Adran Leagues: A new era begins for Welsh women's football

Swansea's Stacey John-Davis celebrates after a draw at Abergavenny in May clinched a league and cup double

A new era in Welsh women's domestic football begins this weekend as the Adran Leagues kick off.

The top-flight Adran Premier plus the second-tier Adran North and Adran South start on Sunday following a Football Association of Wales (FAW) restructure.

The hope is that the revamp will help Wales' national team reach a major tournament.

"The game changer for us is if Cymru can qualify for a major tournament," said the FAW's Lowri Roberts.

"That drives commercial revenue, fan base, media attention, more girls wanting to play the game. We hope a stronger domestic game will help as a platform for us to achieve that."

Swansea City are the reigning domestic champions having won what was the Welsh Premier Women's League in 2020-21.

They begin the Adran Premier season with a trip to Cardiff Met, who lost out on the title by just a point last season. Only the league winners qualify for the Champions League.

"To start off the league with this one is big, but hopefully we can get three points," said Swansea winger Katy Hosford.

"Sometimes there can be a bit of pressure coming back off the back of a good season. But it's something we are all looking forward to."

There are eight teams in the Adran Premier, with Swansea and Cardiff Met joined by Aberystwyth Town, Barry Town United, Cardiff City, Pontypridd Town, Port Talbot and The New Saints.

The eight clubs will play one another home and away before the league splits after Christmas, with the top four facing another round of home and away games against one another and the bottom four doing likewise.

"We hope that will better prepare our champion club for the Champions League, which happens in August each year," FAW head of women's football Roberts told Friday's BBC Radio Wales Sport programme.

"A new financial distribution model in the Women's Champions League means the further we (Wales' representative) can get in the Champions League, the more money that comes back into Welsh women's domestic football. So that's a key change to make it more competitive."

Wrexham, Connah's Quay Nomads, Merthyr Town and Abergavenny are among the clubs in the two lower leagues.

The FAW announced which teams would make up the new divisions in May, with eight of 15 applicants successful in their bids to be included in the top tier.

Abergavenny, who finished fourth in the final Welsh Women's Premier League, but missed out on a place, were amongst those critical of the choices.

Roberts says the introduction of club licensing in the Adran North and South divisions will help "bridge the gap" to the Adran Premier.

An under-19s competition is also being launched to try to stop players dropping out of the women's game after under-16 level.

The word adran means division in Welsh, while the FAW say they dropped the term 'women's' in the rebrand to create parity across all FAW leagues.

Adran Premier fixtures, Sunday, 5 September:

Aberystwyth Town v Barry Town United (14:00 BST)

Port Talbot v Cardiff City (14:00 BST)

The New Saints v Pontypridd Town (14:00 BST)

Cardiff Met v Swansea City (16:15 BST)