Welsh Premier League
Season2017–18
Dates11 August 2017 – 20 May 2018
ChampionsThe New Saints (12th title)
RelegatedPrestatyn Town
Bangor City[1]
Champions LeagueThe New Saints
Europa LeagueConnah's Quay Nomads
Bala Town
Cefn Druids
Matches played192
Goals scored544 (2.83 per match)
Biggest home winAberystwyth Town 7-1 Prestatyn Town
(16 December 2017)[2]
Biggest away winCarmarthen Town 0–5 The New Saints
(30 September 2017)[3]
Highest scoringBangor City 5–2 The New Saints
(11 August 2017)[4]
The New Saints 6–1 Prestatyn Town
(14 October 2017)
The New Saints 5–2 Carmarthen Town
(25 November 2017)[5]
All statistics correct as of 15 December 2017.

The 2017–18 Welsh Premier League was the 26th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints are the defending champions. The season fixtures were announced on 23 June 2017.[6] The season began on 11 August 2017[7] and concluded in April 2018; the Europa League play-offs followed afterwards. Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups at the end of January 2018 – the top six and the bottom six.

On 26 April 2018 the FAW Club Licensing Appeals Body decided to revoke Bangor City's Tier 1 and UEFA licence[8] meaning that they would automatically drop down to the second level of Welsh football the next season and would not be able to compete for a place in the following season's Europa League.[9]

Teams

The bottom two placed teams from the previous season, Rhyl and Airbus UK Broughton were relegated to the Cymru Alliance for the 2017–18 season. They were replaced by Barry Town United and Prestatyn Town, champions of the 2016–17 Welsh Football League Division One and 2016–17 Cymru Alliance respectively. Barry Town United are playing in the Welsh Premier League for the first time since the 2003–04 season, while Prestatyn Town were returning to the top flight after being relegated in the 2014–15 season.

Stadia and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Park Avenue 5,000
Bala Town Bala Maes Tegid 3,000
Bangor City Bangor Nantporth 3,000
Barry Town United Barry Jenner Park 3,500
Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Cyncoed Campus 1,620
Carmarthen Town Carmarthen Richmond Park 3,000
Cefn Druids Wrexham The Rock 3,000
Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Deeside Stadium 1,500
Llandudno Llandudno Park MBi Maesdu 1,013
Newtown Newtown Latham Park 5,000
Prestatyn Town Prestatyn Bastion Road 2,000
The New Saints Oswestry Park Hall 2,000

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation[lower-alpha 1]
1 The New Saints (C) 32 23 5 4 83 32 +51 74 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bangor City (R) 32 19 3 10 49 32 +17 60 Relegation to Cymru Alliance[lower-alpha 2]
3 Connah's Quay Nomads 32 17 6 9 46 29 +17 57 Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[lower-alpha 3]
4 Bala Town 32 15 4 13 37 48 −11 49 Qualification to the Europa League preliminary round
5 Cefn Druids (O) 32 12 8 12 38 41 −3 44 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 4]
6 Cardiff Metropolitan University 32 12 7 13 46 41 +5 43
7 Barry Town United 32 16 5 11 39 31 +8 53 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 4]
8 Newtown 32 12 4 16 52 55 −3 40
9 Aberystwyth Town 32 10 7 15 47 56 −9 37
10 Llandudno 32 9 9 14 39 44 −5 36
11 Carmarthen Town 32 8 5 19 35 62 −27 29
12 Prestatyn Town (R) 32 4 7 21 27 67 −40 19 Relegation to Cymru Alliance[lower-alpha 2]
Source: Welsh Premier League, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Matches won; 5) Play-off.[11]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ↑ Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches.
  2. 1 2 Bangor City were relegated after failing to obtain Tier One and UEFA licences for the 2018-19 Welsh Premier League and 2018-19 UEFA Europa League respectively. Carmarthen Town therefore remained in the league for the following season.
  3. ↑ Connah's Quay Nomads qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2017–18 Welsh Cup.
  4. 1 2 Teams play for one spot in the Europa League preliminary round.[10]

