North Wales

The area is home to two of the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Wales. These are Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and canal[8] and, collectively, the Edwardian castles and town walls of the region[9] which comprise those at Caernarfon, Beaumaris,[10] Conwy and Harlech. It also shares with Powys and Ceredigion the distinction of hosting the only UNESCO Biosphere (from Man and Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development) reserve in Wales, namely, Biosffer Dyfi Biosphere.

For local administration, the region is made up of the following 6 principal areas, consisting of counties, and county boroughs, they are: the Isle of Anglesey (Ynys Môn), Conwy County Borough (Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy), Denbighshire (Sir Ddinbych), Flintshire (Sir y Fflint), Gwynedd, and Wrexham County Borough (Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam). Montgomeryshire, part of the modern principal area of Powys, is historically considered part of North Wales, however Powys as a whole is commonly considered Mid Wales.

North Wales can be further split into regional groupings (also called regions or sub-regions), these are simply groups of the principal areas, used for local news (e.g. BBC), and town and country planning. North Wales is split into 2 (or 3) groupings: North East Wales (Denbighshire, Flintshire, Wrexham), and North West Wales (Anglesey, Conwy, Gwynedd). Montgomeryshire is historically considered part of North Wales, however as part of Powys is considered Mid Wales.

In addition to the six principal areas, North Wales is also divided into the following preserved counties for various ceremonial purposes: Clwyd (comprising Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham), and Gwynedd (comprising Gwynedd and Isle of Anglesey)

Preserved counties are based on the counties created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996, during this period, Montgomeryshire was part of Powys, which remains as the same county today. Therefore, commonly counted as Mid Wales.

These are the oldest of the counties of North Wales, used over centuries. North Wales contained 6 counties, during these times: Anglesey, Caernarfonshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire.

The north of Wales was traditionally divided into three regions: Upper Gwynedd (or Gwynedd above the Conwy), defined as the area north of the River Dyfi and west of the River Conwy); Lower Gwynedd (or Gwynedd below the Conwy), also known as the Perfeddwlad ("the middle country") and defined as the region east of the River Conwy and west of the River Dee; and Ynys Môn (or Anglesey), a large island off the north coast.

Between 1979 and 1994, all of North Wales (including Montgomery) was a single European Parliament constituency (EPC), the North Wales European Parliament Constituency. In 1994, minor border changes put parts of Montgomeryshire in the neighbouring Mid and West Wales constituency. In 1999, both of the constituencies ceased, when it was absorbed into the larger Wales constituency until 2020 when it was subsequently abolished following the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on 31 January 2020.

• 1979 - 1994
  • North Wales EPC
• 1994 - 1999
  • North Wales EPC
  • Mid and West Wales EPC
• 1999 - 2020
  • Wales EPC

An electoral region for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), shares the name North Wales, yet does not cover all of North Wales, only the northeast of Wales (specifically the entire area of the former pre-1996 county of Clwyd) as well as the northernmost coastal areas of north-western Wales; the rest of North Wales is covered by the Mid and West Wales constituency.

The division with the rest of Wales is arbitrary and depends on the particular use being made. For example, the boundary of North Wales Police differs from the boundary of the North Wales area of the Natural Resources Wales and the North Wales Regional Transport Consortium (Taith).

The historic boundary follows the pre-1996 county boundaries of Merionethshire and Denbighshire which in turn closely follow the geographic features of the River Dyfi to Aran Fawddwy, then crossing the high moorlands following the watershed until reaching Cadair Berwyn and then following the River Rhaeadr and River Tanat to the Shropshire border.

The most common definition is that North Wales ends at the peripheries of the northern 6 principal areas, therefore the border is between Wrexham - Powys, Denbighshire - Powys, Gwynedd - Powys, and Gwynedd - Ceredigion (over the River Dyfi).

Map of the North Wales road network (and major sea routes)

The main roads spanning across North Wales, mostly span east to west, especially along the North Wales coast. This is mainly due to the mountainous terrain in the middle of Wales, leading most north-south connections to be slower, leading to diversions onto north-south roads in England. The emphasis of east-west roadways has led to North Wales having closer connections with North West England (centred on Liverpool & Manchester) rather than with South Wales.

