Cardiff and Swansea.

[morty 0]

How did it even come about that they play in the English league anyway?My personal opinion is that they shouldn''t be, but I''m really not interested in the argument, to be honest.But does anyone actually know how it came about?

[I am a Banana 0]

wrexham are also in the english leagues somewhere...im with you on this one though. Wales have their own league for welsh teams...!!![y]

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,615]

This may be wrong, but I have read before that there was no Welsh league when they were first admitted. So basically, they didn''t have a league to play in, so the English Football League let them into ours.But yeah, because they''re Welsh, I''m sure most neutrals will be getting behind us in the race for second.

[Yellowfuture 71]

Swans joined the Southern League in 1912 to play teams of a reasonable standard, the area around Swansea was mainly rugby territory so there were very few half decent teams to play. I am not sure how big an area the Southern League covered in those days, thinking about it though the travelling must have been a real problem for them, no Severn crossing so to get to Bristol for example they presumably would have needed to go almost up to Gloucester and come back down. Did teams travel the night before in those days, must have done I guess?

[Harry 0]

My biggest problem with Welsh teams playing in English Leagues is they come under the Welsh Fa, if they play in England they should be governed by the English FA.

[Howson is now! 0]

I''ve often wondered this. Also, why are Israeli teams allowed to play in European competitions?

[grantroederdisaster 0]

Israeli teams play in Europe the same as their National team plays in Euro qualifiers in order to keep them away from middle Eastern Countries most of whom they are in continual dispute with!

When the likes of Cardiff and Swansea 1st went into the English League it was cause their wasn''t good enough competition in Wales!

When the League of Wales was formed in the 1990''s they were asked to join but didn''t because the standard of footy in the Welsh top flight is probably lower Conference standard at best.

[macclesfield canary 0]

[quote user="Harry"]My biggest problem with Welsh teams playing in English Leagues is they come under the Welsh Fa, if they play in England they should be governed by the English FA.[/quote] Im with you on this harry. its another case of one rule for one and one for another its not fair the whole league should be governed by the english f.a

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 4,615]

[quote user="Harry"]My biggest problem with Welsh teams playing in English Leagues is they come under the Welsh Fa, if they play in England they should be governed by the English FA.[/quote]Yup, agreed on this- they''re having their cake and eating it. It seems to me

that the FAW are more lenient with Cardiff and Swansea than the English

FA generally are with the English teams.

[scooter 0]

[quote user="morty"]How did it even come about that they play in the English league anyway?My personal opinion is that they shouldn''t be, but I''m really not interested in the argument, to be honest.But does anyone actually know how it came about?[/quote]

We (Cardiff) were invited to join division 2 in 1920 after playing in the southern league for 10 years, incidently this was the same year you joined division 3

[The Fish Seller 0]

Hey Scooter can''t see you going up via the playoffs tbh, judging by the blubbing coming from your manager and players I can see the final being between Reading and Burnley with Burnley taking 3rd spot. Of course Burnley will have to beat you on the final day just to even make the playoffs but I think they''re more than capable and your heads are down after saturday. What odds Burnley beat you three times in three weeks now that would be worth blubbing about. [:D]Norwich WDW, Cardiff DWL [:P]

[scooter 0]

[quote user="Buckethead"]Hey Scooter can''t see you going up via the playoffs tbh, judging by the blubbing coming from your manager and players I can see the final being between Reading and Burnley with Burnley taking 3rd spot. Of course Burnley will have to beat you on the final day just to even make the playoffs but I think they''re more than capable and your heads are down after saturday. What odds Burnley beat you three times in three weeks now that would be worth blubbing about. [:D]

Norwich WDW, Cardiff DWL [:P]
[/quote]

That''s why this league is so good this year it''s so close !  personally i think it''s going down to the last game and could go either way as you know, you only need to draw in one game and us win the last 3 , anything is possible as your blip at swansea showed ,i was expecting you to stuff them ! ,Saying that i thought ipswich might have put up some resistance,  but hey my wife was happy with the result !

[The Fish Seller 0]

[quote user="Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man"]Yup, agreed on this- they''re having their cake and eating it. [/quote]Jones the Blub wants to play in the English Prem but enter the Welsh cup for an almost guaranteed european spot each year courtesy of Platini and assuming they can hold it together against the likes of Barry Town, Porthmadog, Blanau ffestiniogg and even the mighty Colwyn Bay and Wrexham  .(Posted on the BBC three days ago).Cardiff City tempted by Welsh Cup return

The Welsh Cup The Welsh Cup is world football''s third-oldest cup competitionBoss Dave Jones says Cardiff City would gladly accept an invitation to re-enter the Welsh Cup - provided a place in Europe was available to the winners.The FA of Wales wants Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham, Colwyn Bay, Newport and Merthyr to play in their flagship competition after a 16-year absence.Since 1995, only clubs from the Welsh pyramid have been eligible to play."If there''s a European spot then I''m sure myself and the other guys at their clubs would welcome it," said Jones.Cardiff and all the other Welsh clubs playing in the English league pyramid were barred by the FAW from entering the Welsh Cup in 1995 after pressure from Uefa.European football''s governing body made it clear that those clubs could not play in the FA Cup and in the Welsh Cup.As a result, all the clubs decided to relinquish their place in the Welsh Cup, and the competition has since lost much of its profile and prestige.But a route to play in European competition - at present the Europa League - remains available to the winners, and has proved to be an invaluable source of income to those Welsh Premier clubs to have lifted the cup in recent years.

However the FAW is now eager to boost the competition''s image, and believes that inviting Wales'' most popular and successful clubs is the best way to achieve that goal.An official invitation to enter next season''s competition will soon be sent to the six clubs, and vice-president Trefor Lloyd Hughes has confirmed that the FAW would be happy to nominate any of them to represent Wales in Europe should they win."We think that by having them in, it would raise the profile of the Cup and would help improve the playing standard of the clubs in the Welsh Premier," said Hughes."We would put their names forward to Uefa and it would then be Uefa''s decision, not the FAW''s, whether or not to allow them to play in Europe."

[ThorpeCanary 71]

I read that earlier Buckethead but its so outrageous its never gonna happen. It would basically be the equivalent of us setting up a Norfolk league and giving the winners access to Europa qualification.

there was a brilliant quote by Dave Jones in there to while referring to Cardiff no longer being invited to the cup

"I think it was only the Welsh that stopped it, not the English, so if nobody complained then, how can they complain today?"

Nice one Dave.

[ThorpeCanary 71]

That should be Norfolk cup, not league