47-734: The Denbighshire League was a league in the early days of Welsh football . Originally titled the Welsh Senior League , it ran from 1890 until 1902. It was mainly made up of teams from the Wrexham area, with sporadic entrants from Mid Wales and the North Wales Coast. It was one of the first organised Football Leagues in Wales . The league was resurrected in September 1903 under the name the Wrexham and District League . The following clubs took part in
94-520: A World Cup or European Championship . The Midlands The Midlands is the central part of England , bordered by Wales , Northern England , Southern England and the North Sea . The Midlands correspond broadly to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia , and later became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. They are now split into two official regions,
141-654: A close rivalry with the country's de facto national sport rugby union , and it is much discussed as to which is Wales' more popular game. The Football Association of Wales (FAW), was established in 1876 to oversee the Wales national team and govern the sport in Wales, later creating and running the Welsh football league system . Welsh professional club teams traditionally played in the same leagues as their English counterparts, structured into regional divisions. This often resulted in teams from north and south Wales not facing each other as
188-663: A name for themselves at club level. Welsh players of note include Trevor Ford , Cliff Jones , John Charles , Ian Rush , Mark Hughes , Neville Southall , Ryan Giggs , Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale while in Wales Ivor Allchurch , Fred Keenor and Jack Kelsey are cherished. Dragon Park , the Wales National Football Development Centre, is located in Newport. As the Welsh domestic league system
235-517: A slightly larger area and the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica describes Gloucestershire as "West Midland", Bedfordshire as "South Midland", and Huntingdonshire as "East Midland" counties respectively. Cheshire is also occasionally recognised as being in the Midlands, while a lot of what was historically part of southern Mercia ( Gloucestershire , Oxfordshire , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Hertfordshire , Huntingdonshire , and Cambridgeshire )
282-744: Is furthest away from the coast than anywhere else in England, it typically receives mostly light winds, with warm days and cold nights. Sometimes the Midlands can have very cold nights such as a minimum of −18.7 °C (−1.7 °F) in Pershore on 20 December 2010. The previous day had a maximum of only −8.2 °C (17.2 °F), also in Pershore. Hot days are also possible, such as a maximum of 34 °C (93 °F) in Pershore on 19 July 2006. There can also be very mild winters nights, such as in Bidford-on-Avon when
329-483: Is not professional, most Welsh people support teams from England or Wales that compete in England. The most supported football club in Wales is Liverpool . The game that would become Association football was first codified in Britain in the mid-19th century, and by the 1860s and 1870s became established in industrial towns in the Midlands and north of England . The north Wales towns of Wrexham and Ruabon also adopted
376-594: Is often labelled as "Central England", typically used interchangeably with "the Midlands". Additionally, there are two informal regions known as the South Midlands and North Midlands , which are not NUTS statistical regions of the United Kingdom and their definition varies by using organisation. The former includes the southern parts of the East Midlands and northern parts of Southern England . The latter covers
423-531: Is roughly covered by the metropolitan county of the West Midlands (which also includes the city of Coventry ); with the related City Region extending into neighbouring areas of Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire and Worcestershire . Various parts of the Midlands, particularly Warwickshire and Leicestershire, are on occasion referred to as the Heart of England, especially in tourist literature given that
470-620: The Football Association of Ireland formally declared an interest in co-hosting UEFA Euro 2020 . The two major trophies for Welsh club teams playing in England are the 1927 FA Cup for Cardiff City and the 2013 League Cup trophy for Swansea City . The Cymru Premier , formerly named the League of Wales and the Welsh Premier League, was founded in 1992 as Wales did not have a national league at that time. Teams relegated from
517-576: The Football Association of Wales invited the six Welsh clubs playing in the English league system to rejoin the Welsh Cup for the 2011–12 season with Newport County, Wrexham and Merthyr Town accepting. The invitation was not offered for the 2012–13 season. There are also a number of English-based teams in the Welsh leagues, see List of association football clubs playing in the league of another country . The women's national football team has yet to qualify for
