2011–12 Welsh Premier League

The 2011–12 Welsh Premier League season was the 20th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league of Wales since its establishment in 1992. Bangor City were the defending champions, but lost their title to The New Saints in a meeting on the final game of the season.

Welsh Premier League

Season	2011–12
Champions	TNS
Relegated	Neath
Champions League	TNS
Europa League	Bangor City Llanelli Cefn Druids (via cup)
Matches played	192
Goals scored	608 (3.17 per match)
Biggest home win	Llanelli 9–2 Newtown
Biggest away win	Neath 1–5 Llanelli Aberystwyth Town 0–4 Bala Town Newtown 0–4 Neath Prestatyn 0–4 TNS Newtown 0–4 Airbus
Highest scoring	Llanelli 9–2 Newtown
← 2010–11 2012–13 →

Teams

Haverfordwest County were relegated to the 2011–12 Football League Division One at the end of the 2010–11 season after finishing at the bottom of the table. The club thus ended a fourteen-year tenure in the league. They were replaced by 2010–11 Football League runners-up Afan Lido, who returned to the Premier League after six seasons.

Originally, Bala Town as 11th-placed team were going to be relegated as well; however, they were eventually spared as 2010–11 Cymru Alliance champions Connah's Quay Nomads were denied a Premier League licence.^[1]

Stadia and location

Aberystwyth Town

Afan Lido

Airbus UK

Bala Town

Bangor City

Carmarthen Town

Llanelli

Neath

Newtown

Port Talbot Town

Prestatyn Town

The New Saints

Location of teams in 2011–2012 Welsh Premier League

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Aberystwyth Town	Park Avenue	5,500
Afan Lido	Marston Stadium	4,200
Airbus UK Broughton	The Airfield	2,100
Bala Town	Maes Tegid	3,000
Bangor City	Nantporth	3,000
Carmarthen Town	Richmond Park	3,000
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	2,500

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	The New Saints (C)	32	23	5	4	75	31	+44	74	Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round
2	Bangor City	32	22	3	7	72	45	+27	69	Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3	Neath (R)	32	18	8	6	60	36	+24	62	Relegated[a]
4	Llanelli (O)	32	18	5	9	63	36	+27	59	Qualification for Europa League play-offs
5	Bala Town	32	14	7	11	48	41	+7	49
6	Prestatyn Town	32	8	4	20	41	63	−22	28
7	Airbus UK Broughton	32	10	9	13	48	50	−2	39	Qualification for Europa League play-offs
8	Aberystwyth Town[b]	32	8	10	14	44	50	−6	33
9	Port Talbot Town	32	8	9	15	39	51	−12	33
10	Afan Lido	32	7	11	14	40	55	−15	32
11	Carmarthen Town	32	10	2	20	33	67	−34	32
12	Newtown[c]	32	7	5	20	44	82	−38	23	Spared from relegation[d]

Source: Welsh Premier^[usurped]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Cefn Druids, playing in the 2011–12 Cymru Alliance, will qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League, even though they lost to The New Saints (themselves qualifiers for the UEFA Champions League), in the final of the 2011–12 Welsh Cup.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Neath were relegated on 27 April 2012, after failing in their Domestic and UEFA Competitions Licensing appeal, meaning they were relegated from the Welsh Premier League. Newtown would have been relegated otherwise.^[2]
2. Aberystwyth Town deducted 1 point for fielding ineligible player
3. Newtown deducted 3 points for fielding ineligible players.
4. Haverfordwest County would have replaced Newtown AFC should they have finished second in a feeder league, and thus gaining promotion. A win for Taffs Well in a game Vs Caerau Ely meant this could not happen, sparing Newtown's relegation.^[3]

Results

Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league was split into two groups at the end of round 22 – the top six and the bottom six. Clubs in these groups played each other twice again bringing the total fixture count to 32.

