Welsh EFL clubs seek FA approval for Europe plan

Wales’ four English Football League (EFL) clubs now only need to obtain the Football Association’s approval to make their “game-changing” plan a reality, making it closer to securing a chance to qualify for European football under the revamped Welsh League Cup.

As BBC Sport Wales revealed last October, Cardiff City, Swansea City, Wrexham and Newport County have been working with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) on “transformational” changes which could see them play in Europe under the Welsh flag for the first time in 30 years.

The four clubs would continue to play league and cup football in England under the proposals called Prosiect Cymru (Project Wales), but they would also sacrifice their ability to enter Europe via English competitions, as Swansea did when they won the EFL Cup in 2013 and played in the Europa League.

In an expanded Welsh League Cup, the Welsh EFL clubs would compete against 12 teams from the Cymru Premier – Wales’ top flight, with the winners advancing to the Europa Conference League.

The FAW released a mission statement on Monday that stated what it wanted to achieve with the revamped competition.

The FAW hopes that having the EFL clubs represent Wales in European competition will improve the nation’s currently 49th out of 55 Uefa coefficient ranking, which will increase revenue for the national team and raise the profile of the domestic game.

The New Saints, the reigning champions of the Cymru Premier League, were the first team from the Welsh pyramid to advance to the group stage of a significant European competition despite their propensity to struggle in Europe this season.

The FAW believes that by winning more money from Uefa, which would then be redistributed in Wales, Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, and Newport would improve Welsh performances in Europe.

Cymru Premier clubs, who would keep Wales ‘ routes to Champions League and Europa League qualification, support Prosiect Cymru “unanimously” and would stand to benefit from cup ties against their EFL rivals.

There would be the obvious appeal for EFL clubs to return to Europe, three decades after Wrexham were the last team to qualify via a domestic pathway when they participated in the 1995-96 Cup Winners’ Cup.

EFL clubs in Wales used to qualify through the Welsh Cup, and four of them have achieved notable European results. In a 2013 Europa League match, Swansea defeated Valencia in a 1971 match, Wrexham defeated Porto in the same competition in 1984, and Newport advanced to a Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final in 1981.

“It’s a game-changer for Welsh football,” FAW chief executive Noel Mooney told BBC Sport Wales. “This really does change the revenues of Welsh football.

It’s all about improving Welsh football and Wales. I have to thank the four English-language clubs that recognized the need for resources. We need better grassroots facilities, investments into the women’s game.

Prosiect Cymru’s fate now resides with the FA’s English-speaking counterparts.

Mooney hopes that these collaborations will encourage the FA to approve their plans for the Welsh League Cup because the two governing bodies have recently collaborated on projects like the UK and Ireland’s successful bid to host Euro 2028.

“We’ve had really productive and progressive discussions with the likes of Uefa, the Welsh Government, the UK Government and the FA”, he added.

“When I was growing up, I suppose I thought of them]FA] as, you know, the cigar smokers and the wood panelled rooms and the blazers making decisions that maybe suit themselves. They’ve moved on a lot. The FA now has some truly top operators.

They have done a fantastic job of modernizing the FA, making it clear that Wales benefits greatly and that there is no difference between the clubs when they compete. Everyone we spoke with has had a strong opinion of the idea.

Prosiect Cymru’s proposals have stirred impassioned debate since BBC Sport Wales first broke the story last year.

Unsurprisingly, the Welsh EFL clubs have praised the benefits of the new competition, but former Cymru Premier players and supporters of some of the EFL’s former English clubs have opposed the plans.

“It’s clearly not having your cake and eating it too because they]Welsh EFL clubs] would be resigning from playing in Europe through the English system”, Mooney responded.

“So if you’re an English club that play in the Championship, for example, you can win the Carabao Cup, you can win the FA Cup, you can go to Europe like that. They are stepping down from playing football for their own country in Europe.

The four largest cities in Wales are “these.” What other European nation would eliminate its four largest cities from the competition in Europe? It’s depriving Wales of tens of millions of pounds, to enable kids to play on good facilities, to enable grassroots clubs to emerge, to enable the women’s game to reach its full potential. It doesn’t make any sense.