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#1732852342127564-538: The Long Mynd , Clee Hills and Stiperstones ridge. Wenlock Edge , running through the middle of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), is a long, low ridge, which extends for over 15 miles (24 km). The Peak District reaches heights of between 300 m (1,000 ft) and 600 m (2,000 ft); Kinder Scout is the highest point at 636 m (2,086 ft). Further south,
611-638: The North Wales Coast East & West leagues' Premier Divisions and the North East Wales League 's Premier Division, and these even have feeder leagues of their own such as the former's First Divisions and the latter's Championship. In the south, the Tier 2 level league is the Cymru South — which has promotion from the two other Ardal Leagues - South East and South West. This covers the whole of
658-516: The Welsh Cup , the most prestigious cup competition in Welsh football. Currently, the four biggest clubs in Wales are professional clubs in the English Football League between the second and fourth tiers. Those are Cardiff City , Newport County , Swansea City and Wrexham . Both Cardiff and Swansea have won domestic cup titles in England and have played in the top division. Until 2016
705-601: The Welsh Cup . Welsh teams participating below level 4 of the English football league system are governed by the FAW for disciplinary and administrative matters, whereas Welsh teams at level 4 and above of the English football league system are administered by the English FA for the 2011–12 season onwards. From 1996 to 2011, the FAW only allowed teams in the Welsh league system to enter the Welsh Cup . Prior to 1996, Welsh teams playing in
752-457: The West Midlands and East Midlands . The Midlands' biggest city, Birmingham , is the second-largest in the United Kingdom . Other important cities include Coventry , Derby , Leicester , Lincoln , Nottingham , Stoke-on-Trent , Wolverhampton , and Worcester . A saltire (diagonal cross) may have been used as a symbol of Mercia as early as the reign of Offa . By the 13th century,
799-511: The southwest . The highest point of the hills is the Worcestershire Beacon at 425 m (1,394 ft) above sea level (OS Grid reference SO768452). The Cotswolds – designated an AONB in 1966. – extend for over 90 miles (140 km) through Oxfordshire , Gloucestershire , Wiltshire , Somerset , Warwickshire , and Worcestershire . They reach a highest point of 330 m (1,082 ft) at Cleeve Hill . Areas of lower hills, in
846-705: The transport links between the two regions were poor. In 1992 the Cymru Premier was formed to create a national league. Five Welsh clubs refused to join, but despite this the teams that come top of the Cymru Premier have a greater chance of playing in European competition , as the top three clubs are drawn into the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League . They also have the opportunity to compete in
893-510: The 1890-91 season. Football in Wales Association football ( Welsh : pêl-droed ) is one of the most popular sports in Wales , along with rugby union . Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during the Victorian period , and in 1876 a Wales national football team played their first international match. Football has always had
940-540: The 1905–06 season, but the introduction of Swansea , Newport , Ton Pentre , Merthyr Tydfil , Aberdare and Riverside into the Southern Leagues saw an increase in popularity of the sport in Wales. This was cemented with vital wins in the league and then in 1915, Swansea's surprise win over the then reigning League Champions, Blackburn Rovers F.C. in the FA Cup . In May 2012 the FAW, Scottish Football Association and
987-779: The Black Country conurbation at 271 m (889 ft) and the Wrekin just south of Wellington in Telford at 407 m (1,335 ft). Upland areas lie in the west and north of the region with the Shropshire Hills to the west, close to the England–Wales border and the Peak District area of the southern Pennines in the north of the region. The Shropshire Hills reach a height of 540 m (1,771 ft) at Brown Clee Hill and includes
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#17328523421271034-651: The Cymru Premier are either relegated to the Cymru North (Northern Wales) or the Cymru South (Southern Wales). Originally the Premier league had 18 teams, but from the 2010–11 season onwards there have been only 12, following a proposal by the clubs in the League. Northern Wales has a league at Tier 2 level—the Cymru North , which has a feeder league structure of its own with two regional leagues feeding it—the Ardal Leagues North East and North West (covering all of
1081-479: The English league system were invited to participate along with some English teams located near the Welsh border. As this rule excluded the biggest Welsh clubs from the Welsh Cup, the FAW launched the FAW Premier Cup in the 1997–98 season to include the top Welsh Premier League teams and the top Welsh teams in the English league system. The FAW Premier Cup was discontinued after the 2007–08 season. On 20 April 2011,
