Cup farce: FAW dish out another snub to its loyal members

Where do the FAW National Leagues Board’s priority interests really lie?

To clubs which play in the Welsh system it is meant to protect, or to well-off rebels who turned their backs on our pyramid?

The latest move by the NLB is to allow four South Wales wildcard entries to compete in this season’s Nathaniel MG Cup – namely Cardiff City, Merthyr Town, Newport County and Swansea City.

Why? To add glamour to the competition? Surely they don’t believe people are daft enough to think the three Football League clubs will not field anything other than under-21 players or reserves?

In the old FAW Premier Cup, the EFL Wales-based clubs did put out stronger sides, but going on last season, that won’t be the case in the Nathaniel MG.

Cardiff  Merthyr, Newport and Swansea all rejected invitations to join the new League of Wales back in 1992-93.

To be fair, I didn’t really blame them as the financial consequences of leaving the affluent world of the EPL for a far less lucrative, lower standard LoW would have been catastrophic.

They – as well as Wrexham – made their decision and that should really have been the end of the association.

Regardless of how poorly Cymru Premier sides have generally performed in Europe over the years, at least they do represent Wales, and not England, which would be the case if Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham or Newport did qualify now.

I don’t understand why Wrexham did not receive a wildcard entry for the 2024-25 Nathaniel MG.

Maybe they didn’t want one, but it looks unbalanced to admit four South Wales ‘big’ clubs and not the pride of the North. There may be a reason which has not been unveiled.

So instead, to ‘balance things up‘ Newport County are placed in the northern section of the draw.

Let’s hope they have to travel north, as them getting a home tie would mean a costly trip for a Cymru North club who may struggle to afford it.

The bottom line is, in my opinion, those four wildcards should have gone to clubs who have shown loyalty to the Welsh system.

A Tier 3 club or two perhaps. Add a bit of romance, not bromance.

The Welsh pyramid clubs would benefit more from any prize money than the ‘big boys’ who certainly don’t appear to have the same need.

The National League Board should have given the teams who play in the Welsh system a chance to pull in some coin with a good draw.

Instead, they do the exact opposite.

Just like Rodney Parade, Newport, ridiculously getting to stage last season’s Welsh Cup Final between Connah’s Quay Nomads and Salop-based The New Saints on a Sunday evening, this latest NLB move favours the south yet again.

The FAW released this news today….

In addition to the 44 JD Cymru Leagues clubs, four wildcards will compete for the Nathaniel MG trophy this season – Cardiff City, Merthyr Town, Newport County and Swansea City.

The Bluebirds and the Swans also featured in last season’s cup as wildcards, meeting in the third round where Swansea progressed on penalties.

Anthony Wright’s side would go on to make it all the way to the final at Jenner Park, but were beaten by The New Saints.

Merthyr Town return to the competition for the first time since being given an invitational spot in the 2014/15 season when they reached the quarter-finals, while Newport County were previously a wildcard entry in 2021/22.

As all four wildcards are south Wales-based and the Nathaniel MG Cup is regionalised until the semi-final stage, Newport County will enter the Northern section for regional balance following consultation with clubs.

Full details for the first round draw of the 2024/25 Nathaniel MG Cup will be confirmed in due course.