Roads spanning from connections in England towards the Irish Sea in the west:

Described as "North Wales' most notorious road", the A55 or the "North Wales Expressway", is a dual carriageway primary road in Britain from the M53 near Chester to Holyhead, along the North Wales coast and passing Deeside, Llandudno Junction, Conwy and Bangor. It is an economic lifeline for North Wales, and the second most important road in all of Wales, only to the M4 in South Wales.[12] The road connects to the Port of Holyhead, which provides ferry connections to the Republic of Ireland. The majority of the road is part of the E-road network as E22 (until Ewloe), and is a dual carriageway, grade-separated, for its entire 88-mile length.

The A5, or the "London-Holyhead Trunk Road", is a major road in North Wales, originating from London and multiplexing with the M54 near Telford, and then Shrewsbury, it enters Wales by crossing the River Ceiriog and reaches Chirk, before continuing through Snowdonia, passing Llangollen, Corwen, Betws-y-Coed and reaching the centre of Bangor. The road then crosses the Menai Suspension Bridge towards Anglesey, then running roughly parallel to the A55, ending near the Port of Holyhead. The route is now more scenic, with its historical importance as a connection between London and the Port of Holyhead, superseded by the A55.

A458

The A458 is a road from Halesowen, West Midlands, which then bypasses Shrewsbury, enters Wales near Middletown (near Trewern), and continues on to Welshpool, Llanfair Caereinion before ending at Mallwyd, Gwynedd. It is a single carriageway for its entire length in Wales.

A494

The A494 or officially the "Dolgellau to South of Birkenhead Trunk Road", is a trunk road which spans from the terminus of the M56 near Saughall, Cheshire, the dual-carriageway then continues into Wales, crossing through to Queensferry, before reaching the Ewloe interchange with the A55, this section of the road from Saughall is part of the E-road E22. It then becomes a single-carriageway continuing through to Mold, and Ruthin, before multiplexing with the A5 near Corwen. It enters Snowdonia National Park, near Bala, passes Llyn Tegid, then terminates at Dolgellau.

Roads spanning from South Wales towards the North Wales coast or Northern England:

The A483, officially the "Swansea to Manchester Trunk Road", is a major road, historically originating in Manchester. It currently starts in Chester, then becomes a dual carriageway when intersecting with the A55, continuing to Rossett, Wrexham and Ruabon. The A483 becomes a single-carriageway again at Ruabon interchange, before multiplexing with the A5 near Chirk and crossing into England. It re-emerges near Oswestry, and crosses back into Wales near Llanymynech, then passing Welshpool, Newtown and through to Swansea in South Wales.

The A470, also known as the "Cardiff to Glan Conwy Trunk Road" is a road which links Cardiff with Llandudno. The entire route in North Wales is single carriageway. From Llandudno, it intersects the A55, before passing down the Conwy valley, passing Glan Conwy, Tal-y-Cafn and Llanrwst. It then enters Snowdonia, through to Betws-y-Coed, where it crosses the A5, onto Blaenau Ffestiniog, Dolgellau, Mallwyd, Caersws (near Newtown) and Llangurig, before continuing to Cardiff.

The A487, officially the "Fishguard to Bangor Trunk Road" is a trunk road, spanning from Bangor to Haverfordwest. It starts near the Menai Suspension Bridge, then intersects with the A55, before passing through Caernarfon, Penygroes, Porthmadog and Penrhyndeudraeth, where it enters Snowdonia, finally it multiplexes with the A470 near Gellilydan. It re-emerges near Dolgellau, towards Machynlleth, before continuing to Aberystwyth, and Haverfordwest in South West Wales. It is a single carriageway for its entire length.

The Port of Holyhead, on the isle of Anglesey, is the main commercial and ferry port in North Wales.

The port had the third-largest volume of freight traffic, in Wales, in 2018 (5.2 million tonnes), after Milford Haven and Port Talbot, and it is the main port for freight and sea passenger transport with the Republic of Ireland, handling more than 2 million passengers each year. 81% of freight traffic going through Welsh ports to the Republic of Ireland, and 75.5% of sea passenger traffic between Wales and the Republic of Ireland went through Holyhead in 2018. Historically, there were two routes between Holyhead and the Irish ports of Dublin and Dun Laoghaire. The route to Dun Laoghaire was the most popular in 1998 with over 1.7 million passengers ferried, however following a consistent decline in passenger traffic, it was removed in 2015. The other route to Dublin saw an overall increase in passenger numbers from just over 1 million in 1998 to just over 1.9 million in 2018, an increase of 82%.

