2021–22 Cymru Premier

The 2021–22 Cymru Premier (Welsh: Uwch Gynghrair Cymru 2021–22) (known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons) was the 30th season of the Cymru Premier (formally known as the Welsh Premier League), the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. Connah's Quay Nomads were the defending champions. Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups after phase 1 matches were completed. Due to Wales losing a European place, the format of the play-offs changed, with the prize now being a place in the Scottish Challenge Cup.

Cymru Premier
Uwch Gynghrair Cymru

Season	2021–22
Dates	13 August 2021 - 14 May 2022
Champions	The New Saints
Relegated	Cefn Druids Barry Town United
Champions League	The New Saints
Europa Conference League	Bala Town Newtown
Matches played	192
Goals scored	562 (2.93 per match)
Top goalscorer	Declan McManus (21 goals)
Biggest home win	Bala Town 11-0 Penybont 24 April 2022)
Biggest away win	Aberystwyth Town 0–6 Haverfordwest County (15 March 2022)
Highest scoring	Bala Town 11-0 Penybont 24 April 2022)
Longest winning run	The New Saints (8 games)
Longest unbeaten run	The New Saints (14 games)
Longest winless run	Cefn Druids (25 games)
Longest losing run	Cefn Druids (7 games)
Highest attendance	1,248 - Barry Town vs Connah's Quay Nomads (11 September 2021)
Lowest attendance	65 - Cardiff Met vs Cefn Druids (2 October 2021)
Average attendance	335
← 2020–21 2022–23 → All statistics correct as of 15 May.

Teams

Twelve teams competed in the league – the same twelve teams as the previous season. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cymru North and Cymru South leagues were unable to be played the previous season, therefore no teams were able to be promoted. As every team already in the premier league had been granted a Tier 1 license, there was no need for any team to be relegated.^[1]

Stadia and locations

Aberystwyth
Town

Bala Town

Barry Town United

Caernarfon Town

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Cefn Druids

Connah's Quay Nomads

Flint Town United

Haverfordwest County

Newtown

Penybont

The New Saints

Locations of the 2021–22 Cymru Premier teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Aberystwyth Town	Aberystwyth	Park Avenue	5,000
Bala Town	Bala	Maes Tegid	3,000
Barry Town United	Barry	Jenner Park Stadium	3,500
Caernarfon Town	Caernarfon	The Oval	3,000
Cardiff Metropolitan University	Cyncoed	Cyncoed Campus	1,620
Cefn Druids	Rhosymedre	The Rock	3,000
Connah's Quay Nomads	Connah's Quay	Deeside Stadium	1,500
Flint Town United	Flint	Cae-y-Castell	1,000
Haverfordwest County	Haverfordwest	Bridge Meadow Stadium	2,100
Newtown	Newtown	Latham Park	5,000
Penybont	Bridgend	Bryntirion Park	3,000
The New Saints	Oswestry	Park Hall	2,034

Personnel and kits

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Front shirt sponsor
Aberystwyth Town	Antonio Corbisiero	Jack Thorn	Acerbis	Aberystwyth University
Bala Town	Colin Caton	Chris Venables	Macron	Aykroyd's
Barry Town United	Gavin Chesterfield	Kayne McLaggon	Macron	RIM Motors
Caernarfon Town	Huw Griffiths	Dion Donohue	Errea	Gofal Bro Cyf
Cardiff Metropolitan University	Christian Edwards	Chris Baker	Errea	Cardiff Metropolitan University
Cefn Druids	Andy Turner	Michael Jones	Errea	Wrexham Lager
Connah's Quay Nomads	Craig Harrison	George Horan	Nike	Educate Group[2]
Flint Town United	Neil Gibson	Alex Jones	Macron	Essity
Haverfordwest County	Nicky Hayen	Dylan Rees	Joma	West Wales Properties
Newtown	Chris Hughes	Craig T. Williams	Errea	Control Techniques
Penybont	Rhys Griffiths	Kane Owen	Macron	Nathaniel House of Cars
The New Saints	Anthony Limbrick	Chris Marriott	Legea	SiFi Networks

