LEAGUE HISTORY
The Ardal Southern League was formed as a result of the Pyramid Review, in line with the Football Association of Wales (FAW) 2020 Vision and Strategic Plan for Welsh Football. A working group was set up in 2014 by the National Game Board to review the Welsh Domestic Pyramid structure. The Pyramid League System would provide football clubs throughout Wales with a framework of competitive men’s football appropriate to their playing standards, ground facilities, geographical location and economic means, permitting seasonal promotion, relegation or lateral movement of clubs between the Tiers and the Divisions of the Tiers in an orderly manner.
In December 2017 the review concluded, with the FAW Council approving the new pyramid structure including Tier 3 and the formation of 4 divisions, to come into fruition for season 2020-2021.
The Tier 3 Southern League would be administered by a Board of Directors appointed by the FAW, who in turn appointed Viv Edwards (Chairman), Tony Griffiths (Treasurer), Martin Price (Secretary) and Lee James (Referees Officer) as the leagues first officers. Andrew George then was appointed by the FAW to replace Tony Griffiths as Treasurer, when the latter resigned. Subsequently, Neil Dymock was appointed as Media Officer by the Board.
64 clubs from across the country would make up the regional divisions, under a new identity of the Ardal Leagues. These consisted of Ardal Northern, with Ardal North East and Ardal North West Divisions, whilst Ardal Southern would include Ardal South East and Ardal South West Divisions.
In the bilingual naming system, Ardal translates as ‘Region’ and represents the four quarters of the country that feed into the national leagues of Cymru North and Cymru South, which in turn provides teams to the Cymru Premier at the pinnacle of the football pyramid.
In July 2020 it was announced that Ardal Southern would be sponsored by Floodlighting & Electrical, a company that has specialised in sports floodlighting for over 40 years.
Rhys Harrington, Director of Floodlighting & Electrical, said: “We were keen to align ourselves with an organisation that shares the same passion and values as Floodlighting & Electrical. In over 40 years of business providing floodlighting and electrical solutions to football clubs across Wales, we understand first-hand the value and life-line clubs can provide in the heart of communities, with challenging times ahead we are delighted to support the Football Association of Wales on providing for their customer needs. This is an exciting and rewarding partnership for everyone involved.”
To play in the Ardal leagues, clubs must obtain a Tier 3 Licence. The winners of each league are promoted to either the Cymru North or the Cymru South as long as they meet the FAW’s Tier 2 certification criteria. Subject to also meeting these criteria, the four runners-up clubs enter play-off matches with two of the clubs also gaining promotion, (one from the North and one from the South).
The Ardal Leagues structure replaced the former Tier 3 leagues: Welsh Football League, Mid Wales Football League, Welsh Alliance League and the Welsh National League, leagues based in South Wales, Mid Wales, North West Wales and North East Wales respectively.
Relegation from the Ardal Leagues is to six local Tier 4 leagues, with three clubs relegated from each of the Tier 3 leagues at the end of the season. The tier 4 leagues are run by each of the Area Associations of Welsh Football, the West Wales Football Association, the South Wales Football Association, the Gwent County Football Association, the Central Wales Football Association, the North East Wales Football Association and the North Wales Coast Football Association.
On 10th July 2020 the FAW confirmed the 64 teams in the new Tier 3 leagues. In an attempt to avoid dividing the current Mid-Wales teams across all four leagues, the North-East League would contain a large contingent of the Mid-Wales teams. The North-West League contained the sides near the North Wales coast. After confirmation of their inclusion STM Sports announced on 27th July that they had resigned from the league, leaving only 15 sides in the Ardal Southern South West Division. On 3rd August it was confirmed that Cardiff Draconians had been promoted from the South Wales Alliance League to fill the remaining place in the league.
In August 2020, Gary Thomas (South West) and Scott Packer (South East) were elected by the clubs to represent them at the Ardal Southern meetings with the Board of Directors. While Macron were also announced as the official domestic Match Ball Sponsor for Tiers 1-3.
Since COVID-19-originated restrictions were put in place by the FAW, as from 10th August, clubs could have trained in groups of 15 and contact training would have been allowed at all-levels of football. However, competitive and exhibition matches were still not allowed to take place. Consequently, the FAW decided to cancel what was to be the Ardal Leagues’ inaugural 2020–21 season on 4 February 2021.
With all the Ardal Southern clubs obtaining a Tier 3 licence for 2021-22 season, the Ardal Southern League kicked off with their first round of games on the 30th& 31st July 2021.
