FAW accused of passing the buck in row over cup final date

Football chiefs have been accused of shirking responsibility and shifting the blame in a row over a cup final date,

Yesterday, CPD Colwyn Bay revealed they will have to field their development side against Barry Town United in the Welsh Blood Service National Final this Saturday, April 29, as most of their first team squad have made other plans.

The regular names are not available as Bay claim they were not given enough notice of a date change to April 29 for the game, so gave the players time off around that date.

Today, the JD Cymru Leagues hit back, claiming they informed clubs of the new date on March 13, but Bay have said they did not know until April 14.

Now North Wales Coast FA councillor Chris O’Neal has leapt to Colwyn Bay’s defence, insisting the matter has been handled badly by the Football Association of Wales’ competitions department

“Having seen the position that Colwyn Bay find themselves in regarding the cup final, firstly it is a great shame they are unable to field their full first team for this match which could mean them being at a great disadvantage.

“I do sympathise with Colwyn Bay as rightfully the league set a conference date for the cup and the club made plans and allowed leave given this information.

“The Board within the FAW may have given notice on March 13th that due to the backlog they were changing the date, however surely the FAW, a body with lots of expertise, would have known at the start of the new year if there was likely to be a fixture backlog.

“Colwyn Bay have worked tirelessly through the season to improve their ground, they have no fixture backlog so to be put in this position in my opinion is harsh.

“The correspondence (today’s response) from the FAW in relation to the Colwyn Bay press release (yesterday) really is embarrassing.

“Such an organization should themselves be looking for a resolution for the best interest of both clubs, the competition, Welsh football and the sponsors.

“Would you be happy if you were the sponsor having read the tit for tat statements?

“Colwyn Bay could and maybe should have written into the FAW and appealed the change through the formal appeal process which would have possibly meant that due to the processes required this match wouldn’t go ahead this week – but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“Going forward, maybe better planning is required by the FAW and its officers.

“Let’s not forget clubs including Colwyn Bay and most all over the North Wales Coast area solely rely upon volunteers who don’t have the resources the FAW have…..so we need to support them NOT punish them.”

Today’s FAW/JD Cymru Leagues statement read:

“The JD Cymru Leagues was disappointed to read the statement from Colwyn Bay FC confirming their intention to field a Development side in the Welsh Blood Service League Cup final on Saturday 29 April.

“The provisional date for the final, provided to clubs at the start of the season, was Saturday 15 April 2023. However, due to several match postponements throughout the campaign, both the JD Cymru North and JD Cymru South seasons were extended – meaning league games would be played on Saturday 15 April instead.

“As a result, the decision was taken to move the Welsh Blood Service League Cup final and a holding date of Saturday 29 April 2023 was chosen and communicated to clubs after the JD Cymru North season was extended on Monday 13 March.

“Therefore clubs were aware that the date of the final would be moving, allowing them to make arrangements with regards to player holidays.”

However, does the FAW statement contain inaccuracies?

The JD Cymru Leagues website stated in their report on the north and south regional semi-finals on MARCH 18 that the date and venues for the regional finals and national final were “STILL TO BE CONFIRMED”.

This goes against what they claimed that clubs were informed of the holding date on MARCH 13. On their website on March 13, the league did report the season was being extended, but made no mention of the WBS National Cup Finals, national or regional.

Grassroots North Wales – and it appears Colwyn Bay FC – only discovered the new date of April 29 for the final in an article on the JD Cymru Leagues website on APRIL 14.

Quite a mess – and the FAW’s poor handling of domestic competitions this season is drawing a widespread and damaging mass of negative comments.

The FAW seem happy to constantly claim how wonderful they are performing and all the award ceremonies they have been invited to, and relentlessly pushing the together:stronger message, yet when it comes to grassroots and domestic football we seem to be being short-changed.