A Mostyn-Dublin ferry service once existed, on the now Liverpool-Dublin route, attracting a peak of 48,000 passengers in 2003, before being discontinued in 2004.[13]

The public rail network of North Wales is largely split into two, a northern branch, and a central branch, leaving Snowdonia in between the two, the public rail network is managed by Network Rail. The rail network of North Wales used to more extensive with both North and Central (British Rail) branches being once connected within Welsh borders. The Beeching Cuts in the 1960s greatly reduced the rail network across all of Great Britain, leaving the current network today. The numerous heritage railways scattered across North Wales, show the areas where railways once ran through.

The majority of lines operated in Wales is part of the Wales & Borders franchise, the current operator is Transport for Wales (Welsh: Trafnidiaeth Cymru), although some services (from Holyhead and Wrexham) are operated by the West Coast Partnership operator, Avanti West Coast.

According to StatsWales, the number of rail journeys across the 6 principal areas of North Wales, made in 2017-18 was 1.4 million, an increase of 20,525 from 2007-8. The largest share of these rail journeys, at 38.4%, was within the boundaries of Gwynedd. Conwy, on the other hand, was the principal area which saw the greatest increase in rail journeys as a percentage of journeys over the ten-year period, at 22.5%. The least amount rail journeys in 2018-19 was in Anglesey.

As of 2020, there as 66 rail stations within the boundaries of the 6 northern principal areas, of which 2 are among the 20 busiest stations in Wales, Rhyl, and Bangor.[14] 41 of the rail stations are stations of the North Wales lines, whereas the remaining 25 are stations of the Mid Wales lines, specifically the Cambrian Line. There is a total of 5 rail routes in North Wales, the North Wales Coast Line, the Shrewsbury—Chester Line, the Conwy Valley Line, the Borderlands Line (all part of the North Wales lines) and the Cambrian Line. All 5 routes together in 2018-19 had approximately 5,295,602 entries and exits through the 66 stations.[15]

Map of the rail network in North Wales

The lines which intersect the North Wales Coast line.

North Wales Coast Line

The North Wales Coast Line is the main rail line serving North Wales. It branches off the West Coast Main Line (line from London Euston to Glasgow Central) at Crewe, proceeding west via stations such as: Chester, Shotton (low level), Prestatyn, Rhyl, Colwyn Bay, Llandudno Junction, Bangor and Holyhead, connecting with Irish Ferries and Stena Line ferry services to Dublin Port in the Republic of Ireland. The majority of services on this line are operated by Transport for Wales, with services between Holyhead, and London Euston (via the West Coast Main Line) operated by Avanti West Coast.[16] The busiest station in 2017-18 on the line was Bangor, with Rhyl second, and the least busy being Tŷ Croes, with the least busy non-request stop being Abergele & Pensarn.[17]

Conwy Valley Line

The Conwy Valley Line branches off the North Wales Coast line at Llandudno Junction, heading north to Llandudno and south to Blaenau Ffestiniog. All services are operated by Transport for Wales. The busiest station in 2017-18 on the line was Llandudno Junction, with Dolgarrog being the least busy.[17]

Shrewsbury—Chester Line

The Shrewsbury—Chester line, connects Chester with Wrexham General, Ruabon, Chirk, Gobowen (for Oswestry) and Shrewsbury. Most services are operated by Transport for Wales, with the Wrexham General—London Euston service (via the West Coast Main Line) operated by Avanti West Coast. A former open-access operator Wrexham & Shropshire, used to provide a Wrexham General—London Marylebone service until 2011. The busiest station in 2017-18 on the line is Wrexham General, with Chirk being the least busy.[17]

Borderlands Line

The Borderlands Line, intersects the Shrewsbury—Chester line at Wrexham General, branching south to Wrexham Central (where it terminates), and north to Bidston (Birkenhead), and the North Wales Coast Line at Shotton. It passes, from Bidston; Upton, Heswall, Neston, Hawarden Bridge [rs], Shotton (high level), Hawarden, Buckley, Penyffordd, Hope, Caergwrle, Cefn-y-Bedd, Gwersyllt, Wrexham General, and Wrexham Central. Bidston connects to the Wirral line, providing Merseyrail services, west to West Kirby, and east to Liverpool Central. All services on the Borderlands line are operated by Transport for Wales, but there are talks of further integration of the line into the Merseyrail, with new trains, and proposals for the electrification of the line. The busiest station in 2017-18 on the line is Wrexham General, with Hawarden Bridge being the least busy.[17]

The Cambrian Coast section of the Cambrian Line, goes up into North Wales.

