Great news for North Wales women’s football – FIVE new teams set to join league next season
FIVE new teams are set to join the North Wales Women’s Football League next season.
Three of them will be former members of the tier 3 league.
Brand new names competing in the new season will be Wrexham-based Bellevue and The New Saints Reserves.
Returning to the league after various periods of absence will be Corwen, Kinmel Bay and Welshpool Town.
The 2022-23 champions, CPDM Bangor 1876, have been promoted to the tier 2 Genero Adran North for next season.
Rhyl-based NFA have secured a tier 2 licence, but it has still to be confirmed whether they will also go up to Adran North.
NFA still have two league matches to play this season – both against Pwllheli. The Rhyl side are unlikely to finish runners-up, but can still qualify for promotion depending on the higher league’s discretion.
If NFA does rise in status, that will leave 15 teams in the North Wales League next season.
However, much can change between now and the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
NEWFA general secretary Dave Fawkes said: “Women’s football is growing and NEWFA is working to encourage new teams and will look at travelling issues for teams next season “
With the number of fixtures involving 12 teams having already been a major issue this season, increasing membership to 15 will only exacerbate the problem.
To this end, one option could be regionalising the league into two divisions.
The league last operated a two-division system in 2019-20.
As for the new members, Bellevue Football Club was first founded in 2016 at Bellevue Park in Wrexham. It prides itself on being the first league registered, multi-ethnic and inclusion specific football team in Wales.
The club has run just a men’s team up to now, competing in tier 5 of the North Wales football pyramid, but a women’s side has been in the making for a couple of years.
From next season Bellevue plans to run four teams, with two junior sides joining the ladies and the men.
The New Saints first team compete in the Genero Adran Premier, so introducing a reserve side will add a pathway to the seniors for the club which already benefits from a thriving development team.
Corwen’s senior ladies team was born in 2018-19, bearing the fruits of a strong junior section built over a number of years.
They won promotion in their first season from NWWFL Division Two to One, where despite finishing next to bottom in the shortened 2019-20 campaign, performances were still encouraging.
Although football returned in 2021-22 following the cancellation of the previous season due to Covid, Corwen have not featured in the league for the past two campaigns.
Kinmel Bay is historically a major name in North Wales women’s football.
They were instrumental in the original formation of the North Wales Girls and Women’s football leagues and won numerous trophies over the years.
Bay last competed in the North Wales Women’s League in 2017-18 and in more recent times have played recreational football.
They toyed with the idea of rejoining the league this season, but now are ready to return.
Welshpool Town played in the NWWFL in 2021-22 and will be welcomed back with open arms having made many friends in the one season they took part.
DRAFT LIST OF NORTH WALES WOMEN’S LEAGUE CLUBS FOR 2023-24
Amlwch Town
Bellevue
Caernarfon Town
Corwen
Denbigh Town
Flint Town United
Kinmel Bay
Llanfairfechan Town
Llangefni Town
Llanystumdwy
Northop Hall
Pwllheli
The New Saints Reserves
Trearddur Bay
Welshpool Town