The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the

Welsh football league system The Welsh football league system (or pyramid) is a series of football leagues with regular promotion and relegation between them. While most Welsh clubs play in the Welsh pyramid and most clubs in that pyramid are Welsh, five Welsh clubs play ...

. Level 3 – the

Welsh Football League Division One The Welsh Football League Division One, known as the Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League First Division for sponsorship reasons, was a football league in South Wales. It formed the top division of the Welsh Football League and the second level of ...

and level 4

Welsh Football League Division Two The Welsh Football League Division Two, (last known as the ''Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League Division Two'', for sponsorship reasons) was a football league and forms the fourth level of the Welsh football league system in South Wales. If th ...

. It folded in 2020 after the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

took over the running of tier 3 leagues and the responsibility for tier 4 passed to regional football associations. The Welsh Football League's history stretches back to 1904 when the competition was first formed and

Aberdare Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tyd ...

were crowned first champions of a seven-team First Division. Abergavenny were champions of Division 2 and Trelewis the winners of Division 3.

The first season in 1904–05

In April 1904, the Merthyr Express newspaper reported that a new football league would be formed in addition to the South Wales League which had been in existence since 1891. This new competition would be named the Rhymney Valley League and the reason for its creation was due to the South Wales League being overly dominated by

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

clubs, though the number of teams from Cardiff barely numbered more than a couple in any one season.

Structure

Division 1 of the League operated at the 2nd level of the Welsh system, until 2019–20, when it was replaced at that level by the

FAW Championship The Cymru Leagues is an umbrella name for the top two tiers of the Welsh football league system. It consists of the Cymru Premier at Tier 1, as well as the Cymru North and Cymru South at the second tier. Tier 1 The Cymru Premier is the nationa ...

Former divisions

Welsh Football League Division Three The Welsh Football League Division Three, (last known as the ''Nathanielcars.co.uk Welsh League Division Three'', for sponsorship reasons) was a Association football, football league. History Until the 1964–65 season the Welsh Football Leag ...

References

{{Football in Wales Football leagues in Wales Sports leagues established in 1904 1904 establishments in Wales 2020 disestablishments in Wales Sports leagues disestablished in 2020 Defunct football competitions in Wales