“Major changes” on way in the running of area associations in Welsh football

“Far reaching changes” to the way area associations operate in Welsh football are on the way, says the sport’s national governing body.

That could mean a major shake-up within the North Wales Coast FA and North East Wales FA, who are responsible for tier 4 and 5 men’s leagues, as well as junior and women’s competitions in the region.

This week the FAW Board has approved extensive changes across its area associations which it claims will lead to improved equality and diversity in governance, investment in grassroots football and increased sustainability.

The recommendations of the independent Area Association Review were agreed by a vote in a full meeting of the board at the FAW Colliers Park in Wrexham.

This builds upon the 80 recommendations, adopted by the FAW in 2021, from the ‘Sustainable Association For The Future’ report.

There are 30 recommendations in total and the aim is to deliver these within the next 18 months. Key recommendations of the review include:

• Appropriately resourced regional structures that meet the needs of all grassroots football competition across Wales.
• Modern, diverse and well-governed Associations with the creation of skillsbased boards that are diverse, relevant and effective with improved decision-making.
• A full time General Manager in each Association with a formal link to the core FAW grassroots team who lead on football development.
• Dedicated grassroots support.
  FAW chief executive, Noel Mooney, said: “Investment in our grassroots and ensuring that football in Cymru is fit for the future are the key focus of our ‘Ein Cymru’ strategy.
  “The far-reaching changes that have now been approved by the board are a clear demonstration of the FAW’s commitment to building a diverse, skilled and welcoming football family that promotes excellence, integrity, inclusivity and fair play.
  “The important investment in a full time General Manager for each of the Area Associations shows that we are serious in our intention to support clubs across Cymru at the grassroots level. In addition to the General Manager positions, the FAW is also investing in the core team staff to support grassroots clubs.”

COMMENT – GRASSROOTS NORTH WALES

Leading question…..what does Noel Mooney consider to be ‘grassroots’ ?

If these changes mean all-round improvements and increased funding for tier 4 and 5 clubs and not just looking to build more plastic pitches, then three cheers for the FAW.

The ‘lower level’ leagues have been getting a raw deal for too long. They must be given more priority as they are so important for the future of the game.

Another key area to target should be transfer windows – either have them for all tiers or restrict them to tiers 1 and 2.

The overly-strict measures imposed on signings in tier 3, now under the FAW’s wing, destroyed Bodedern Athletic and Rhydymwyn this season – really good, established clubs.

Only last week we learned Llandudno Albion, also of tier 3 Ardal North West, are folding at the end of this season, due largely to problems in securing its own ground.

And after being forced to resign, the clubs ended up with four-figure fines for dropping out – ridiculous. This needs changing. It’s a horrible, cruel policy.

Let’s hope the right people are chosen for the area association general manager posts.

Mr Mooney has tended to lean towards giving key roles to the younger element so far. This has pluses and minuses. The pluses include a move away from the ‘old school’ which to be honest have been allowed to run area associations and occupy top posts for too long.

A minus is the younger the officer, the more chance of him/her being Mr Mooney’s man/woman, lacking in experience and perhaps more willing to please than a tried and tested grizzled veteran who may challenge decisions more vigorously.

The area associations desperately need to publicise themselves better and keep clubs and the media better informed.

They used to send out weekly results and fixtures, but this happens much less since the advent of the Cymru Football App, which is good but far from perfect.

My website has had major difficulties getting even the simplest of information from area associations at times.

For instance: the NWCFA Junior Cup quarter-finals were played over a fortnight ago, but still no semi-final draw. No indication when it will be. Why? Such a simple task, they could have made it on the same evening the quarter-finals were completed.

E-mails sent by myself to one association are often ignored, whether the question (s) asked are straight-forward or not.

And even though I cover the North Wales Women’s League extensively, this season I have not received a set of fixtures or any kind of acknowledgement for who I am or what I do to publicise them. Together:Stronger? or Isolated: Weaker.

In fact, many clubs often come to me with questions – questions the area associations should be answering.

So, let’s hope North Wales is given as much prominence as the South and Mid in these new grassroots measures.

I quote once more the much-used FAW phrase together:stronger.

Our governing body now needs to prove it’s not all about the national sides and dedicate itself to helping all levels of football in Wales grow.

It will be interesting to discover more about the plans to come.

For now let’s applaud the FAW for doing something.

Grassroots North Wales is a website which launched in 2019 and is dedicated to promoting local sport. It largely focuses on North Wales football, but does cover other sports too.