The Ceredigion League (known as The Costcutter Ceredigion League for sponsorship purposes) is a Welsh football league for the southern parts of Ceredigion. It is at the fifth to seventh levels of the Welsh football league system.
History It was founded in 1921 as the Cardiganshire League in Lampeter. The eleven founding teams were Aberaeron, Aberystwyth Battery, Conservative FC, College Reserves, Drefach, Lampeter, Llandysul, Llanybydder, Newcastle Emlyn, Padarn United and Parish Hall United. Newcastle Emlyn withdrew from the league without playing any games.
In the 1970s the Cardiganshire League had just 10 or 11 teams and the region had no junior football competitions. Facilities were poor with even the league's top teams having changing rooms at a nearby hall or garage. By the 2004–05 season it had considerably improved; the league now included 33 teams from 18 clubs (a majority of clubs had reserve sides), many clubs had "excellent facilities" and teams including Lampeter Town and Newcastle Emlyn had installed floodlights.
In July 1998 the league was under threat of suspension by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), due to a rule regarding "senior" players. The Cardiganshire League rules stated that only one "senior player" (who had played 6 or more games in another league) could play in one Cardiganshire League match, however the FAW introduced a rule in 1997 stating a player could sign for two clubs without any restriction in league games. Many involved with the league were unhappy with the situation, stating that the rule had been brought in for "obvious reasons" and removing it could make a "mockery" of the league."League in rules row" - Carmarthen Journal, Wednesday 22 July 1998 (page 69)
The league renamed to the Ceredigion League in 2004.
Sponsorship +PeriodSponsored league namebefore 1986–87unknown / unsponsored1986–87"Sponsorship" - Carmarthen Journal, Friday 30 May 1986 (page 28) to 1990–91"Rowley Glazing Cardiganshire League" - Wales on Sunday, Sunday 03 March 1991 (page 45)Rowley's Double Glazing Cardiganshire League1991–92"Another Welsh soccer winner" - South Wales Echo, Tuesday 10 December 1991 (page 21) to 2002–03L'Hirondelle Cardiganshire League2003–04unknown2004–05 to presentCostcutter Ceredigion League
Member clubs for 2026–27 season Premier Division
Cardigan Town Crymych Lampeter Town (reserves) Llanboidy Llandysul Llechryd Maesglas Newcastle Emlyn St Dogmaels
First Division
Aberaeron Bargod Rangers Crannog Dewi Stars Felinfach (reserves) Ffostrasol Wanderers (reserves) Llanon Llechryd (reserves) New Quay Pencader United St Dogmaels (reserves)
Reserve Division East
Aberaeron Crannog (reserves) Lampeter Town (thirds) Llandysul (reserves) Pencader United (reserves) Tregaron Turfs (reserves)
Reserve Division East
Cardigan Town (reserves) Crymych (reserves) Llanboidy (reserves) Maesglas (reserves) Newcastle Emlyn (reserves) St Dogmaels (thirds)
First Division champions Information provided from league website. Those years empty are not known. The league was not running from 1934 to 1946, due to the creation of the Aberystwyth League.
1920s
1921–22: Llandysul 1922–23: 1923–24: Padarn United 1924–25: 1925–26: Bargoed Rangers 1926–27: Llanybydder 1927–28: 1928–29: 1929–30: Newcastle Emlyn
1930s
1930–31: Newcastle Emlyn 1931–32: Bargoed Rangers 1932–33: Aberaeron
1940s
1946–47: Bargoed Rangers 1947–48: Newcastle Emlyn 1948–49: Llandysul 1949–50: Cilgerran
1950s
1950–51: uncompleted 1951–52: Llanybydder 1952–53: Aberaeron 1953–54: Aberaeron 1954–55: Bargoed Rangers 1955–56: Aberaeron 1956–57: Newcastle Emlyn 1957–58: Bargoed Rangers 1958–59: Tregaron Turfs 1959–60: Aberaeron
1960s
1960–61: St Dogmaels 1961–62: Bargoed Rangers 1962–63: Beulah 1963–64: St David's College 1964–65: St Dogmaels 1965–66: St Dogmaels 1966–67: Bargoed Rangers 1967–68: Ffostrasol Wanderers 1968–69: Cardigan Town 1969–70: Ffostrasol Wanderers
1970s
1970–71: Ffostrasol Wanderers 1971–72: Ffostrasol Wanderers 1972–73: Bargoed Rangers 1973–74: St Dogmaels 1974–75: Ffostrasol Wanderers 1975–76: Newcastle Emlyn 1976–77: Ffostrasol Wanderers 1977–78: Newcastle Emlyn 1978–79: Bargod Rangers 1979–80: Ffostrasol Wanderers
1980s
1980–81: Bargod Rangers 1981–82: Aberaeron 1982–83: Maesglas 1983–84: Newcastle Emlyn 1984–85: Maesglas 1985–86: Newcastle Emlyn 1986–87: Maesglas 1987–88: Newcastle Emlyn 1988–89: Maesglas 1989–90: Newcastle Emlyn
1990s
1990–91: Dewi Stars 1991–92: St Dogmaels 1992–93: St Dogmaels 1993–94: St Dogmaels 1994–95: St Dogmaels 1995–96: Cardigan Town 1996–97: St Dogmaels 1997–98: Dewi Stars 1998–99: Newcastle Emlyn 1999–2000: Cardigan Town
2000s
2000–01: Cardigan Town 2001–02: Aberaeron 2002–03: Cardigan Town 2003–04: Crannog 2004–05: Lampeter Town 2005–06: Lampeter Town 2006–07: St Dogmaels 2007–08: Maesglas 2008–09: Lampeter Town 2009–10: Cardigan Town
2010s
2010–11: New Quay 2011–12: New Quay 2012–13: New Quay 2013–14: Newcastle Emlyn reserves 2014–15: Cardigan Town 2015–16: Cardigan Town 2016–17: Llandysul 2017–18: Lampeter Town 2018–19: St Dogmaels 2019–20: St Dogmaels
2020s
2020–21: No competition 2021–22: St Dogmaels 2022–23: Ffostrasol Wanderers 2023–24: Ffostrasol Wanderers 2024–25: Lampeter Town 2025–26: Llechryd
First Division titles by club
St Dogmaels – 13 Newcastle Emlyn – 12 (11 + 1 reserves) Bargoed Rangers – 10 Ffostrasol Wanderers – 9 Cardigan Town – 8 Aberaeron – 7 Lampeter Town – 5 Maesglas – 5 Llandysul – 3 New Quay – 3 Dewi Stars – 2 Llanybydder – 2 Beulah – 1 Cilgerran – 1 Crannog – 1 Llechryd – 1 Padarn United – 1 St. David's College – 1 Tregaron Turfs – 1
Cup Competitions Teams from the Ceredigion League can compete in 6 different cups:
Bay Cup - only 1st teams. League Cup - only 1st teams and reserve sides that do not have their 1st teams participating in this league. Cwpan Coffa Dai 'Dynamo' Davies - same teams who participate in the League Cup, with their equivalent from the Aberystwyth League. (known as the Cwpan Ceredigion until 2012) Percy Eldridge Cup - only the reserve sides which have their 1st teams participating in the league. South Cards Cup - all teams from Division 2 and the teams from the Reserve Cup which do not have their 1st teams in Division 2. J. Emrys Morgan Cup - same teams who participate in the League Cup, with their equivalent from the Aberystwyth League, Montgomeryshire League and the Mid Wales South League.
References
External links Ceredigion League: Official website