The 2009–10 Welsh Premier League was the 18th season of the Welsh Premier League since its establishment in 1992 as the League of Wales. It began on 14 August 2009 and ended on 24 April 2010. Rhyl were the defending champions.
Teams Bala Town were promoted from the Cymru Alliance and played in the top division for the first time in their history. Caersws survived relegation for a second straight year after ENTO Aberaman Athletic failed in their appeal to get a domestic licence after their floodlights were not up to the Welsh FA's expectations. None of the remaining top two teams in the Welsh Football League First Division could meet ground regulations.
The league was reduced to a size of 12 teams after this season following a unanimous decision by the Premier League clubs in June 2009. As a result of this, six clubs were relegated. The number of relegated teams could also have been seven or eight (the maximum), depending on whether any Cymru Alliance / Welsh Football League First Division clubs were eligible to be promoted to the 2010–11 Premier League. None of them were, so six teams were relegated, including last season's champions Rhyl.
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 Caersws Recreation Ground 3,500 Carmarthen Town Richmond Park 3,000 Elements Cefn Druids Plaskynaston Lane 2,000 Gap Connah's Quay Deeside Stadium 5,500 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 Porthmadog Y Traeth 2,000 Prestatyn Town Bastion Road 2,500 Rhyl Belle Vue 3,800 The New Saints Park Hall 2,000 Technogroup Welshpool Town Maes y Dre Recreation Ground 3,000
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing managerManner of departureDate of vacancyIncoming managerDate of appointmentGap Connah's Quay Steve O'ShaughnessySackedPre-Season Mark McGregorPre-SeasonCaersws David TaylorMutual ConsentPre-Season Mickey EvansPre-SeasonAberystwyth Town Brian CoyneResigned26 September 2009 Alan Morgan4 November 2009
League table
Results
Top scorers Source: welsh-premier.com RankScorerClubGoals1 Rhys GriffithsLlanelli AFC302 Jamie ReedBangor City243 Chris SharpThe New Saints234 Matthew WilliamsRhyl205 Luke BowenAberystwyth Town176 Marc Lloyd-WilliamsAirbus UK Broughton16 Martin RosePort Talbot Town168 Mark ConnollyRhyl15 Lee HuntBangor City1510 Jack ChristopherHaverfordwest County14 Andy MoranPrestatyn Town14 Craig StiensNeath14
Awards
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubSeptember Greg StrongRhyl Marc Lloyd-WilliamsAirbus UK BroughtonOctober Andrew DyerNeath Lee SurmanPort Talbot TownNovember Andy CaleThe New Saints Paul SmithBangor CityDecember Neville PowellBangor City Steve EvansThe New SaintsJanuary Colin CatonBala Town Luke SherbonAberystwyth TownFebruary Andy LeggLlanelli Ricky EvansBala TownMarch Alan MorganAberystwyth Town Jamie ReedBangor City
Annual awards
Player of the season Winner:
Liam McCreesh (Port Talbot Town)
Nominated:
Steve Evans (The New Saints), Martin Rose (Port Talbot Town)
Young player of the season Winner:
Craig Jones (The New Saints)
Nominated:
Scott Barrow (Port Talbot Town), Jamie Reed (Bangor City)
Manager of the season Winner:
Neville Powell (Bangor City)
Nominated:
Andy Cale (The New Saints), Mark Jones (Port Talbot Town)
Team of the Season
Nat.PositionNameClub GK Lee Kendall Port Talbot Town RB Danny Holmes The New Saints CB Steve Evans The New Saints CB Michael Johnston Bangor City LB Scott Barrow Port Talbot Town RM Craig Jones The New Saints CM Scott Ruscoe The New Saints CM Liam McCreesh Port Talbot Town LM Geoff Kellaway Aberystwyth Town ST Martin Rose Port Talbot Town ST Rhys Griffiths Llanelli
Source:
Welsh clubs in Europe 2009–10
UEFA Champions League
After winning the league in 2008/09 Rhyl represented the league in the premier football competition, they started in the second qualifying round with a trick tie with Serbian club Partizan Belgrade. They were beaten 4–0 at home in the first leg, and hammered 8–0 in Serbia in the second leg, thus ending their participation in Europe for the season.
UEFA Europa League
The New Saints and Llanelli started in the first qualifying round of the competition. TNS were drawn against Fram from Iceland and Llanelli were handed a tie with Motherwell from Scotland. In a good first leg for both sides, Llanelli produced the shock of the round with a 1–0 away win against Motherwell, giving them a wonderful chance of progression. TNS also had a good chance after a respectable 2–1 defeat in Iceland.
The second legs were disappointing however, as even though TNS took an early lead which would have earned them progression, Fram turned the game around and won 2–1, thus knocking out TNS from European competition for another season. Llanelli were also disappointed, losing 3–0 at home to Motherwell which put them out as well.
Bangor City were the only Welsh side in European competition when they started their Europa League campaign in the second qualifying round against FC Honka from Finland. They had hope of progression and this was compounded by a positive 2–0 defeat in Finland, but they lost the home leg 1–0, which knocked them out and ended Wales' participation in European competition for 2009.
UEFA ranking
The Welsh league picked a disappointing 0.250 for their participation in European competition in 2009, the only points coming from Llanelli's away win against Motherwell.
The league was ranked 46th out of 53 leagues in Europe by UEFA after the 2009–10 season.
44 Albania 45 Armenia 46 Wales 47 Montenegro 48 Faroe Islands Full list
References
External links