Cambrian Line

The Cambrian Line connects Shrewsbury (where it connects to the Shrewsbury—Chester, Welsh Marches, and Wolverhampton—Shrewsbury lines), westwards with Mid Wales and towns along Cardigan Bay. The line is commonly split into two sections, the section from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth is sometimes referred to as the Cambrian Main Line, with the Cambrian Coast Line, splitting off from this line at Dovey Junction, heading northwest to Pwllheli. The busiest station in 2017-18 on the main line was Aberystwyth, least being Dovey Junction, and on the coast line the busiest station was Barmouth, with the least being Tygwyn.[17]

Welsh Marches Line (to South Wales)

The Welsh Marches Line connects Crewe to Newport, via Shrewsbury, with services from Holyhead usually continuing to Cardiff Central. It forms part of the North Wales South Wales service, along with the Shrewsbury—Chester, North Wales Coast Line, and South Wales Main Line. These lines form the main rail connection between North Wales and South Wales. The Holyhead—Cardiff Central service is operated by Transport for Wales.

Chester provides the main travel connections for the North Wales Coast, as a major transport hub. From Chester (and Wrexham General at limited times), via the Halton Curve, direct trains run to Liverpool Lime Street, linking to the Merseyrail. Services to Manchester Piccadilly from Chester, via the Chester—Manchester line for Transport for Wales services, and the Mid—Cheshire line for Northern services, in addition to the Northern service to Leeds, provide North Wales' connections to Northern England.

Shrewsbury provides the main travel connections for passengers from the Cambrian line (and those communting south from other North Wales stations), providing services through England to Crewe, Birmingham International, and Birmingham New Street, and via the Heart of Wales line, services to Llanelli.

At Tywyn station on the Cambrian line, the Talyllyn Railway operates from the nearby Tywyn Wharf to Nant Gwernol, further into Snowdonia.

At Fairbourne, there is the short Fairbourne Railway, connecting Fairbourne with Barmouth Ferry.

At Welshpool, there is the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway, connecting to Llanfair Caereinion.

At Llanberis there is the Snowdon Mountain Railway, which runs from SMR station to the summit on Snowdon, and Llanberis Lake Railway, which runs from LLR to Penllyn, along Llyn Padarn.

The Bala Lake Railway provides a scenic journey alongside Llyn Tegid / Bala Lake, from Bala (Penybont) to Llanuwchllyn.

The Llangollen Railway, which so far links Llangollen to Corwen.

The Ffestiniog Railway connects Blaenau Ffestiniog to Minffordd (for Portmerion) on the Cambrian Coast Line, and Porthmadog Harbour, where it connects to the Welsh Highland Railway to Caernarfon.

The short Corris Railway from Corris to Maespoeth.

The Rhiw Valley Light Railway, near Berriew.

The Vale of Rheidol Railway, from Aberystwyth to Devil's Bridge, just outside North Wales, in Ceredigion.

The Gobowen to Oswestry, Cambrian Heritage Railways is working on reopening the lines.

The Anglesey Central Railway is also being slowly restored.

In Llandudno, the Great Orme Tramway links to the Great Orme. It is the only remaining cable-operated street tramway in Great Britain, and one of only a few surviving in the world.

According to Statistics for Wales (StatsWales),[1] the North Wales region, consists of the 6 northern principal areas, and statistics provided by StatsWales only include these 6 areas. In 2018, the estimated population of the region was 698,400 people. North Wales exhibits the evenest distribution of population across the local authorities of any of the 4 statistical regions of Wales, with 4 of the 6 authorities home to over 100,000 residents, Flintshire, Wrexham, Gwynedd and Conwy. Flintshire is the most populated principal area of North Wales, home to an estimated 155,600 people, with the Isle of Anglesey being the least populated with an estimated 70,000 people.[1]

In 2018, North Wales has an estimated population density of 113.6 persons per square kilometre. Flintshire is the most densely populated of the 6 areas, at 355.6 persons per km², with Gwynedd being the least dense principal area at 49.0 persons per km². Between 2008, and 2018, the population density of North Wales grew by 2.3%, the third-highest rate of population density growth of the 4 statistical regions of Wales. Gwynedd, with 3.7% growth, had the highest population density growth rate in North Wales, whereas the Isle of Anglesey had the lowest population density growth rate at 0.1% from 2008 to 2018.[1]

The population growth for the region between 1998 and 2018 was 6.3%, however, the rate was lower between 2008 and 2018, than 1998 and 2008. Conwy was the area with the highest population growth rate for the two decades at 8%, with Isle of Anglesey having the smallest growth rate at just over 3%.

