2017–18 Welsh Premier League

Welsh Premier League
Season 2017–18
Dates 11 August 2017 – 20 May 2018
Champions The New Saints (12th title)
Relegated

Prestatyn Town

Bangor City (due to failing the domestic licence criteria)
Champions League The New Saints
Europa League Connah's Quay Nomads
Bala Town
Cefn Druids
Matches played 95
Goals scored 257 (2.71 per match)
Biggest home win Aberystwyth Town 7-1 Prestatyn Town
(16 December 2017)[1]
Biggest away win Carmarthen Town 0–5 The New Saints
(30 September 2017)[2]
Highest scoring Bangor City 5–2 The New Saints
(11 August 2017)[3]
The New Saints 6–1 Prestatyn Town
(14 October 2017)
The New Saints 5–2 Carmarthen Town
(25 November 2017)[4]
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.[5] The season began on 11 August 2017[6] 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[7] 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.[8]

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
4 Bala Town 32 15 4 13 37 48 −11 49 Qualification to the Europa League preliminary round
5 Cefn Druids 32 12 8 12 38 41 −3 44
6 Cardiff Metropolitan University 32 12 7 13 46 41 +5 43 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
7 Barry Town United 32 16 5 11 39 31 +8 53 Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[lower-alpha 3]
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.[10]
(C) Champion; (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. 1 2 Teams play for one spot in the Europa League preliminary round. Owing to Bangor City's relegaton, the Europa League first qualifying round, usually awarded to second to third placed teams, had been awarded to the third and fourth-placed teams (Connah's Quay Nomads and Bala Town respectively). The winners of the 2017-18 Welsh Cup are also awarded a spot in the Europa League preliminary round, but was won by Connah's Quay, leaving only three teams to compete for the final Europa League spot. As a result, fifth-placed Cefn Druids automatically received a bye to the final of the playoffs where they faced the winner of the other two teams left in the playoffs, Cardiff Met or Barry Town. They beat Cardiff MU in the final to earn the final Europa place. [9]

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
Colours: 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's expulsion, there was just one semi-final, with fifth place Cefn gaining a bye to the final after Bala Town (who had finished 4th) took Bangor's place.

Semi-final

Cardiff Met 4–1 Barry Town United
Roscrow  26', 73'
Evans  30'
Sainty  43' (o.g.)		 Report Hood  89'
Cyncoed Campus
Attendance: 665
Referee: Dean John

Final

Cefn Druids 1–0 Cardiff Met
J.Davies  16'
Attendance: 779
Referee: Nick Pratt

Season statistics

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month Goal of the Month References
Manager Club Player Club Player Club
August Wales Alan Morgan Llandudno Wales Adam Roscrow Cardiff Met. England Brayden Shaw Bangor City
September Wales Scott Ruscoe The New Saints Wales Kayne McLaggon Barry Town United England Steven Hewitt Bangor City
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


References

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