2010–11 Welsh Premier League
# 2010–11 Welsh Premier League

The 2010–11 Welsh Premier League was the 19th season of the Welsh Premier League since its establishment in 1992 as the League of Wales. It was reduced to a size of 12 teams from this season following a unanimous decision by the Premier League clubs in June 2009. The league season began on 13 August 2010 and ended on 30 April 2011. The New Saints were the defending champions, but lost their crown to Bangor City.

## Teams

Rhyl were denied the domestic licence for competing in this season's Welsh Premier League and were therefore relegated to the second tier. Welsh Premier League aspirants Llangefni Town (Cymru Alliance) and Afan Lido (Welsh Football League First Division) were also denied licences meaning that no team from the second tier was promoted. Since these three teams failed to obtain licences, the best three teams originally to be relegated, with all three obtaining their licences, were spared from relegation (Bala Town, Haverfordwest County and Newtown). Rhyl became the third Championship winning side to be relegated after Barry Town and Cwmbran Town. Rhyl had had the highest home attendances in the league for the last seven seasons.

### Team summaries

| Team | Ground | Capacity |
| - | - | - |
| Aberystwyth Town | Park Avenue | 5,500 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | The Airfield | 2,100 |
| Bala Town | Maes Tegid | 3,000 |
| Bangor City | Farrar Road Stadium | 1,500 |
| Carmarthen Town | Richmond Park | 3,000 |
| Haverfordwest County | Bridge Meadow Stadium | 2,000 |
| Llanelli AFC | Stebonheath Park | 3,700 |
| Neath | The Gnoll | 7,000 |
| Newtown AFC | Latham Park | 5,000 |
| Port Talbot Town | Victoria Road | 2,500 |
| Prestatyn Town | Bastion Road | 2,500 |
| The New Saints | Park Hall | 2,000 |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Newtown | Darren Ryan | Stepped down | 4 August 2010 | Andy Cale | 7 August 2010 |
| Haverfordwest County | Derek Brazil | Sacked | 15 November 2010 | Gavin Chesterfield | 26 November 2010 |
| Haverfordwest County | Gavin Chesterfield | Resigned | 28 February 2011 | Derek Brazil | 28 February 2011 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Bangor City (C) | 32 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 80 | 44 | +36 | 70 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | The New Saints | 32 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 87 | 34 | +53 | 68 | Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round |
| 3 | Neath (O) | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 62 | 41 | +21 | 58 | Qualification for Europa League play-offs |
| 4 | Llanelli | 32 | 15 | 8 | 9 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 53 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 5 | Prestatyn Town | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 44 | 46 | −2 | 40 | Qualification for Europa League play-offs |
| 6 | Port Talbot Town | 32 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 36 | Qualification for Europa League play-offs |
| 7 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 42 | 54 | −12 | 42 | Qualification for Europa League play-offs |
| 8 | Airbus UK Broughton | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 41 | Qualification for Europa League play-offs |
| 9 | Newtown | 32 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 35 | |
| 10 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 39 | 64 | −25 | 35 | |
| 11 | Bala Town | 32 | 10 | 3 | 19 | 41 | 57 | −16 | 33 | Spared from relegation |
| 12 | Haverfordwest County (R) | 32 | 5 | 4 | 23 | 30 | 77 | −47 | 19 | Relegation to Welsh Division One |

* ↑ Winners of 2010–11 Welsh Cup
* ↑ Bala Town were spared from relegation after 2010–11 Cymru Alliance champions Connah's Quay Nomads were denied a Premier League licence for the 2011–12 season.

## Results

Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups - the top six and the bottom six. Clubs in these groups played each other twice again to bring the total fixture count to 32. This meant a decrease in fixtures from 34 games to 32 from the previous season.

### Matches 1–22

| Home \ Away | ABE | AIR | BAL | BAN | CMR | HAV | LLA | NEA | NEW | PTA | PRE | TNS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Aberystwyth Town | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 2–2 |
| Bala Town | 2–3 | 1–2 | | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 |
| Bangor City | 2–1 | 5–1 | 3–0 | | 5–0 | 6–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 5–2 | 8–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 |
| Carmarthen Town | 2–3 | 1–4 | 4–1 | 0–1 | | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Haverfordwest County | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 | | 0–4 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–4 |
| Llanelli | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Neath | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Newtown | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–6 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Port Talbot Town | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | | 0–3 | 0–2 |
| Prestatyn Town | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 |
| The New Saints | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 7–0 | 6–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 6–1 | 5–2 | |

## UEFA Europa League play-offs

As Llanelli AFC had already been assured of a Europa League spot by virtue of playing in the 2010–11 Welsh Cup Final against Champions-League qualified Bangor City, third-placed Neath and fifth- through eighth-placed sides Port Talbot Town, Prestatyn Town, Aberystwyth Town and Airbus UK Broughton competed in the inaugural play-offs for the second 2011–12 UEFA Europa League spot available via league placement. The winners of this play-off would go on to enter the Europa League in the first qualifying round.

### Quarterfinal

Aberystwyth Town and Airbus UK Broughton, as worst-placed teams of the play-off participants, had to compete an extra match in order to reduce the teams for the semi-finals to four. The winners of this match would face Neath in the semi-final.

### Semifinals

The semi-finals were held simultaneously on 15 May. Aberystwyth Town, having beaten Airbus, faced third-placed Neath in the first, while fifth-placed Prestatyn faced off against sixth-placed Port Talbot in the other.

### Final

The final was held at Neath's Gnoll, as they had finished higher than Prestatyn in the league and had therefore 'earned' home advantage. Neath won the game 3-2 and will play in the Europa League next season as a result.

## Top goalscorers

Including matches played on 18 February 2011; Source: Soccerway

| Rank | Scorer | Team | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Jamie Reed | Bangor City | 17 |
| 1 | Rhys Griffiths | Llanelli AFC | 17 |
| 3 | Matty Williams | The New Saints | 16 |
| 4 | Lee Trundle | Neath | 15 |
| 5 | Alan Bull | Bangor City | 12 |
| 5 | Lee Hunt | Prestatyn Town | 12 |
| 7 | Alex Darlington | The New Saints | 11 |
| 7 | Richie Partridge | The New Saints | 11 |
| 9 | Andy Moran | Airbus UK Broughton | 10 |
| 9 | Dave Morley | Bangor City | 10 |