1128-684: The Midlands as the region is bordered by Wales to the west. It is also where the Midlands' lowest points can be found as some places fall below sea level, with the lowest points being near Thorpe Tilney in North Kesteven and Stickford in East Lindsey . The Midlands has a temperate maritime climate , with cold, cloudy, wet winters and comfortable, mostly dry, mostly sunny summers. The temperature usually ranges from −0.4 °C (31.3 °F) during winter nights to 24.1 °C (75.4 °F) during summer days. Due to its geographical location, which
1175-519: The Midlands. If defined as being made up of the statistical regions of East Midlands and West Midlands , it includes the counties of Derbyshire , Herefordshire , Leicestershire , most of Lincolnshire (with the exception of North and North East Lincolnshire ), Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , Rutland , Shropshire , Staffordshire , Warwickshire , Worcestershire and the West Midlands metropolitan boroughs. Other definitions include
1222-723: The Neath & District League ) and Garden Village in 1999 ( from the Carmarthenshire League ). Swansea City and Cardiff City presently play in the EFL Championship , while Wrexham competes in EFL League One and Newport County competes in EFL League Two . Merthyr Town play their football in feeder leagues. These five teams have all played in the English football league system since their founding, and all declined
1269-525: The South Wales Alliance. The West Wales FA area has its own Premier League since its creation before the 2020–21 season and until then that FA was the only one not to have set up a senior league in its area – this means that there are four local leagues (Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea and Neath & District) with all their champions potentially having to play-off for the one available promotion place. However, as few west Wales clubs can face
1316-472: The Wales national team rarely qualified for the major international tournaments, with its only appearance in the World Cup occurring in 1958 . However, they reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2016 and the last 16 of UEFA Euro 2020 , as well as having qualified for the 2022 World Cup . This has led to some players from Wales not being seen at the biggest international tournaments, though many of them have made
1363-594: The Welsh border reaches over 700 m (2,000 ft) high, at Twyn Llech (Black Mountain), which at 703 m (2,306 ft) is thus the highest point in Herefordshire . The Precambrian Malverns are formed of some of the oldest rock in England (dating from the Cryogenian period, at around 680 million years old) and extend for 8 miles (13 km) through two West Midlands counties ( Worcestershire and Herefordshire ) as well as northern Gloucestershire in
1410-529: The ceremonial county of Lincolnshire, actually come under the Yorkshire and the Humber region and are therefore not in the officially recognised East Midlands region. The two regions of the Midlands have a combined population of 10,350,697 (2014 mid-year estimate), and an area of 11,053 sq mi (28,630 km ). The largest Midlands conurbation , which includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton ,
1457-541: The first southern player was selected for the national team. The 1890s and early 1900s saw an increase in competitive association football in south Wales, but the Triple Crown success of the Wales rugby team in the 1893 Home Nations Championship heralded the start of the first "Golden era" of Welsh rugby, culminating in the famous Game of the Century , where a sell out crowd at Cardiff Arms Park watched Wales win against
Denbighshire League - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-615: The geographic centre of England is generally considered to lie within this arc. Different areas of the Midlands have their own distinctive character, giving rise to many local history and industrial heritage groups. Nottingham played a notable part in the English Civil War , which is commemorated in a number of place names (Parliament Terrace, Parliament Street, Standard Hill). Areas such as Derbyshire's Amber Valley and Erewash combine attractive countryside with industrial heritage and are home to historic canals and sites associated with
1551-529: The latter on 10 January 1982 around Newport in Shropshire where it dropped to a minimum of −26.1 °C (−15.0 °F). Due to being neither Northern England or Southern England , the Midlands have had cultural elements from both sides in the North–South divide , such as dialect (see also West Midlands English and East Midlands English ). A study has shown that some Midlands areas have traditionally had
1598-427: The mining industry. The Black Country , broadly the boroughs of Dudley , Sandwell , Wolverhampton and Walsall , played an important part in the Industrial Revolution . The historic counties ceased to be used for any administrative purpose in 1899 but remain important to some people, notably for county cricket . The area is predominantly low-lying and flat apart from isolated hills such as Turners Hill within
1645-525: The north including Wrexham). Again, the champions or runners-up of these leagues can be promoted given suitable ground facilities. Below these third tier leagues are even more localised leagues: in Central Wales there are three leagues feeding into the Mid Wales League (covering Ceredigion and Powys, Montgomeryshire, and Mid Wales South areas respectively), while below League One North 1 and 2 there are