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Cefn Druids	Jayson Starkey	End of caretaker spell	27 May 2021	Pre-season	Niall McGuinness[3]	27 May 2021
Aberystwyth Town	Gavin Allen	Resigned	2 June 2021		Antonio Corbisiero[4]	2 June 2021
Cefn Druids	Niall McGuinness[5]		24 September 2021	12th	Andy Turner (caretaker)	24 September 2021
Connah's Quay Nomads	Andy Morrison[6]		28 September 2021	6th	Craig Harrison[7]	29 September 2021
Haverfordwest County	Wayne Jones[8]		5 December 2021	10th	Nicky Hayen	31 December 2021

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification[a]
1	The New Saints (C)	32	25	5	2	86	26	+60	80	Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round
2	Bala Town	32	16	11	5	67	37	+30	59	Qualification for the Europa Conference League first qualifying round
3	Newtown	32	15	6	11	50	35	+15	51
4	Caernarfon Town (O)	32	13	4	15	46	53	−7	43	Qualification to Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs
5	Flint Town United	32	12	6	14	51	53	−2	42
6	Penybont	32	10	10	12	49	57	−8	40
7	Cardiff Metropolitan University	32	10	12	10	35	38	−3	42	Qualification to Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs
8	Aberystwyth Town	32	11	7	14	38	45	−7	40
9	Connah's Quay Nomads	32	15	11	6	44	18	+26	38[b]
10	Haverfordwest County	32	10	8	14	45	46	−1	38
11	Barry Town United (R)	32	8	7	17	31	47	−16	31	Relegation to Cymru North or Cymru South
12	Cefn Druids (R)	32	2	3	27	22	109	−87	9

Source: Cymru Premier table
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Head-to-head points; 4) Goals scored; 5) Matches won.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Teams play each other twice (22 matches), before the league is split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six).
2. Connah's Quay Nomads were deducted 18 points for fielding an ineligible player in six matches.^[9]

Results

13 August 2021 – 26 February 2022

Matches 1–22

Home \ Away	ABE	BAL	BAR	CAE	CMU	CDR	CQN	FTU	HAV	NTW	PYB	TNS
Aberystwyth Town	—	0–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	5–0	0–1	1–2	2–0	2–4	0–3	1–0
Bala Town	2–2	—	3–3	3–0	0–0	1–1	0–4	3–1	6–2	1–0	2–2	1–4
Barry Town United	1–1	0–0	—	1–2	0–1	1–0	1–0	0–1	3–2	0–3	0–0	1–2
Caernarfon Town	3–3	3–3	1–2	—	2–0	3–0	0–1	2–3	2–0	0–2	1–2	0–4
Cardiff Metropolitan University	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–1	—	4–2	1–1	1–5	0–2	1–1	3–2	1–1
Cefn Druids	0–1	3–5	1–4	1–3	1–3	—	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–5	0–3	1–4
Connah's Quay Nomads	1–0	0–1	2–3	1–1	0–0	4–0	—	2–0	1–0	0–2	0–0	0–1
Flint Town United	1–0	1–2	3–2	3–4	2–2	4–0	1–1	—	4–1	4–1	3–1	1–1
Haverfordwest County	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–2	0–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	—	1–0	2–2	0–1
Newtown	1–2	3–3	2–1	1–0	0–0	5–0	0–2	2–0	1–1	—	3–1	1–4
Penybont	4–0	1–0	4–0	1–1	2–1	7–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	—	1–1
The New Saints	3–0	2–1	3–1	5–3	5–0	5–1	3–1	1–0	6–0	2–0	3–2	—

