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Opinion

Should club football in Wales switch to playing during the summer months?

By Emily Price
A club football match on a rainy day

Mike Hedges - MS for Swansea East

In Wales as the rest of Britain football has always been a winter sport but with the changing weather caused by global warming local football matches are continually called off.

Noel Mooney, the head of the Football Association of Wales has hinted at a possible trial after it was revealed around 6,000 matches were called-off over the winter.

The Swansea senior league premier division consists of twelve teams who play twenty-two league games. The season is planned to finish at the end of April.

At the end of March, Llangyfelach have played nine league games leaving thirteen league games to be played by the end of this month.

Waunarlwydd Galaxy - who have played the most games - have played seventeen games leaving five games to be played by the end of April. Llangyfelach only played two games in December, January, and February.

In the First division Sandfields have played thirteen league games leaving nine to play in April. The African community centre have played eighteen league games leaving four to be played in April.

Only twenty-nine games were played in December, January and February with Sandfields only playing three league games in the three months.

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Climate change

In an interview with BBC Wales, Mr Mooney admitted the need to “adjust for climate change” and said he would be open to seeing different parts of Wales – or age groups – trialling the idea of playing football matches in the summer months.

The question is how would summer football affect other sports. In east Swansea there are three cricket clubs with eight teams between them. One club has its own ground and one of the others uses a ground football is not played on. The maximum number of council cricket pitches needed where football is also played is three.

Summer football is coming to Northern Ireland, and it could be ready to commence in the next three years, with NIFL chief executive Gerard Lawlor declaring that the prospect of a change in schedule to the season will bring much soul searching and could lead to some clubs deciding to leave the Irish League.

Lawlor was speaking as the Northern Ireland Football League unveiled its new five-year strategic plan in a document titled ‘A Bold and Brighter Future for Professional Football.’

The League of Ireland Premier Division  is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division was formed in 1985 following a reorganisation of the League of Ireland.

There are ten clubs in the Premier Division. During the course of a season from February to November each club plays the others four times.

The Welsh Premier champions enter the qualifying stages of the Champions League, with the runners-up entering for the first qualifying round of the Europa League, along with the winners of the end-of-season play-offs.

Wetter winters

A place in the second qualifying round of the Europa League is awarded to the winners of the Welsh Cup. If the winners of the Welsh Cup have already qualified for Europe via their league placing, the eighth-placed team takes their place in the Welsh Premier play-offs.

This season TNS who are the most successful team in the Welsh Premier league were knocked out of the champions league competition on the 13th July by Linfield.

The options for football in Wales are:

Continue as we are now but accept climate change and wetter winters leading to months in mid-winter of very few local league football matches.

Trial a season from March to November with one or more local leagues.

Trial the Welsh premiership as a summer league so that the first-round champions league games take place during the season.

Have a mid-winter break in December, January, and February.

All are viable options, but I would prefer trialling either an official mid-winter break or a summer league.

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11 comments

Johnny Gamble

I think that moving the Wesh Prem to the summer would be a good idea.If it's good enough for the League of Ireland then it's good enough for Cymru.It must have been a success in the ROI as the Irish League in Northern Ireland are about to follow the example. For the Welsh Prem this will boost attendances as there will be no competition for fans who already follow Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham plus North Wales has always been a pull for football fans to travel to Manchester or Liverpool. Hopefully this will make it easier for Welsh Prem clubs to have a better run in Europe. As for a mid winter break I'm definitely not in favour of that for 2 reasons.If you believe the global warming lobby then according to them Winters are getting Milder plus it's common to have games called off in November and March let alone December, January and February.

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Richard Thomas

It's by no means certain the Northern Ireland would follow the Irish Republic on this. NI crowds are far higher per capita than ROI despite Derry playing cross-border. Also the NI proposal is a May to February season, so more a shifted season than a radical change. The hard fact in terms of support is that people are not failing to turn up because they're going Anfield or Old Trafford, they're not going to watch Premier League football but turning up because they have a poor opinion of the standard of the Welsh domestic game. I know from watching it that Cymru Premier football is good quality football, far better than the crowd size would imply, and offers genuinely good value. Other people often don't know this. We need to improve the public perception of the League, but for as long as TNS dominate I fear that won't happen. I was at last season's Welsh Cup final at Bangor (I don't support Bala either, I support our game), the match officials got louder applause collecting their medals than TNS did. That's the real problem, there's no competition and it's killing interest.

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Johnny Gamble

The reason why Derry City play in the ROI is down to logistical reasons with a club in The Bogside it was always going to be a powder keg playing Loyalist teams. Anyway the attendances of The League of Ireland aren't that bad considering that unlike Cymru there's 4 National Sports in The ROI if you include Rugby, Gaelic Football and Hurling. As for the Welsh Prem this is the age we live in and like it or not money talks and it's not the fault of TNS that they are in the position that they are in. As for crowds summer football would help the Welsh Prem as there are fans who would watch any level of football providing there's no competition elsewhere. I can remember when Swansea City used to play at Vetch Field in the old 3rd and 4th Division. Now the Swansea local league at the time was something like the 3rd biggest local league in The UK. Yet when games were played by the Swans on Friday nights at the Vetch they had much bigger crowds than what they used to get on Saturday at 3 o'clock.