1692-528: The northern parts of the West and East Midlands, along with some southern parts of Northern England . The West Midlands and East Midlands regions are NUTS 1 statistical regions and were formerly constituencies of the European Parliament . Local government in the Midlands is as follows: The unitary authorities of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire (not shown), while classed as part of
1739-458: The offer to move into the League of Wales, now known as the Cymru Premier , when it was founded in 1992. However, the Welsh teams Bangor City , Barry Town , Caernarfon Town , Colwyn Bay , Newtown and Rhyl did move into the Welsh league system from the English league system. Welsh teams participating in the English football league system can enter the English FA Cup competition, but not
1786-530: The previously undefeated Original All Blacks in 1905, all of which would contribute to rugby union becoming perceived as the primary sport in the area. The modern era of association football in Wales is agreed to have begun during the 1909–10 season when the first of six teams from the south joined the Southern Football League . Wrexham F.C. had already joined the Birmingham and District League during
1833-536: The prospect of the travelling implications of moving up to the Premier League, this four-way play-off idea is in theory rather than practice. The latest clubs to gain promotion from this region were Llansawel in 2006 ( from the Neath & District League ), West End in 2005 ( from the Swansea Senior League ), Ystradgynlais in 2004 ( from the Neath & District League ), Cwmamman United in 2002 ( from
1880-596: The range 200 m (600 ft) - 300 m (1000 ft), include Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire , Cannock Chase in Staffordshire , and the Lincolnshire Wolds (100 m (300 ft) - 200 m (600 ft)); the latter having some prominence despite their modest altitude given their location in typically low-lying Lincolnshire near to the east coast. Lincolnshire is the only coastal county in
1927-523: The saltire had become the attributed arms of the Kingdom of Mercia. The arms are blazoned Azure, a saltire Or , meaning a gold (or yellow) saltire on a blue field. The saltire is used as both a flag and a coat of arms. As a flag, it is flown from Tamworth Castle , the ancient seat of the Mercian kings . The flag also appears on street signs welcoming people to Tamworth , the "ancient capital of Mercia". It
Denbighshire League - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-665: The southern Wales geographical area, and it is not until the fourth tier of the pyramid that local leagues appear. Promotion to, and relegation from the Ardal Leagues is structured, as in the north, on three regional football associations (Gwent FA, South Wales FA, and West Wales FA). Each can send one promoted team into League One. In the Gwent FA area, there is one senior league, the Gwent County League , whose champions (or runners-up) are eligible, if they satisfy FAW criteria. (Below
2021-461: The sport in this era. Wrexham A.F.C. is Wales' oldest professional club and the third oldest in the world. This interest led to the formation of the Football Association of Wales (FAW) in 1876 by Welsh solicitor Llewelyn Kenrick and this was followed in 1877 by the creation of the Welsh Cup . In 1877 the FAW formed the first Wales national football team who played their first game that year, losing 4–0 away to Scotland . The Wrexham area
2068-455: The temperature at 6 pm was as high as 15.2 °C (59.4 °F) on 9 January 2015. At 8 am the following morning the temperature was still at 13 °C (55 °F). Both the highest and lowest temperature ever recorded in England were in the Midlands, the former on 19 July 2022 around Coningsby in Lincolnshire where it reached a maximum temperature of 40.3 °C (104.5 °F), and
2115-592: The three divisions of the Gwent County, there are the Newport and District , East Gwent, Central Gwent and North Gwent leagues) The South Wales FA area has the South Wales Alliance League — whereby the champions could be promoted to Ardal Leagues subject to meeting criteria. Below these two leagues are local leagues in the towns and cities of South Wales, the champions of which may play off to be promoted into
2162-408: Was also flown outside Birmingham Council House during 2009 while the Staffordshire Hoard was on display in the city before being taken to the British Museum in London. The cross has been incorporated into a number of coats of arms of Midlands towns, including Tamworth , Leek and Blaby . It was recognised as the Mercian flag by the Flag Institute in 2014. There is no single definition for
2209-409: Was the centre of football in Wales for the first twenty years, with the south of the country preferring to follow the emerging sport of rugby union . The first time an international game was held in the south was in 1894, hosted in Swansea, which was the 46th match the Wales team had played. More telling in the north / south divide that existed in the sport was that it was not until the 67th fixture that
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