Town’s Reserves were top of the league and were ineligible for promotion, as were second-placed Newtown Reserves.

Football resumed in 2001 and the North Wales footballing bodies got around it, by promoting Guilsfield to the Cymru Alliance, this was despite being fifth before play was halted.

Guilsfield had submitted an application to join the league. They were accepted after the merger of Llangefni Town and Glantraeth after an extra promotion spot was made available.

No team was demoted from the Cymru Alliance, as no North Walian team was relegated from the then League of Wales.

How the Cymru Alliance table finished during the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak:

Huws Gray Fitlock League	P	W	D	L	For	Ag	Pts
Caernarfon Town	32	24	4	4	105	29	76
Llangefni Town	30	20	5	5	67	34	65
Welshpool Town	32	19	7	6	86	35	64
Cemaes Bay FC	32	17	9	6	64	38	60
Buckley Town	31	17	7	7	66	29	58
CPD Porthmadog	31	16	6	9	62	37	54
Llandudno FC	32	14	6	12	46	52	48
Lex XI FC	31	12	4	15	68	84	40
Halkyn United	30	11	6	13	47	55	39
Holywell Town	32	11	6	15	47	69	39
Airbus UK	31	10	7	14	54	63	37
Ruthin Town	32	10	7	15	48	60	37
Holyhead Hotspur	31	10	6	15	59	76	36
CPD Glantraeth	25	7	5	13	40	60	26
Denbigh Town	32	5	5	22	32	84	20
Brymbo Broughton	30	5	4	21	34	78	19
Flint Town United*	32	6	4	22	43	85	13

How the Cymru Alliance table finished the season after the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak:

Huws Gray Fitlock League	P	W	D	L	For	Ag	Pts
Welshpool Town	34	25	5	4	101	29	80
Llangefni/Glantraeth	34	24	3	7	76	36	75
Cemaes Bay FC	34	23	4	7	81	45	73
CPD Porthmadog	34	20	8	6	88	45	68
Buckley Town	34	21	4	9	72	38	67
Ruthin Town	34	17	7	10	76	51	58
Halkyn United	34	17	7	10	58	43	58
Airbus UK	34	16	6	12	55	55	54
Holyhead Hotspur	34	15	4	15	72	78	49
Llandudno FC	34	12	3	19	55	80	39
Gresford Athletic	34	10	7	17	47	59	37
Llanfairpwll FC	34	10	6	18	59	81	36
Flint Town United	34	8	7	19	40	58	31
Lex XI FC**	34	13	4	17	67	87	31
Guilsfield FC	34	8	6	20	49	82	30
Holywell Town	34	8	5	21	50	85	29
Brymbo Broughton	34	6	5	23	40	80	23
Denbigh Town*	34	5	5	24	29	83	17

In the Cymru Alliance, Caernarfon Town were crowned champions, with a nine-point lead over Llangefni, having played two games more.

Llangefni, Buckley, Porthmadog, Lex XI, Halkyn United, Airbus UK, Holyhead Hotspur and Brymbo Broughton

CPD Glantraeth were the worst affected, having only played 25 games that year.

How the Mid Wales League table looked before abandonment:

Spar Mid-Wales League	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
Aberystwyth Town Res	16	14	2	0	52	11	44
Newtown Res	22	13	4	5	57	37	43
U.C.W. Aberystwyth	15	8	4	3	29	29	28
Presteigne St Andrews	13	8	2	3	41	26	26
Guilsfield	13	8	2	3	28	20	26
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant	17	8	2	7	33	31	26
C.P.D. Penrhyncoch	12	8	1	3	20	7	25
Carno	15	8	1	6	32	24	25
Kerry	16	7	2	7	37	27	23
Rhayader Town Res	20	6	4	10	30	39	22
Llanidloes Town	18	5	5	8	30	37	20
Caersws Res	16	4	1	11	16	35	13
Meifod	16	3	2	11	19	44	11
Waterloo Rovers	15	2	2	11	12	33	8
Llandrindod Wells	17	0	4	13	18	54	4
Season halted due to serious foot and mouth outbreak in Mid Wales.

How the Mid Wales League table looked the season after the abandonment:

Spar Mid-Wales League	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts
C.P.D. Penrhyncoch	28	21	5	2	117	27	68
Carno	28	21	2	5	100	33	65
Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant	28	20	3	5	71	29	63
Aberystwyth Town Res	28	20	2	6	86	35	62
Newtown Res	28	14	4	10	64	49	46
Caersws Res	28	12	4	12	50	48	40
Llanfyllin Town	28	12	4	12	70	65	40
Llanidloes Town	28	11	4	13	48	60	37
Kerry*	28	10	6	12	51	47	36
Presteigne St Andrews	28	10	5	13	68	80	35
U.C.W. Aberystwyth	28	10	3	15	64	76	33
Waterloo Rovers	28	8	2	18	37	88	26
Rhayader Town Res	27	4	5	18	39	109	17
Meifod	28	4	3	21	44	97	15
Llandrindod Wells	28	3	4	21	33	104	13

The abandonment of the Mid Wales League, saw Aberystwyth’s reserves denied a title, in a season which saw them unbeaten. They played 16 games, winning 14 and drawing twice.

After resuming their season in the 2001/02 season, they were unable to recapture their form and finished fourth that year.

Their nearest placed rivals Newton Reserves in 2000/01 had played eight games more and were a point behind.

It was Guilsfield who would be promoted to the second tier, despite being 18 points behind the league leaders.

Penrhyncoch played the least amount of fixtures before the season was abandoned, having played just 12.

They would turn on the style the season after though, winning the Mid Wales League title.

Were any other leagues effected?

Unlike the other leagues in Wales, the League of Wales and all divisions of the South Walian based ‘Welsh Football League’ were able to complete their seasons.

(Featured Image: NCM Media)