Association football competition in Wales
Football tournament
The
FAW Welsh Cup
(
Welsh
:
Cwpan Cymdeithas Pel-droed Cymru
), currently known as the
JD Welsh Cup
for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out
football
competition contested annually by teams in the
Welsh football league system
. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions in domestic Welsh
association football
.
The
Football Association of Wales
(FAW) is the organising body of this competition, which has been run (except during the two World Wars and the COVID-19 pandemic) every year since its inception in 1877?78.
[1]
In the early years of organised football in Wales, football was very much the sport of north Wales rather than the
rugby union
playing south ? the FAW was founded in Wrexham in 1876, and Wrexham remained the site of the FAW's head office until 1986; it was not until 1912 that a southern team, Cardiff City, won the Welsh Cup for the first time.
The winning team qualifies to play in the following season's
UEFA Europa Conference League
(previously teams qualified for the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
, which was discontinued in 1999, and until 2021, qualified for the
UEFA Europa League
).
Participants
[
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]
Until 1995, Welsh clubs playing in the Welsh or English leagues were invited to play in the Welsh Cup. On occasion some English clubs, mostly teams from border areas (for example,
Chester City
,
Crewe Alexandra
,
Tranmere Rovers
,
Hereford United
and
Shrewsbury Town
), were also invited to participate. However, in the event of an English club winning the Welsh Cup, they were not allowed to progress to the
European Cup Winners' Cup
. Instead, the best placed Welsh club in the Welsh Cup competition would take the European place.
From 1996 to 2011, only clubs playing in the
Welsh football league system
were allowed to enter the Welsh Cup. This rule excluded the six Welsh clubs who played in the
English football league system
:
Swansea City
,
Colwyn Bay
,
Merthyr Tydfil
(replaced by
Merthyr Town
),
Newport County
,
Cardiff City
and
Wrexham
. On 20 April 2011, the Football Association of Wales invited these six clubs to rejoin the Welsh Cup for the
2011?12
season, but only Merthyr Town, Newport County and Wrexham accepted.
[2]
In March 2012, UEFA stated that Welsh clubs playing in the
English football league system
could not qualify for European competitions via the Welsh Cup but they could qualify via the English league and cup competitions,
[3]
hence they were subsequently again excluded from the Welsh Cup.
[4]
Colwyn Bay joined the Welsh league system in 2019, thus becoming eligible to compete in the Welsh Cup again.
History
[
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]
Between the 1961?62 and 1984?85 seasons, the final was played as a two-leg match, originally on a points basis rather than aggregate score. In the 1985?86 season, it reverted back to a one game format (though a replay was required in the first two seasons), then changed to have a single game decided by extra time and penalties as necessary.
[1]
With six wins,
Shrewsbury Town
hold the record for the most times an English team has won the Cup, a record that will remain unbroken because English teams have not been allowed to compete in the cup since 1995. The last English winner of the Welsh Cup was
Hereford United
in 1990.
Results
[
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]
Performance
[
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]
Performance by club
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Indicates a Welsh club that plays or has played in the
English system
.
- ^
Have played in the final as Swansea Town and Swansea City.
- ^
Have played in the final as Llansantffraid and Total Network Solutions.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Italics
indicates the club no longer exists.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Welsh Cup
.
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National teams
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League system
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Tier 4?6
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Tier 7?10
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Defunct
leagues
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Women
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Domestic cups
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