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In reply to Johnny Gamble

Richard Thomas

The kind of football fanatic who will watch football more-or-less anywhere as long as there's a game on does exist, but they're incredibly rare (I know because I am one, and most of my fellow season ticket holders at my club are not like me and only care about their team). Even then they often do something else in the summer, like go on holiday, watch cricket, go hiking. It doesn't follow they'll want to watch football without a break. Yes I know why Derry play cross border, but the reason is irrelevant as it doesn't change the fact that even after factoring in one of NI's biggest clubs playing in the Republic the per capita crowds in NI are far higher. As for watching football if there is no competition elsewhere, what competition for fans exists in Aberystwyth, Caernarfon, Haverfordwest or Newtown? These places aren't full of people trundling off to England or Cardiff and Swansea. How do you think the English pyramid copes with having the Premier League on the doorstep? Crowds in English non League football at fairly modest teams like Leek Town would be very impressive in the Welsh system, and the English pyramid is booming in terms of support while the Cymru Premier is flatlining. As for TNS, there really should be financial fair play rules to prevent a team buying the title. It's just a vicious circle, they walk the League, claim their Euro money and so it goes on ad infinitum. The Cymru Premier itself needs better marketing and promotion, we should try that before we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

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In reply to Richard Thomas

Johnny Gamble

English non league football has had the problem with Big City Super clubs for well over a Century yet they don't whinge about it, they have learnt to live with it. As for TNS you mention there should be Financial Fair play rules, There should be lots of things but life in general doesn't work out like that. I'm not going to repeat my on The Irish League Vs League of Ireland,as someone who has family heritage from The North of Ireland I know that football in NI has zero competition from other sports. If you want to mention other activities then you only have to look at RFL supper league, they have switched to summer and they aren't going back. I don't know if you read my comment on Swansea City having bigger attendances on Friday than Saturday I know this for a fact as I used to stand on The North Bank on a Friday Night with scores of people who were involved in local football on Saturdays.

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In reply to Johnny Gamble

Richard Thomas

You're not the only one with Irish connections. I follow Cliftonville and I know with the exception of my team that literally half of the population in the North has very little do with football except for Celtic, while a fair proportion the other half go en masse to Ibrox every other week. However as you say about English non-League clubs not whingeing but learning to live with it. They've taken it head on and not changed to summer football. I feel this is the approach our game needs. Tackle it head on, market it as something worth watching in it's own right instead of the inferior alternative. I did read your comments about Swansea City, but didn't follow them up as they're in a different context, a well established EFL club trying to bolster support among people who might want to come but can't on a Saturday, but on hindsight maybe there's a lesson in it we can apply. Perhaps Fridays are a better approach than summer football. What we need is for people who don't watch our domestic game to start watching it and continue to watch it, not for three summer months when Swansea (or the EFL clubs I'm general) aren't playing, but every single month of the season. Getting regulars at the big club to watch football elsewhere when not already in local football is the hard part. Maybe Friday football can be part of that, I know Llanelli have done it all season. I must get down to Steboneath and try it next season. The Welsh domestic football system needs to break from it's inferiority complex. The argument seems to be "we should move to summer to pick up a handful of people who'd only come along if they don't have the option to do what they actually want to do." We should be trying to market the Cymru Premier as a quality product in it's own right and not something you watch when there's nothing better to do. Anyway, I've said my piece and I hope you read my comments in a spirit of lively debate and not arguement. We clearly both want the best for our game even if we don't agree on exactly how. Have a good weekend of football if you get chance take a game in, I'll be at Jenner Park on Saturday.

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Richard Thomas

The obvious elephant in the room being missed here is that if you move football to accommodate projected future climates, the summers might not be conducive to playing football in (heatwaves, very heavy downpours and thunderstorms some seasons, and rock hard dry pitches and dead grass in others). I would also caution against a knee-jerk reaction. We've had a very wet 18 months, it might be part of a longer trend, but on the other hand, net zero is a big thing now; we may find efforts to tackle emissions (or some other factors depending on what you think the cause is) means it doesn't get worse and actually things improve. The idea of summer football is by no means universally welcome among clubs in Northern Ireland, and I wouldn't take it's introduction as being a certainty. A better idea would be to improve pitches, either artificial or well drained natural turf to get games played in the existing season. As for clashing with the Welsh clubs in the English system, or the likes of Liverpool; summer football will make no difference. People who follow a 'big'/English team and not their local team do so because they want to follow a big team. I see people in Liverpool shirts in Newport quite often, these people aren't going to Anfield, but have no interest in the local game. The best supported team in Wales outside of the four EFL clubs is Merthyr Town, the only other one in the English set-up. There are problems that the FAW does need to address to improve the Cymru Premier, but summer football will benefit TNS the most as it would help them with their early stage Euro games. TNS are exerting a negative effect on the Cymru Premier with their dominance. Something which entrenches that dominance is very bad for the Welsh domestic game.

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Richard Davies

I agree with you, preventing climate change is what should be focused on not changing the football season. The thing about TNS is that they are the only full-time professional team in the Cymru premier league.

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Karl

Given that Welsh leagues don't have the money for pitch technology. Summer makes sense, when grass grows. Maybe also help the crossover fan,looking to fill their football entertainment when other leagues are between seasons. Before a switch I would look at the impact it did for the English rugby league.

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Richard Thomas

All weather pitches, that's the answer. The installation cost is high but as a community facility they're far more useful than a grass pitch.

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John Brooks

The potential problem with trialling a summer league in a few leagues is that it is usually at grassroots level (temporary dismissals this season) where pitches aren't as good. At Berriew FC we have three senior teams and one senior pitch. Summer football would mean the pitch being used continuously if just one of our leagues was in a trial and it would put pressure on volunteers who endure games can go ahead.

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