2021–22 Cymru Premier

Cymru Premier
Uwch Gynghrair Cymru
Season2021–22
Dates13 August 2021 - 14 May 2022
ChampionsThe New Saints
RelegatedCefn Druids
Barry Town United
Champions LeagueThe New Saints
Europa Conference LeagueBala Town
Newtown
Matches played192
Goals scored562 (2.93 per match)
Top goalscorerDeclan McManus (21 goals)
Biggest home winBala Town 11-0 Penybont
24 April 2022)
Biggest away winAberystwyth Town 0–6 Haverfordwest County
(15 March 2022)
Highest scoringBala Town 11-0 Penybont
24 April 2022)
Longest winning runThe New Saints (8 games)
Longest unbeaten runThe New Saints (14 games)
Longest winless runCefn Druids (25 games)
Longest losing runCefn Druids (7 games)
Highest attendance1,248 - Barry Town vs Connah's Quay Nomads (11 September 2021)
Lowest attendance65 - Cardiff Met vs Cefn Druids (2 October 2021)
Average attendance335
All statistics correct as of 15 May.

The 2021–22 Cymru Premier (Welsh: Uwch Gynghrair Cymru 2021–22) (known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the Cymru Premier (formally known as the Welsh Premier League), the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. Connah's Quay Nomads were the defending champions. Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups after phase 1 matches were completed. Due to Wales losing a European place, the format of the play-offs changed, with the prize now being a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the same twelve teams as the previous season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cymru North and Cymru South leagues were unable to be played the previous season, therefore no teams were able to be promoted. As every team already in the premier league had been granted a Tier 1 license, there was no need for any team to be relegated.[1]

Stadia and locations

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Locations of the 2021–22 Cymru Premier teams
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Park Avenue 5,000
Bala Town Bala Maes Tegid 3,000
Barry Town United Barry Jenner Park Stadium 3,500
Caernarfon Town Caernarfon The Oval 3,000
Cardiff Metropolitan University Cyncoed Cyncoed Campus 1,620
Cefn Druids Rhosymedre The Rock 3,000
Connah's Quay Nomads Connah's Quay Deeside Stadium 1,500
Flint Town United Flint Cae-y-Castell 1,000
Haverfordwest County Haverfordwest Bridge Meadow Stadium 2,100
Newtown Newtown Latham Park 5,000
Penybont Bridgend Bryntirion Park 3,000
The New Saints England Oswestry Park Hall 2,034

Personnel and kits

Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Front shirt sponsor
Aberystwyth Town England Antonio Corbisiero England Jack Thorn Acerbis Aberystwyth University
Bala Town England Colin Caton Wales Chris Venables Macron Aykroyd's
Barry Town United Wales Gavin Chesterfield Wales Kayne McLaggon Macron RIM Motors
Caernarfon Town Wales Huw Griffiths Wales Dion Donohue Errea Gofal Bro Cyf
Cardiff Metropolitan University Wales Christian Edwards Wales Chris Baker Errea Cardiff Metropolitan University
Cefn Druids Republic of Ireland Andy Turner England Michael Jones Errea Wrexham Lager
Connah's Quay Nomads England Craig Harrison England George Horan Nike Educate Group[2]
Flint Town United Wales Neil Gibson Wales Alex Jones Macron Essity
Haverfordwest County Belgium Nicky Hayen Wales Dylan Rees Joma West Wales Properties
Newtown Wales Chris Hughes Wales Craig T. Williams Errea Control Techniques
Penybont Wales Rhys Griffiths Wales Kane Owen Macron Nathaniel House of Cars
The New Saints Australia Anthony Limbrick England Chris Marriott Legea SiFi Networks

