Wrexham’s women had every right to celebrate loud and proud after winning title – it’s been a long, tough road to outdo Cardiff City

Wrexham captain Jodie Bartle came in for some unfair criticism following her post-match celebration chanting after last Sunday’s epic Adran Premier title success.

Having beaten reigning champions Cardiff City 4-1 at STōK Cae Ras to bring the Tier 1 crown to North Wales for the first time, it was surely totally understandable that the after-game jubilation would be somewhat boisterous.

No doubt Bartle was fully aware of the magnitude of what had just been achieved and her words about Cardiff crumbling were pretty much spot on.

To be 1-0 up, concede a calamitous equaliser on the stroke of half time, and then get taken apart after the break was quite a crumble-some occurrence.

There was no disrespect involved, just joy that this excellent Cardiff side, champions for the previous three seasons, had finally been knocked off their perch.

Emotions were at a peak and in such moments comments can blast out a little more forcefully than others, it happens very often in football.

However, Cardiff City defender Shannon Evans, a great player over many seasons but who in the closing stages of the game had been sent off, decided to go on the offensive on social media.

After that it was free-for-all, with days of endless unqualified clowns using the episode as an opportunity to insult women’s football on line.

If there was blame for the after-match exchanges to be levelled, then it would have to be concluded as equal culpability, as the cocky way Cardiff celebrated taking the lead early on in front of the Wrexham fans was hardly diplomatic. This time, though, their mocking was way premature.

One commentator said the aftermath of Sunday’s title-decider tarnished Wrexham’s glory, but I don’t agree. Those women will have had the week of their lives basking in North Wales women’s club football’s greatest feat. They didn’t need permission to celebrate or feel the need to apologise for doing so.

Exuberance is part and parcel of the end of big games, some celebrations are never seen (or heard). On this occasion we saw and heard it both barrels. but nothing seriously disrespectful was said.

Characters like Jodie Bartle, with vast experience of playing in England’s higher tiers, have made a major difference to Wrexham this season.

Coming from a level of football where perhaps behaviours can be a little more in your face than the Welsh Premier will help inspire teams like Wrexham when they encounter the physical, more aggressive sides around.

Streetwise skipper Bartle is in just her first season in Welsh football and she was overjoyed enough, but for those with a much longer background in the North Wales women’s game last weekend’s outcome brought an end to countless years of frustration.

Last Sunday’s result brought a welcome changing of the guard

Since the Welsh Premier Women’s League was introduced in 2009-10, going fully national in 2012-13, North Wales teams had hardly managed a single victory over the South Wales main ‘big three’ Cardiff City, UWIC/Cardiff Met and Swansea City.

Wrexham’s previous incarnation, Wrexham Ladies, did the double over Swansea in 2012-13, beat the Swans again at home in 2013-14, and that was it!

Wrexham Ladies withdrew from the league in 2015-16 and none of the other North Wales sides – Llandudno, Northop Hall, Rhyl and Caernarfon Town – registered a WPWL win over the ‘big three’ before Llandudno were the last team to depart the national league in 2019-20.

The restructure of women’s domestic football in Wales brought the introduction of the Adran Leagues in 2021-22.

No North Wales side managed to get into the Premier until Wrexham came up as Adran North champions in 2023-24.

Could the new-look Red Dragons improve their record against Cardiff City, Met and the Swans?

In their debut campaign, Wrexham played 4, drew 1 and lost 3 against Swansea, lost four out of four league versus Cardiff City, as well as the Genero Adran Trophy and Welsh Cup final, but did better when they encountered a weakening Cardiff Met – one win and a draw.

The 2024-25 season saw Wrexham emerge as more of a top-flight force, another win and draw with Cardiff Met, while they also achieved a first-ever pair of league victories over Cardiff City, but lost 3-2 in the overall ‘series to the Bluebirds, including another Welsh Cup final defeat, while it finished up two wins apiece with the Swans.

The current season, however, saw a significant change. With Met relegated, Wrexham proved they now knew how to conquer City and Swansea.

They’ve won three out of four against the Swans, including a remarkable 7-1 away in the title run-in. Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to City before the handover of the Adran Premier trophy in front of 1,308 at The Rock was a dead rubber of no great significance.

And Wrexham finally came out on top overall against the Bluebirds, three wins to two and a draw, plus the bonus of an Adran Trophy final triumph against their arch rivals.

So when one considers how long it took the Red Dragons to finally gain the upper hand on Cardiff City, 12 straight league defeats for both versions of Wrexham since 2012-13 before breaking their duck in 2024-25, one can perhaps understand WHY the North Wales heroes rejoiced so wildly after the final whistle at STōK Cae Ras on March 29, 2026.

There have been so many years of pain for North Wales clubs at the hands of the South Wales elite, home and away, but especially away.

I lost count of the number of heavy beatings I covered. While our teams always gave it everything they simply weren’t good enough for so many years.

And the ‘big three’ were never slow to rub it in during those days, so when a bit of it comes back they have to accept it as part of the game.

The fact Wrexham reacted so gleefully at the final whistle was in many ways a compliment to Cardiff City, a club which had ruled the Adran Premier for three years and been a dominant force so many years previously. They still are a special team.

Take it from me, as someone who has reported on women’s football in depth since 2012, those past losses were tough to take.

So no matter how many people who have only been writing about the game for five minutes take on the role of judge and jury, many of us know the true background behind last Sunday’s passionate scenes. They were justified.

An unforgettable day – for the right reasons.