Population settlements

North Wales' largest settlement (locality) is Wrexham, at 65,692 people in the 2011 census. Data from the census details that North Wales has a lower number and proportion of residents living in settlements of 25,000 or more, than South East and South West Wales, but higher than Mid Wales. StatsWales attributes this to North Wales' lack of a settlement of a population higher than 100,000 people.[1]

Age

North Wales has an ageing population, as the proportion of residents over 65 has increased from 18.5% to 23.0%, and the proportion of the population under 15 has decreased from 19.8% to 17.8%.[1]

Dialect

North Wales has a distinct regional identity.[18] Its dialect of the Welsh language differs from that of other regions, such as South Wales, in some ways: for example llefrith is used in most of the North instead of llaeth for "milk"; a simple sentence such as go upstairs now might be Dos i fyny'r grisiau rŵan in North Wales, and Cer lan y stâr nawr in South Wales. Colloquially, a person from North Wales (especially one who speaks with this dialect or accent) is known as a North Walian, or a Gog (from the Welsh gogledd, meaning "north"). There are Welsh medium schools scattered all across North Wales, ranging from primary to secondary schools.

According to the 2011 census, there were 204,406 Welsh-speakers aged three and over in North Wales. Data from the Annual Population Survey, stated that Gwynedd had the largest proportion of speakers in North Wales and Wales as a whole, with 75.6% of residents aged 3 and over saying they can speak Welsh. Flintshire had the lowest rate of Welsh in North Wales, with only 22.5% saying they can speak it. North Wales is the most Welsh-speaking region of the 4 statistical regions of Wales, at 41.9% of the population speaking Welsh in the year ending September 2019, up approximately 2.4% from September 2009. However, Flintshire is one of 2 principal areas in Wales where the rate of Welsh has decreased over the past decade.[1]

The 6 counties of North Wales are all part of the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), it is the largest of the local health boards which divide up NHS Wales services in Wales. Formed from the merger of the North Wales NHS Trust (itself a merger of North East Wales, and Conwy & Denbighshire NHS Trusts), the North West Wales NHS Trust, and the Local Health Boards of the six counties of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, and Wrexham.

There are 3 main district general hospitals in North Wales; Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor, Ysbyty Glan Clwyd Hospital in Bodelwyddan, and Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Each hospital are the main centre of healthcare for west, central, and east parts of North Wales respectively. North Wales additionally has a network of 22 acute and community hospitals, with patients commonly referred to hospitals in England for rare, more specialised treatment, unavaliable under BCUHB, notably to Countess of Chester, Royal Liverpool University, and Royal Shrewsbury hospitals.

In 2016 the UK Government invited North Wales to submit a Growth Deal Bid, to "create thousands of jobs, boost the economy, improve transport and communication links, focus on renewable energy, support tourism and more". A bid was prepared by the North Wales Business Council, which consists of the Leaders and Chief Executives of the 6 councils, the Vice Chancellors of Wrexham Glyndŵr University and Bangor University the Chief Executives of Coleg Cambria and Grwp Llandrillo Menai, and North Wales Mersey Dee Business Council.[20] In the 2018 budget Philip Hammond announced that £120M would be made available by the UK Government to support the Growth Deal.[21] In December 2018, Ken Skates confirmed that the Welsh Government would match the UK Government funding, and also offered to match any additional funding support which the UK Government might make available.[22] In November 2019 the Heads of Terms Agreement for the North Wales Growth Deal was signed by the representatives of the North Wales Economic Ambition Board, Alun Cairns the UK Government Secretary of State for Wales, and Eluned Morgan, Baroness Morgan of Ely on behalf of Welsh Government.[23]

Two daily newspapers are published in the region. The region-wide "North Wales edition" of the Daily Post, based at Bryn Eirias on Colwyn Bay's Abergele Road,[24] is distributed from Monday to Saturday, whilst The Leader (formerly the Evening Leader) publishes two editions for Wrexham and Flintshire and is based at the headquarters of Newsquest in Mold after NWN Media Ltd dissolved after existing since 1920.[25]

Additionally, nine weekly newspapers provide local and community news:

The weekly Aberystwyth-based Cambrian News covers southern Gwynedd and publishes separate editions for the Arfon/Dwyfor and Meirionydd districts.