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Cefn Druids Wales Jayson Starkey End of caretaker spell 27 May 2021 Pre-season Wales Niall McGuinness[3] 27 May 2021
Aberystwyth Town Wales Gavin Allen Resigned 2 June 2021 England Antonio Corbisiero[4] 2 June 2021
Cefn Druids Wales Niall McGuinness[5] 24 September 2021 12th Republic of Ireland Andy Turner (caretaker) 24 September 2021
Connah's Quay Nomads Scotland Andy Morrison[6] 28 September 2021 6th England Craig Harrison[7] 29 September 2021
Haverfordwest County Wales Wayne Jones[8] 5 December 2021 10th Belgium Nicky Hayen 31 December 2021

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification[a]
1 The New Saints (C) 32 25 5 2 86 26 +60 80 Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bala Town 32 16 11 5 67 37 +30 59 Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3 Newtown 32 15 6 11 50 35 +15 51
4 Caernarfon Town (O) 32 13 4 15 46 53 −7 43 Qualification to Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs
5 Flint Town United 32 12 6 14 51 53 −2 42
6 Penybont 32 10 10 12 49 57 −8 40
7 Cardiff Metropolitan University 32 10 12 10 35 38 −3 42 Qualification to Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs
8 Aberystwyth Town 32 11 7 14 38 45 −7 40
9 Connah's Quay Nomads 32 15 11 6 44 18 +26 38[b]
10 Haverfordwest County 32 10 8 14 45 46 −1 38
11 Barry Town United (R) 32 8 7 17 31 47 −16 31 Relegation to Cymru North or Cymru South
12 Cefn Druids (R) 32 2 3 27 22 109 −87 9
Source: Cymru Premier table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Goals scored; 5) Matches won.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
  2. ^ Connah's Quay Nomads were deducted 18 points for fielding an ineligible player in six matches.[9]

Results

13 August 2021 – 26 February 2022

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away ABE BAL BAR CAE CMU CDR CQN FTU HAV NTW PYB TNS
Aberystwyth Town — 0–1 2–1 0–1 0–1 5–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 2–4 0–3 1–0
Bala Town 2–2 — 3–3 3–0 0–0 1–1 0–4 3–1 6–2 1–0 2–2 1–4
Barry Town United 1–1 0–0 — 1–2 0–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 3–2 0–3 0–0 1–2
Caernarfon Town 3–3 3–3 1–2 — 2–0 3–0 0–1 2–3 2–0 0–2 1–2 0–4
Cardiff Metropolitan University 0–1 0–0 2–0 0–1 — 4–2 1–1 1–5 0–2 1–1 3–2 1–1
Cefn Druids 0–1 3–5 1–4 1–3 1–3 — 0–2 1–1 0–2 0–5 0–3 1–4
Connah's Quay Nomads 1–0 0–1 2–3 1–1 0–0 4–0 — 2–0 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–1
Flint Town United 1–0 1–2 3–2 3–4 2–2 4–0 1–1 — 4–1 4–1 3–1 1–1
Haverfordwest County 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 — 1–0 2–2 0–1
Newtown 1–2 3–3 2–1 1–0 0–0 5–0 0–2 2–0 1–1 — 3–1 1–4
Penybont 4–0 1–0 4–0 1–1 2–1 7–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 — 1–1
The New Saints 3–0 2–1 3–1 5–3 5–0 5–1 3–1 1–0 6–0 2–0 3–2 —
Source: Cymru Premier
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs

Semi-finals

7 May 2022 Flint Town United 1–1
(3–1 p)		PenybontThe Essity Stadium
14:30 BST (UTC+01)
7 May 2022 Caernarfon Town 1–0Cardiff Metropolitan UniversityThe Oval, Caernarfon
17:15 BST (UTC+01)

Final

14 May 2022 Caernarfon Town 2–1 (a.e.t.)Flint Town UnitedThe Oval, Caernarfon
14:00 BST (UTC+01)

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank Player Club Goals[10]
1 Scotland Declan McManus The New Saints 24
2 England Aaron Williams Newtown 17
3 England Jordan Williams The New Saints 15
4 England Michael Wilde Flint Town United 14
Wales Kayne McLaggon Barry Town United

