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| DEAKIN BACKS EXILES' RETURN |
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WELSH Premier secretary John Deakin has backed the recall of the exiled clubs
to the Welsh Cup, saying "my personal view has always been that all the clubs
in Wales should play in the competition."
He also confirmed that the FAW's international committee has recommend that Cardiff
City, Swansea City, Wrexham, Merthyr, Newport and Colwyn Bay should be welcomed
back to the fold for next season, after an absence of nine years.
The powerful committee's decision is expected to be rubber-stamped by the full
FAW Council next month.
And the FAW have indicated they would recommend the Cup winners to represent Wales
in the Uefa Cup, regardless of whether they play in an English or Welsh league.
It would be then up to an exiled club to challenge Uefa if their application
was turned down.
The South Wales Echo reports that applications for next season's Cup competition
will be sent out this week to all six exiled clubs.
If ratified by the FAW, the decision alsmost certainly rings the death knell of
the FAW Premier Cup, which was designed to bring all Welsh clubs together in one
competition.
One FAW Council member says: "I am not in favour of the exiled clubs being
allowed back in as it means them having two bites at the cherry.
"With the anticipated loss of income from the probable ending of the FAW
Premier Cup, Welsh Premier and other directly affiliated league clubs will be
looking to get some recompense in a more lucrative Welsh Cup competition.
"It will obviously be much harder for them to get to the closing stages if,
as is likely, the Nationwide League clubs are excluded until Round 4 or so,"
he adds.
The future of the lucrative BBC-sponsored cup has been in doubt since the Corporation
lost its Welsh TV rights to Sky and this latest move is a major kick in the teeth
from the FAW for the 18 Welsh Premier clubs. |
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| 18 May 2021 |
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