| Sport | Football |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| No. of teams | 16 |
| Country(ies) |  Wales |
| Most recent champion(s) | Newport County |
| Official website | FAW Premier Cup |
The FAW Premier Cup (formerly the FAW Invitation Cup) is a defunct Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the six Welsh clubs playing in English leagues were excluded from playing in the Welsh Cup in 1996, the FAW needed another competition where the best Welsh teams could compete.
The original format incorporated the three Welsh clubs playing in the Football League (Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham) along with Merthyr Tydfil and four League of Wales clubs. Until the 2001–02 season, Merthyr Tydfil had a guaranteed place, as Newport County and Colwyn Bay were not invited to take part. From then onwards, the highest placed of the three were invited; however, Colwyn Bay have never been selected.
From the 2004–05 season, the competition was expanded to 16 clubs – the top 10 placed clubs from the Welsh Premier League, joined by the two best-placed of the three teams: Newport County, Merthyr Tydfil and Colwyn Bay, the Welsh Cup winners plus the three Football League clubs – Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham.
The competition offered a healthy prize fund. In 2007, the losing semi-final teams each received £25,000. The losing finalists received £50,000 each plus a share of TV coverage money, with the winners receiving £100,000.
The competition's most senior clubs – particularly Cardiff City – have been accused of taking the competition lightly following the arrival of ambitious owner Sam Hammam. Despite the club's success in the Football League, the Bluebirds have won the Premier Cup just once since its inception, beating arch-rivals Swansea City in the 2002 final.
Wrexham have dominated the competition, appearing in all but two finals to date. The only League of Wales clubs to have appeared are Barry Town, Rhyl, The New Saints and Llanelli. The 2007 final was the first final not to include one of the Football League clubs. In the last final, on 11 March 2008, Newport County beat Llanelli at the Newport Stadium.
The FAW Premier Cup was broadcast on BBC Wales. However, after BBC Wales withdrew their sponsorship of the competition in 2008, the competition was cancelled.[1]
Contents |
Results of finals
| Year | Winners | Result | Runners-up | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997–98 | Wrexham | 2–1 | Cardiff City | Racecourse Ground | |
| 1998–99 | Barry Town | 2–1 | Wrexham | Racecourse Ground | |
| 1999–2000 | Wrexham | 2–0 | Cardiff City | Racecourse Ground | |
| 2000–01 | Wrexham | 2–0 | Swansea City | Vetch Field | |
| 2001–02 | Cardiff City | 1–0 | Swansea City | Ninian Park | 6,629 |
| 2002–03 | Wrexham | 6–1 | Newport County | Racecourse Ground | 4,014 |
| 2003–04 | Wrexham | 4–1 | Rhyl | Belle Vue | 2,800 |
| 2004–05 | Swansea City | 2–1 | Wrexham | Vetch Field | 9,000 |
| 2005–06 | Swansea City | 2–1 | Wrexham | Racecourse Ground | 3,032 |
| 2006–07 | The New Saints | 1–0 | Newport County | Newport Stadium | 1,809 |
| 2007–08 | Newport County | 1–0 | Llanelli | Newport Stadium | 1,889 |
Club-by-club record
| Rank | Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning year(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wrexham | 5 | 3 | 1997–98, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04 |
| 2 | Swansea City | 2 | 2 | 2004–05, 2005–06 |
| 3 | Cardiff City | 1 | 2 | 2001–02 |
| Newport County | 1 | 2 | 2007–08 | |
| 5 | Barry Town | 1 | 0 | 1998–99 |
| The New Saints | 1 | 0 | 2006–07 | |
| 7 | Rhyl | 0 | 1 | |
| Llanelli | 0 | 1 |
References
- ^ "Board Confirms No Premier Cup Next Season". low.org.uk (Welsh Premier Football League). 11 April 2008. http://www.low.org.uk/news/WelshPrem33639.ink. Retrieved on 11 April 2008.
External links
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