2010–11 Welsh Premier League

The 2010–11 Welsh Premier League was the 19th season of the Welsh Premier League since its establishment in 1992 as the League of Wales. It was reduced to a size of 12 teams from this season following a unanimous decision by the Premier League clubs in June 2009.[1] The league season began on 13 August 2010[2] and ended on 30 April 2011.[3] The New Saints were the defending champions, but lost their crown to Bangor City.

Welsh Premier League
Season2010–11
ChampionsBangor City
RelegatedHaverfordwest County
Champions LeagueBangor City
Europa LeagueThe New Saints
Llanelli AFC
Neath
Matches played186
Goals scored639 (3.44 per match)
Top goalscorerRhys Griffiths (25)
Biggest home winBangor City 8–1 Port Talbot Town
The New Saints 7–0 Carmarthen Town
Biggest away winHaverfordwest County 0–4 Llanelli AFC
Neath 0–4 Llanelli AFC
Highest scoringBangor City 8–1 Port Talbot Town

Teams

Rhyl were denied the domestic licence for competing in this season's Welsh Premier League and were therefore relegated to the second tier. Welsh Premier League aspirants Llangefni Town (Cymru Alliance) and Afan Lido (Welsh Football League First Division) were also denied licences meaning that no team from the second tier was promoted. Since these three teams failed to obtain licences, the best three teams originally to be relegated, with all three obtaining their licences, were spared from relegation (Bala Town, Haverfordwest County and Newtown).[4] Rhyl became the third Championship winning side to be relegated after Barry Town and Cwmbran Town. Rhyl had had the highest home attendances in the league for the last seven seasons.

Team summaries
Team Ground Capacity
Aberystwyth Town Park Avenue 5,500
Airbus UK Broughton The Airfield 2,100
Bala Town Maes Tegid 3,000
Bangor City Farrar Road Stadium 1,500
Carmarthen Town Richmond Park 3,000
Haverfordwest County Bridge Meadow Stadium 2,000
Llanelli AFC Stebonheath Park 3,700
Neath The Gnoll 7,000
Newtown AFC Latham Park 5,000
Port Talbot Town Victoria Road 2,500
Prestatyn Town Bastion Road 2,500
The New Saints Park Hall 2,000

Managerial changes
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Incoming manager Date of appointment
Newtown Darren Ryan Stepped down 4 August 2010[5] Andy Cale 7 August 2010[6]
Haverfordwest County Derek Brazil Sacked 15 November 2010[7] Gavin Chesterfield 26 November 2010[8]
Haverfordwest County Gavin Chesterfield Resigned 28 February 2011[9] Derek Brazil 28 February 2011[10]

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Bangor City (C) 32 22 4 6 80 44 +36 70 Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2 The New Saints 32 20 8 4 87 34 +53 68 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3 Neath (O) 32 16 10 6 62 41 +21 58 Qualification for Europa League play-offs
4 Llanelli 32 15 8 9 58 41 +17 53 Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round[lower-alpha 1]
5 Prestatyn Town 32 10 10 12 44 46 −2 40 Qualification for Europa League play-offs
6 Port Talbot Town 32 8 12 12 37 48 −11 36
7 Aberystwyth Town 32 11 9 12 42 54 −12 42 Qualification for Europa League play-offs
8 Airbus UK Broughton 32 11 8 13 53 52 +1 41
9 Newtown 32 8 11 13 40 55 −15 35
10 Carmarthen Town 32 10 5 17 39 64 −25 35
11 Bala Town 32 10 3 19 41 57 −16 33 Spared from relegation[lower-alpha 2]
12 Haverfordwest County (R) 32 5 4 23 30 77 −47 19 Relegation to Welsh Division One
Source: BBC
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (R) Relegated.
Notes:
  1. Winners of 2010–11 Welsh Cup
  2. Bala Town were spared from relegation after 2010–11 Cymru Alliance champions Connah's Quay Nomads were denied a Premier League licence for the 2011–12 season.[11]

Results

Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups - the top six and the bottom six. Clubs in these groups played each other twice again to bring the total fixture count to 32. This meant a decrease in fixtures from 34 games to 32 from the previous season.