Hat-tricks

Player For Against Result Date
England Michael Wilde Flint Town United Cefn Druids 4–0 (H) 21 August 2021
England Aaron Williams Newtown Barry Town United 0–3 (A) 2 October 2021
Scotland Declan McManus The New Saints Haverfordwest 6–0 (H) 6 November 2021
Wales Nicky Rushton Newtown Aberystwyth 2–4 (A) 10 December 2021
Wales Ben Ahmun Penybont Aberystwyth 4–0 (H) 21 January 2022
Brazil Mello Connah's Quay Cefn Druids 5–0 (H) 15 March 2022
Spain Alhagi Touray Sisay Haverfordwest Aberystwyth 0–6 (A) 15 March 2022
Wales Will Evans Bala Penybont 0–5 (A) 2 April 2022
Wales Jazz Richards Haverfordwest Cefn Druids 1–6 (A) 9 April 2022
England Jordan Williams The New Saints Flint Town 7–0 (H) 15 April 2022
Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Monthly awards

Month Manager of the Month Player of the Month
Manager Club Player Club
August Anthony Limbrick The New Saints Clayton Green Barry Town
September Colin Caton Bala Town David Edwards Bala Town
October Chris Hughes Newtown Kayne McLaggon Barry Town
November Antonio Corbisiero Aberystwyth Town John Owen Aberystwyth Town
December Chris Hughes Newtown Jordan Williams The New Saints
January Anthony Limbrick The New Saints Harry Franklin Aberystwyth Town
February Craig Harrison Connah's Quay Mike Hayes Caernarfon Town
March Nicky Hayen Haverfordwest County Chris Venables Bala Town

Annual awards

Award Winner Club
Manager of the Season Australia Anthony Limbrick The New Saints
Player of the Season Scotland Declan McManus The New Saints
Young Player of the Season Wales Mael Davies Penybont
Goal of the Season Wales Kyle McCarthy Cardiff Met University
Team of the Season
Goalkeeper England Oliver Byrne (Connah's Quay Nomads)
Defenders Wales Mael Davies (Penybont) Wales Danny Davies (The New Saints) Wales Nathan Peate (Bala Town) Wales Dion Donohue (Caernarfon) Wales Kane Owen (Penybont)
Midfielders England Daniel Redmond (The New Saints) England Ryan Brobbel (The New Saints)
Forwards England Lifumpa Mwandwe (Newtown) Scotland Declan McManus (The New Saints) Wales Will Evans (Bala Town)

Fair Play award

The winner for each respective division's FAW Fair Play Table was to be given £1,000 prize money and the FAW Fair Play Trophy.

The winners of the Nationwide Building Society Fair Play Award for the 2021-2022 Cymru Premier season are Connah's Quay Nomads[11]

References

  1. ^ "Cymru Premier scraps relegation and promotion for current season". BBC Sport. 12 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Champion Nomads announce new Club Sponsor". Connah's Quay Nomads. 9 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Niall McGuinness: Former Flint and Rhyl boss named new Cefn Druids manager". BBC Sport. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  4. ^ Jordan Jones (2 June 2021). "Antonio Corbisiero succeeds Gavin Allen as manager of Aberystwyth". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  5. ^ Harrison Jones (24 September 2020). "Cefn Druids part company with first-team manager Niall McGuiness". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Andy Morrison: Connah's Quay Nomads manager steps down". BBC Sport. 28 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Harrison appointed Nomads' new Head Coach". Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Club Statement: Wayne Jones". Haverfordwest County F.C. 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Caernarfon Town replace Connah's Quay Nomads in JD Cymru Premier Championship Conference". www.cymrufootball.wales.
  10. ^ "Top Scorers - Welsh Premier League - Football". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  11. ^ FAW (29 June 2022). "NATIONWIDE BUILDING SOCIETY FAIR PLAY AWARD WINNERS 2021/22". FAW. Retrieved 29 June 2022.