Results

Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away ABE BAL BAN BAR CMU CMR CDR CQN LND NTW PRE TNS
Aberystwyth Town — 1–2 2–3 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–0 4–2 0–2 3–0 7–1 1–2
Bala Town 1–1 — 0–1 2–0 2–1 0–4 2–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 1–0 0–3
Bangor City 3–2 5–0 — 0–1 2–3 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–1 3–1 1–0 5–2
Barry Town United 1–1 0–1 1–1 — 1–0 3–1 1–3 0–1 2–0 2–0 4–0 0–1
Cardiff Metropolitan University 1–1 1–2 3–1 3–0 — 5–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–0
Carmarthen Town 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–2 0–2 — 0–1 1–2 0–0 0–2 0–3 0–5
Cefn Druids 2–0 3–0 0–2 2–1 0–3 0–0 — 0–1 0–0 0–0 2–2 1–3
Connah's Quay Nomads 5–1 1–0 0–2 3–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 — 1–1 4–0 2–1 2–2
Llandudno 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 1–0 — 2–1 2–2 0–1
Newtown 4–0 1–3 1–2 3–0 3–2 4–1 1–1 0–1 2–1 — 3–0 2–3
Prestatyn Town 1–2 0–2 4–2 1–0 0–2 3–2 1–2 0–4 1–3 0–0 — 1–4
The New Saints 4–0 3–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 5–2 4–0 3–0 1–0 2–4 6–1 —
Source: Welsh Premier League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams that finish in positions third to seventh at the end of the regular season will participate in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League, who will qualify for the preliminary round. However, due to Bangor City's expulsion, there was just one semi-final, with fifth place Cefn Druids gaining a bye to the final after Bala Town (who had finished 4th) took Bangor's place.

Semi-final

Cardiff Met4–1Barry Town United
Roscrow 26', 73'
Evans 30'
Sainty 43' (o.g.)		 Report Hood 89'
Cyncoed Campus
Attendance: 665
Referee: Dean John

Final

Cefn Druids1–0Cardiff Met
J.Davies 16'
Attendance: 779
Referee: Nick Pratt

Season statistics

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Wales Alan Morgan Llandudno Wales Adam Roscrow Cardiff Met.
September Wales Scott Ruscoe The New Saints Wales Kayne McLaggon Barry Town United
October Wales Huw Griffiths Cefn Druids Wales Eliot Evans Cardiff Met.
November England Kevin Nicholson Bangor City England Dean Rittenberg Bangor City
December Wales Colin Caton Bala Town Wales Chris Venables Bala Town
January Wales Scott Ruscoe The New Saints Wales Aeron Edwards The New Saints
February Wales Gavin Chesterfield Barry Town United Wales Declan Walker Aberystwyth Town
March Wales Gavin Chesterfield Barry Town United Wales Michael Bakare Connah's Quay Nomads

Scoring

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals
1 New Zealand Greg Draper The New Saints 21
2 Wales Eliot Evans Cardiff Met. 14
3 England Wes Fletcher The New Saints 13
4 Wales Kayne McLaggon Barry Town United 12
5 Wales Adam Roscrow Cardiff Met. 11
Republic of Ireland Declan Walker Aberystwyth Town
Wales Michael Wilde Connah's Quay Nomads
England Dean Rittenberg Bangor City
9 England Mike Hayes Bala Town 9
England Craig Hobson Aberystwyth Town

References

  1. ↑ "Bangor City: Third-placed club to be demoted from Welsh Premier League". BBC Sport. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Cardiff MU vs. Carmarthen Town". Soccerway. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Carmarthen Town vs. The New Saints". Soccerway. 30 September 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017.
  4. ↑ "Bangor City vs. The New Saints". Soccerway. 11 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
  5. ↑ "The New Saints vs. Carmarthen Town". Soccerway. 25 November 2017. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "WPL Fixtures for New Season Announced - Welsh Premier League". Welsh Premier League. 23 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "JD Welsh Premier League – Season Launch 2017/18 - Welsh Premier League". Welsh Premier League. 9 August 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Decisions of the FAW Club Licencing Appeals Body". Welsh Premier League. 26 April 2018. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  9. ↑ "JD Welsh Premier League permutations following Licencing Decisions". Welsh Premier League. 26 April 2018. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  10. ↑ https://www.cefndruidsafc.co.uk/single-post/2018/05/07/Druids-reach-the-play-off-final
  11. ↑ "Premier League 2017/2018 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
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