A weekly Welsh-language newspaper, Y Cymro is published each week by the Cambrian News from its Porthmadog office alongside two localised Welsh titles, Y Cyfnod (Bala) and Y Dydd (Dolgellau). Yr Herald Gymraeg is distributed by Trinity Mirror as a pull-out section in the Wednesday edition of the Daily Post. There are also 24 Papurau Bro (area papers) providing community news and generally published each month.

A number of hyper-local websites in the area provide locally sourced news online. In Conwy county, BaeColwyn.com has provided Welsh language coverage of the Colwyn Bay area since 2011 and AbergelePost.com has been serving the Abergele area since 2010. Wrexham.com is a full-time operation covering Wrexham and the surrounding area, and is based at offices in Wrexham town centre. A full-time citizen led online news site Deeside.com started in early 2013 and covers Connah's Quay, Mancot, Pentre, Shotton, Queensferry, Sealand, Broughton, Hawarden, Ewloe, Sandycroft and parts of Saltney.

Although no BBC local radio stations exist in Wales, the corporation's national services BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Cymru cover the region from their broadcasting centres in Bangor, and Wrexham. The Bangor studios produce a large number of Radio Cymru programmes with some music and feature output for Radio Wales originating from Wrexham.

Three commercial radio stations serve the area — Capital North West and Wales broadcasts local drivetime programming for Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire and Conwy county as well as Cheshire and the Wirral with a Welsh language opt-out service for the former Coast FM area on 96.3 FM. Capital Cymru airs an extended local programming service, predominantly in the Welsh language, for Gwynedd and Anglesey. Across the entire region, Heart North Wales also airs local peak-time programming in English, including an extended news programme on weeknights. All three stations broadcast from studios in Gwersyllt on the outskirts of Wrexham.

Three community radio stations broadcast on FM — Calon FM serving Wrexham County Borough and parts of southern Flintshire, Tudno FM broadcasting to Llandudno & surrounding areas and Môn FM across the Isle of Anglesey and parts of Gwynedd. Radio Glan Clwyd - an extension of hospital service Radio Ysbyty Glan Clwyd - broadcasts on 1287 AM in the Bodelwyddan, St Asaph, Rhuddlan, Towyn and Kinmel Bay areas.

Towards the western side of North Wales, local hills mean national BBC FM coverage can be quite poor, often suffering interference from Irish stations from the west.

News coverage of North Wales is generally provided within the BBC's Wales Today, Newyddion and Ffeil programmes (the latter two broadcast on S4C) and on ITV's ITV News Cymru Wales. BBC Cymru Wales news teams are based at the corporation's Bangor and Wrexham studios, while ITV Cymru Wales runs a newsroom in Colwyn Bay.

S4C has an administrative office in Caernarfon, where a cluster of independent production companies are also based or partly based including Rondo Media, Cwmni Da, Antena, Owain Roberts Animations and Tinopolis.

Wrexham A.F.C. play in the English football league system; having been a member of the Football League for over 80 years, in 2008 they were relegated into the Conference National for the first time in their existence. They now play in the Vanarama National League. They remain the highest-ranked team in the region, and play at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham and train at Colliers Park, Gresford.

Several teams including Bangor City F.C. have appeared in UEFA competitions, playing within the semi-professional domestic leagues the Welsh Premier League and the Cymru Alliance.

Due to the proximity of North Wales to the North West of England, support for the English clubs of Liverpool F.C., Everton F.C. and Manchester United F.C. has been historically strong.

Wales was represented in the Super League by the Crusaders RL, they re-located to Wrexham for the 2010 season from South Wales. They played at the Racecourse Ground and trained at Stansty Park both in Wrexham before folding in 2011. They have now been replaced by the Championship 1 side, North Wales Crusaders.

North Wales has its own amateur league, the North Wales Championship.

In September 2008 it was announced by the Welsh Rugby Union that a development team based in North Wales would be created, with a long-term goal of becoming the fifth Welsh team in the Celtic League.[26] It was envisaged that this would both help the growth of the game in the area, and provide a larger pool of players for the Welsh national team to be selected from.[27] The team was named RGC 1404.