The Football Association of Wales have recently revealed some big ideas to overhaul the Welsh leagues as part of their Prosiect Cymru plans. It looks to revolutionise the Welsh system and bring millions into grassroots football in Wales, but now they might be offering millions to bring another team into the mix.
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00:00We've heard this week that the Welsh FA have managed to convince the English League-based
00:05Welsh teams to compete and potentially qualify for Europe in the Welsh League Cup. This is
00:10part of a huge overhaul of Welsh football called Prosiect Cymru, which aims to grow
00:14the grassroots level of the game around the country by bringing in more revenue for the
00:18FAW.
00:19It's caused a bit of a stir online with many English football fans saying it gives
00:23Welsh teams an unfair advantage, but the FAW and the teams involved have been keen to point
00:28out it's structured to prevent a financial advantage for the teams.
00:32Bringing those four big clubs into the Welsh League Cup will undoubtedly bring in interest
00:36and revenue for the competition, and the prospect of qualifying for Europe makes it even more
00:40tantalising.
00:41Obviously, qualification isn't guaranteed, but for context, Cardiff has won one FA Cup
00:46back in 1927, and Swansea has won one English Football League Cup in 2013, and both teams
00:52have a combined 32 Welsh Cups in their history, despite not playing in it since 1995, so clearly
00:59they'd fancy their chances to get to the latter stages.
01:02But that's not the only big news that broke as part of the plans this week.
01:07One big part of the new FAW plan is to invite this club behind me into the Welsh set-up,
01:12and have apparently offered a staggering £6 million over the next few years to entice
01:16them to play in the Welsh Premier League. Merthyr Tyne FC currently play in the seventh
01:20tier of English Football, a few below the English League, but if they were to join
01:23the Welsh Divisions it would mean being in the top flight, with a more realistic chance
01:27at European qualification, alongside teams like Cardiff City and Swansea.
01:32Online there's some anecdotal pushback from some fans, but many have also expressed a
01:36positive side to the plans.
01:38The £6 million in incentives from the FAW would go towards improving the stadium, annual
01:43payments and supplementing any drops in ticket sales.
01:46It's an interesting idea, and as the club is fan-owned, the board will vote on their
01:50decision towards the end of January.
01:53This is arguably the biggest overhaul in Welsh football history, so we'll have to wait anxiously
01:57to see what comes from it.