Matches 1–22
Home \ Away ABE AIR BAL BAN CMR HAV LLA NEA NEW PTA PRE TNS
Aberystwyth Town 2–1 2–1 1–3 2–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–0 0–2
Airbus UK Broughton 3–1 1–2 1–1 2–4 4–0 1–2 2–2 1–1 2–0 3–4 2–2
Bala Town 2–3 1–2 2–3 1–2 0–1 1–0 0–2 4–1 0–0 2–1 3–4
Bangor City 2–1 5–1 3–0 5–0 6–0 2–0 2–1 5–2 8–1 2–1 4–3
Carmarthen Town 2–3 1–4 4–1 0–1 2–2 1–3 0–3 1–1 1–3 2–1 1–3
Haverfordwest County 0–0 4–0 0–1 1–2 3–2 0–4 0–3 0–1 0–1 2–3 1–4
Llanelli 2–3 1–1 3–1 2–0 4–1 2–1 1–4 2–1 0–3 2–2 2–1
Neath 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–2 2–1 4–0 1–1 5–0 2–1 2–1 1–1
Newtown 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 0–0 3–6 0–0 1–0 2–2
Port Talbot Town 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–1 1–3 3–0 0–3 0–2
Prestatyn Town 4–0 1–1 2–0 4–2 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–0
The New Saints 5–0 2–0 2–1 2–2 7–0 6–1 2–0 3–1 4–0 6–1 5–2
Source: Welsh Premiership Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

UEFA Europa League play-offs

As Llanelli AFC had already been assured of a Europa League spot by virtue of playing in the 2010–11 Welsh Cup Final against Champions-League qualified Bangor City, third-placed Neath and fifth- through eighth-placed sides Port Talbot Town, Prestatyn Town, Aberystwyth Town and Airbus UK Broughton competed in the inaugural play-offs for the second 2011–12 UEFA Europa League spot available via league placement.[12] The winners of this play-off would go on to enter the Europa League in the first qualifying round.

Quarterfinal

Aberystwyth Town and Airbus UK Broughton, as worst-placed teams of the play-off participants, had to compete an extra match in order to reduce the teams for the semi-finals to four. The winners of this match would face Neath in the semi-final.

Aberystwyth Town2–1Airbus UK Broughton
Stott  60'
McCarten  85'		 Report  21' (pen) Sheridan
Attendance: 424

Semifinals

The semi-finals were held simultaneously on 15 May. Aberystwyth Town, having beaten Airbus, faced third-placed Neath in the first, while fifth-placed Prestatyn faced off against sixth-placed Port Talbot in the other.

Neath2–1Aberystwyth Town
Hughes  34'
Fowler  36'		 Report  89' McCarten
Attendance: 410
Referee: Huw Jones
Prestatyn Town2–1Port Talbot Town
Hunt  84'
Hayes  88'		 Report  29' Surman
Attendance: 383
Referee: Lee Evans

Final

The final was held at Neath's Gnoll, as they had finished higher than Prestatyn in the league and had therefore 'earned' home advantage. Neath won the game 3-2 and will play in the Europa League next season as a result.

Neath3–2Prestatyn Town
Bond  1'
Hill  55',  84'		  25' Hunt
 90' Fisher-Cooke
Attendance: 988
Referee: Kevin Morgan

Top goalscorers

Including matches played on 18 February 2011; Source: Soccerway

Rank Scorer Team Goals
1 Jamie Reed Bangor City 17
Rhys Griffiths Llanelli AFC 17
3 Matty Williams The New Saints 16
4 Lee Trundle Neath 15
5 Alan Bull Bangor City 12
Lee Hunt Prestatyn Town 12
7 Alex Darlington The New Saints 11
Richie Partridge The New Saints 11
9 Andy Moran Airbus UK Broughton 10
Dave Morley Bangor City 10

References
  1. "Clubs accept reduced Premier League". BBC online. 13 June 2009. Archived from the original on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  2. "Wales - Premier League fixtures and results". Soccerway.
  3. "Post-split fixture list released". Welsh Premier League official website. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  4. "Shock as Rhyl fail in licence bid". Archived from the original on 6 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  5. "Ryan walks out on the robins". welsh-premier.com. 5 August 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  6. "Cale confirmed as Newtown manager". welsh-premier.com. 7 August 2010. Retrieved 7 August 2010.
  7. "Haverfordwest sack Brazil". s4c.co.uk. 15 November 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  8. "Gavin Chesterfield takes over at Haverfordwest". walesonline.co.uk. 27 November 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2010.
  9. "Chesterfield's reign lasted three months". welsh-premier.com. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  10. "Brazil makes shock return to Haverfordwest". welsh-premier.com. 1 March 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  11. "Connah's Quay see Welsh Premier hopes dashed". Liverpool Daily Post. May 2011. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
  12. "Reds book Europa League return ticket". Welsh Premier League. Archived from the original on 6 September 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
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