ANALYSIS: Will FAW’s proposed changes for reserve football in 2024-25 improve things?

Things had to change.

Since the FAW took over the running of the Welsh pyramid’s Tier 3 in 2021-22, the administration of the associated reserve leagues has largely been a shambles.

For the first two seasons, the FAW operated a North East and North West reserve league.

Last term, the format was changed to a Reserves North Tier 1-2 and North Tier 3.

By the end of 2023-24, the North Tier 3 league had failed to complete its fixtures by some distance due to endless problems and setbacks.

Now a set of changes has been proposed by the FAW to hopefully improve the situation.

Many concerns were highlighted by the clubs and the FAW Domestic Football Department has worked closely with the data and insight manager (all these titles!) to investigate the effectiveness of FAW Reserve Leagues over the past three seasons.

FAW RESERVE LEAGUES – MAIN PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED

Priority List

• Reserve Leagues, naturally, are lower down the priority list than all other FAW leagues.
• This means there are constant changes required in the Reserve Leagues, due to pitch clashes and demand for referees, so reserve fixtures have to be rescheduled to accommodate first team games.
• Data from 2022-23 showed that of 788 reserve fixtures, they were postponed, cancelled, abandoned or rescheduled 964 times
  

Referee Availability

• Demand for referees is significantly higher at 1 pm/2 pm on Saturday than at any other time of the week.
• Referees are often pulled from reserve fixtures to cover other appointments higher up the pyramid.
  

Scheduling

• As reserve team matches take place on a Saturday, and other leagues have priority, planners have to wait until first-team fixtures have been received before plotting out reserve schedules.
• As Ardal North fixtures are only released one month at a time, Reserve clubs in North T3 and Central are left frustrated at not receiving their fixtures with sufficient notice.
• Saturday 2 pm kick-offs mean pitch clashes are inevitable, making it difficult for reserve leagues to complete their seasons on time.
  

Ground Availability

• 60 out of 71 reserve sides ground-share with their first team.
• 31 of 71 clubs have working floodlights.
• Due to matches kicking off at the same time as first team games, many pitches are often unavailable.

Mileage Rule

• Due to pitch clashes/postponements, midweek matches will often be required in order for all fixtures to be played by the end of the season.
• The 40-mile limit prevents many midweek fixtures from being played, particularly in the North and Central leagues.

Communications and Workload

• Lack of clear process for clubs to notify the FAW of dates they are unavailable, request any changes and reschedule their fixtures – this needs to be more streamlined.
• As these leagues require the most administration of any FAW leagues. emails and phone calls requesting assistance are also considerably higher, making it difficult for the FAW to keep up with requests, queries and issues. This leaves clubs frustrated due to poor communication from the FAW – this needs to change next season.

Working Around Cup Dates

• Due to ground-sharing, the FAW need to wait for cup draws to take place before it can schedule any fixtures on national cup dates (particularly in North T3 and Central as Ardal North fixtures are held back until draws have been made).
• Also need to work around most Area Association cups, which have priority over Reserve League. This often means last-minute fixture changes on occasion.

Rearrangement Process

• Some clubs are not proactive in rearranging postponed fixtures.
• Rules are unclear/outdated – these need to be updated to make clubs more aware of the processes required to ensure matches are rearranged quickly and efficiently.

Participation

• Other data analysis showed between 2021-22 and 2022-23 a significant reduction in the number of players playing reserve team football and a reduction in reserve players progressing to higher level football.

MAIN SOLUTIONS RECOMMENDED BY FAW

• No longer mandatory for Tier 3 clubs to enter the FAW Reserve League
• Default kick-off time to change to 11am on Saturdays – with flexibility for clubs to request changes in draft period
• Structures of each league to be aligned – to be confirmed depending on number of entries from Tier 3
• Reserves Cups to become midweek competitions
• Monthly meetings for feedback on issues and league progress

LET’S ASSESS SOME OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS

No longer mandatory for Tier 3 clubs to enter the FAW Reserve League
This is a good idea which will make for less travelling and expense for clubs wishing to join area associations.

Default kick-off time to change to 11am on Saturdays – with flexibility for clubs to request changes in draft period
Surely a no-go for most clubs for 2 reasons – Saturday is now a working day and a lot of players work on a Saturday morning and it also clashes with youth football which most clubs share facilities with.

Reserves Cups to become midweek competitions
Only teams with floodlights can enter. The FAW states that only 31 out of 71 teams have working floodlights. So 40 teams will not be able to enter the only cup competition available.

Monthly meetings for feedback on issues and league progress
Communication to clubs needs to improve considerably.

Grassroots North Wales’ further areas of concern and suggestions for improvement

• The FAW Reserve Leagues had no stability with various administrators over the 2023-24 season.
• By mid-April last season, some teams still had 10 fixtures remaining. Many did not finish their programme.
• The season did not start until early September with no games played in January.
• The season should begin in August with a minimum of 2 midweek games and no break. This would allow for “natural” breaks due to weather etc.
• 2023-24 was a nightmare season in Reserve Leagues with teams not playing for weeks and players losing interest.

Current situation

Some Tier 3 North teams from last season have already committed to the area association North East Wales Football League’s new reserve divisions.
The make-up of the FAW Reserve Leagues in 2024-25 is still awaited.
News on the North Wales Coast Development Leagues should emerge at the NNWCFA AGM on July 1.