Adran Premier
Founded2009
Country Wales
Other club(s) from England (1 team)
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams8
Level on pyramid1
Relegation toAdran North
Adran South
Domestic cup(s)FAW Women's Cup
League cup(s)Adran Trophy
International cup(s)UEFA Women's Champions League
Current championsCardiff City (2nd title)
Most championshipsCardiff Met. (6 titles)
Swansea City (6 titles)
WebsiteAdran Premier
Current: 2023–24

The Adran Premier (English: Premier Division, formerly the Welsh Premier Women's League), currently known for sponsorship reasons as Genero Adran Premier, is the highest level of league competition for women's football in Wales. It is organized by the Football Association of Wales. As of 2022, the league is ranked 41st overall by the UEFA Women's association club coefficients.[1]

History

In its first three seasons, the league was divided into two Conferences that played a double round robin, with the winner of both contesting a final for the championship. The first season featured no relegation, from the 2010–11 season onwards, the last placed team in each conference got relegated.[2]

Since 2012–13 the league is played in one group only.[3] In 2015–16 two teams were relegated. The eight clubs who formed the League were Aberystwyth Town Ladies, Caernarfon Town Ladies, Llanidloes Ladies, Manorbier Ladies, Newcastle Emlyn Ladies, Swansea City Ladies, UWIC Ladies and Wrexham Women.

2012 Season Launch

The league was increased to five teams per Conference in 2010–11,[4] with Caerphilly Castle Ladies and Trefelin Ladies joining the South and Llandudno Junction Ladies joining the North. Manorbier Ladies ceased playing activities after their inaugural season.[5]

Llandudno Junction's stay in the league lasted just one season before they were relegated; they were replaced by Northop Hall Girls.

In May 2021, the Football Association of Wales announced a restructuring of the league, including cutting the number of teams from nine to eight, splitting the second tier into northern and southern conferences, and the introduction of a U19 development league. The restructuring saw Abergavenny Women's FC, Caerphilly's Cascade Ladies YC and Briton Ferry Llansawel Ladies demoted to the second tier and Barry Town United Ladies FC and The New Saints joining the Premier League.[6] The choice of top-tier teams in the restructuring was met with a significant amount of criticism, especially as Abergavenny had finished within the top four during the 2020–21 season and The New Saints did not have a complete senior women's side.[7][8] FAW head of women's football Lowri Roberts stated that the Association would not be reversing their decision, adding that "we have to be able to compete with Tier 3 in England. The WSL and Championship in England are professional and semi-professional and we’re a long way off that. It’s unlikely we’ll get to a professional level."[9]

Rebranding

In August 2021, the league also announced a rebranding initiative, changing the name from "Welsh Premier Women's League" to "Adran Premier", adopting the Welsh word adran (division). For sponsorship reasons it is named the "Genero Adran Premier" (sponsored by Welsh firm Genero).[10] The second tier conferences were likewise renamed Adran North and Adran South. The rebranding was in part an effort to remove the word "Women's" from the league name to achieve better parity with the men's game. [10] The league cup was likewise rebranded to the Adran Trophy.

Competition format

The club with the highest number of points at the end of the season will be the League Champions. In the event of two or more clubs having the same number of points the League winners will be decided by the difference between goals scored and goals against. In the event of more than one club having the same goal difference, the club that has scored the highest number of goals will be the Champions.[11]

Promotion and relegation

One club may be promoted to the Adran Premier, from Adran North or from Adran South, and the same number relegated out of the first tier. To determine which conference sees a club promoted, the top club from each of the two leagues that meets the other requirements for being in the Premier compete in a playoff.[12]

European qualification

UEFA country coefficient 2022–23
Rank Association Coefficient
3 40 Estonia Estonia 5.500
1 41 Wales Wales 5.500
1 42 Georgia (country) Georgia 5.000

UEFA grants European places to the Football Association of Wales, determined by Wales' position in the UEFA country coefficient rankings. The Welsh Football Association in turn allocate a number of these European places to the final Welsh Premier Women's League positions. As of 2023, Wales was ranked 40th in Europe – granting them one placement in the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying rounds.

Clubs

2023–24

Club City Ground
Aberystwyth TownAberystwythPark Avenue
Barry Town UnitedBarryJenner Park
Cardiff CityCardiffCardiff International Sports Stadium
Cardiff MetCardiffCardiff Met Cyncoed Campus
Pontypridd UnitedPontypriddUWS Sports Park
Swansea CityNeathLlandarcy Academy of Sport
The New Saints FCOswestryPark Hall
WrexhamWrexhamThe Rock

List of champions

In the first three seasons, a final between the north and south division winners determined the champion.

Season Champion Runners-up Third place Ref
2009–10 Swansea City Caernarfon Town N/a (Final: 4–0)
2010–11 Swansea City Caernarfon Town N/a (Final: 3–1)
2011–12 Cardiff Met Wrexham N/a (Final: 3–0)
2012–13 Cardiff City Cardiff Met Wrexham
2013–14 Cardiff Met Abergavenny Town Cardiff City
2014–15 Cardiff Met Swansea City Abergavenny Town
2015–16 Cardiff Met Swansea City Cardiff City
2016–17 Swansea City Cardiff Met Cardiff City [13]
2017–18 Cardiff Met Swansea City Abergavenny Town [14]
2018–19 Cardiff Met Swansea City Cardiff City [15]
2019–20 Swansea City Cardiff Met Cardiff City [16]
2020–21 Swansea City Cardiff Met Cardiff City
2021–22 Swansea City Cardiff Met Cardiff City [17]
2022–23 Cardiff City Swansea City Cardiff Met [18]
2023–24 currently ongoing
Titles Team
6 Cardiff Met
6 Swansea City
2 Cardiff City

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Women's association club coefficients". UEFA. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  2. ↑ "Aberystwyth Town FC: Ladies News". Archived from the original on 2010-09-11. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
  3. ↑ "Wrexham Odds on for Play-off place". shekicks.net. 27 April 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2012.
  4. ↑ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2010-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Tenby Observer (15 October 2010). "Manorbier Ladies call it a day".
  6. ↑ "Women's football: FAW announce the make-up of new tiers - BBC Sport". Bbc.com. 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  7. ↑ "Abergavenny condemns FAW restructure of Welsh women's football". The National Wales. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  8. ↑ "Welsh Premier Women's League shake-up 'unjust and wrong', say relegated clubs - BBC News". BBC News. June 2021. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  9. ↑ "FAW chief Lowri Roberts responds to restructuring outcry". The National Wales. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  10. 1 2 "Launch of Genero Adran Leagues marks new era for domestic football in Wales" (Press release). Cymru Football. 16 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Welsh Premier Women's League 2018/19 Rules" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Genero Adran Leagues and Adran Trophy competition formats confirmed for 2022/23". Adran Leagues. 9 August 2022. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Net draw hands Swansea Welsh title". shekicks.net. 17 April 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "#WPWL: Cardiff Met secure title for fifth time". shekicks.net. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Summary - Welsh Premier Women's League - Wales - Results, fixtures, tables and news". Women Soccerway. 2019-03-27. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  16. ↑ "Summary - Welsh Premier Women's League - Wales - Results, fixtures, tables and news - Women Soccerway". int.women.soccerway.com. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  17. ↑ "Swansea City Ladies seal third consecutive Genero Adran Premier title". Swansea City. 9 April 2022. Archived from the original on 9 Apr 2022.
  18. ↑ "City secure the 2022/23 Adran Premier title". Cardiff. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
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