Former FAW Secretary and creater of the League of Wales, Alun Evans has attacked UEFA’s plans to let Cardiff City into the UEFA Cup if they won the F.A. Cup.
Evans, who was instrumental in creating a Welsh League in 1992, says that it would damage the future of Welsh Football, calling it: “Short-term gain for a long-term loss.”
This is from a man who, unlike the majority of the FAW, doesn’t live in their own little League of Wales world and admits that having the exiled clubs representing our country in Europe is a good thing. However he sees Cardiff getting through this year as potentially fatal to his personal ideas for creating the opportunity of the exiled clubs to fly the flags of St. David and of the Red Dragon in Europe.
Now Evans’ ideas are portrayed in his document ‘FAW Strategic Plan 2007-2012.’ These ideas are something, in general, I agree with. It basically outlines that he believes that the introduction of Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham, in any form, would help the League of Wales extremely and he believes that they should be allowed and invited to field reserve teams in the Welsh Premier League. The spin off of this being that Champions League and UEFA Cup qualification through the WPL would be available to them.
I personally believe that it doesn’t go far enough and although I would agree Newport County, Colwyn Bay and Merthyr Tydfil would not be able to field reserve sides that would compete in the WPL, the sheer fact you would accept the exiled Football League clubs into the fold, you should surely accept the other exiled clubs in the same manner. Albeit a couple of divisions down the Welsh pyramid, in the Welsh Football League or, in the case of Colwyn Bay, the Cymru Alliance.
Now I can huge advantages to this on all sides. The WPL will suddenly gain huge interest, purely because the big three are in there, despite it not being the first team. Our country and the FAW finally get sides representing us that our worthy of being the best Wales can offer, instead of the joke that masquerades in and out of the 1st Qualifying Round every year. Plus, from the clubs point of view, their reserve teams get real competitive action rather than the 30% pace stuff that you see at English reserve team games every week. This is as well as the potential for a European cash windfall each year.
I do see the downside, which Peter Ridsdale was very quick to point out when the proposals were first announced. The participation of the reserve sides in Welsh competition does significantly weaken their position in the English League structure.
However, this is where I believe Alun Evans has got the situation wrong. Were Cardiff to win the F.A. Cup and Michel Platini granted Cardiff a wildcard into the UEFA Cup, this would give the FAW a uniquely strong bargaining position over the F.A. and the Football League. The F.A. doesn’t want this situation to arise again and the Football League appreciates what clubs the size of Cardiff and Swansea give to the league over sides like Stevenage and Forest Green.
The opportunity for the FAW is there to be seized if Cardiff bring the F.A. Cup to Wales and unbeknown even to himself, it’s the forward thinking members of the FAW, like Alun Evans, who have to go and grab it.
So maybe, come F.A. Cup Final day, even Newport County and Swansea City fans can put their hatred of the Bluebirds aside, cheer on their fellow Welsh side and dream of Quarter-Final’s against Carl Zeiss Jena or 12-0 wins over Sliema Wanderers.