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	ABE	AFA	AIR	BAL	BAN	CMR	LLA	NEA	NEW	PTA	PRE	TNS
Aberystwyth Town		1–1	1–2	0–4	0–2	4–1	1–2	1–1	4–1	0–2	1–3	1–1
Afan Lido	0–0		0–0	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	1–0	3–2	1–2	0–1	3–1
Airbus UK Broughton	1–1	3–1		1–2	2–4	3–1	1–1	2–2	3–2	1–1	2–1	1–2
Bala Town	3–0	3–1	1–0		1–2	2–0	2–4	0–0	2–2	2–0	1–1	2–2
Bangor City	1–1	4–1	2–1	2–1		4–0	3–2	2–1	4–0	3–1	5–3	0–3
Carmarthen Town	2–1	2–5	3–1	0–1	1–2		0–3	2–2	0–1	2–0	2–1	0–1
Llanelli	2–0	4–1	1–1	3–1	2–1	2–0		0–1	9–2	2–0	3–2	0–1
Neath	4–2	1–1	3–0	4–0	2–0	1–0	2–0		5–0	3–2	3–1	1–1
Newtown	1–2	2–1	1–3	0–2	2–1	4–2	0–2	0–4		2–0	1–2	1–3
Port Talbot Town	0–4	2–2	2–1	2–2	1–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	3–1		0–0	2–1
Prestatyn Town	1–0	3–1	2–2	0–1	0–5	6–1	0–2	1–1	2–1	2–1		0–2
The New Saints	3–2	3–0	3–1	1–1	3–4	4–0	4–2	3–0	5–0	3–2	2–1

Source: Welsh Premiership Football League^[usurped]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

Top six Home \ Away BAN TNS LLA NEA BAL PRE Bangor City 1–3 2–2 1–3 4–2 2–1 The New Saints 5–0 1–1 1–2 3–2 2–1 Llanelli 0–1 0–2 1–2 1–2 3–2 Neath 1–3 0–1 1–5 2–0 1–0 Bala Town 0–1 0–1 0–1 2–2 3–0 Prestatyn Town 0–4 0–4 1–2 2–3 1–2 Source: rsssf.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away AIR PTA AFA ABE NEW CMR Airbus UK Broughton 2–2 1–1 3–2 3–1 0–1 Port Talbot Town 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–1 0–1 Afan Lido 1–2 2–2 0–2 1–6 5–1 Aberystwyth Town 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–2 2–2 Newtown 0–4 2–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 Carmarthen Town 1–0 1–0 3–2 0–3 3–2 Source: rsssf.com Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

UEFA Europa League play-offs

Teams who finished in positions fourth through eighth at the end of the season participated in a play-off to determine the second participant for the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League. As Neath failed to win their appeal against an FAW Domestic licence, Aberystwyth Town took their place (See Relegation Section)

Quarter-finals

7 May 2012

14:00 BST

Airbus UK Broughton	0–1	Aberystwyth Town
	Report[dead link]	Thomas 57'

The Airfield, Broughton

Attendance: 327

Referee: Lee Evans

Semi-finals

12 May 2012

14:00 BST

Llanelli	1–0 (a.e.t.)	Aberystwyth Town
Follows 108'	Report[dead link]

Stebonheath Park, Llanelli

Attendance: 281

Referee: Bryn Markham-Jones

---

12 May 2012

14:30 BST

Bala Town	2–1	Prestatyn Town
Sheridan 4' Hunt 47'	report[dead link]	Hayes 30'

Maes Tegid, Bala

Attendance: 426

Referee: Dean John

Final

19 May 2012

15:15 BST

Llanelli	2–1	Bala Town
Griffiths 4' Grist 19'	report[dead link]	Hunt 76'

Stebonheath Park, Llanelli

Attendance: 318

Referee: Huw Jones

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Rhys Griffiths	Llanelli AFC	22
2	Greg Draper	The New Saints	21
3	Les Davies	Bangor City	15
4	Ian Sheridan	Airbus UK/Bala Town	14
	Lee Hunt	Bala Town	14
5	Luke Bowen	Neath Athletic	13