Source: Cymru Premier
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

Top six Home \ Away BAL CAE FTU NTW PYB TNS Bala Town — 2–0 3–2 1–0 11–0 1–1 Caernarfon Town 0–2 — 2–1 0–4 1–0 0–3 Flint Town United 0–1 0–4 — 1–1 1–0 1–2 Newtown 0–2 1–0 2–1 — 1–2 0–2 Penybont 0–5 0–3 0–3 0–2 — 1–2 The New Saints 2–1 3–1 7–0 0–1 3–3 — Source: Cymru Premier Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bottom six Home \ Away ABE BAR CMU CDR CQN HAV Aberystwyth Town — 2–1 0–2 6–0 1–1 0–6 Barry Town United 0–1 — 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 Cardiff Metropolitan University 1–1 1–1 — 5–0 0–0 3–2 Cefn Druids 3–3 1–0 2–0 — 0–3 1–6 Connah's Quay Nomads 1–0 2–0 2–0 5–0 — 3–0 Haverfordwest County 0–1 2–0 1–2 6–1 0–0 — Source: Cymru Premier Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Scottish Challenge Cup play-offs

Semi-finals

Flint Town United v Penybont

7 May 2022	Flint Town United	1–1 (3–1 p)	Penybont	The Essity Stadium
14:30 BST (UTC+01)

Caernarfon Town v Cardiff Metropolitan University

7 May 2022	Caernarfon Town	1–0	Cardiff Metropolitan University	The Oval, Caernarfon
17:15 BST (UTC+01)

Final

Caernarfon Town v Flint Town United

14 May 2022	Caernarfon Town	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Flint Town United	The Oval, Caernarfon
14:00 BST (UTC+01)

Season statistics

Top scorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[10]
1	Declan McManus	The New Saints	24
2	Aaron Williams	Newtown	17
3	Jordan Williams	The New Saints	15
4	Michael Wilde	Flint Town United	14
	Kayne McLaggon	Barry Town United

Hat-tricks

Player	For	Against	Result	Date
Michael Wilde	Flint Town United	Cefn Druids	4–0 (H)	21 August 2021
Aaron Williams	Newtown	Barry Town United	0–3 (A)	2 October 2021
Declan McManus	The New Saints	Haverfordwest	6–0 (H)	6 November 2021
Nicky Rushton	Newtown	Aberystwyth	2–4 (A)	10 December 2021
Ben Ahmun	Penybont	Aberystwyth	4–0 (H)	21 January 2022
Mello	Connah's Quay	Cefn Druids	5–0 (H)	15 March 2022
Alhagi Touray Sisay	Haverfordwest	Aberystwyth	0–6 (A)	15 March 2022
Will Evans	Bala	Penybont	0–5 (A)	2 April 2022
Jazz Richards	Haverfordwest	Cefn Druids	1–6 (A)	9 April 2022
Jordan Williams	The New Saints	Flint Town	7–0 (H)	15 April 2022

Notes

(H) – Home team
(A) – Away team

Monthly awards

Month	Manager of the Month		Player of the Month
	Manager	Club	Player	Club
August	Anthony Limbrick	The New Saints	Clayton Green	Barry Town
September	Colin Caton	Bala Town	David Edwards	Bala Town
October	Chris Hughes	Newtown	Kayne McLaggon	Barry Town
November	Antonio Corbisiero	Aberystwyth Town	John Owen	Aberystwyth Town
December	Chris Hughes	Newtown	Jordan Williams	The New Saints
January	Anthony Limbrick	The New Saints	Harry Franklin	Aberystwyth Town
February	Craig Harrison	Connah's Quay	Mike Hayes	Caernarfon Town
March	Nicky Hayen	Haverfordwest County	Chris Venables	Bala Town

Annual awards

Award	Winner	Club
Manager of the Season	Anthony Limbrick	The New Saints
Player of the Season	Declan McManus	The New Saints
Young Player of the Season	Mael Davies	Penybont
Goal of the Season	Kyle McCarthy	Cardiff Met University

Team of the Season
Goalkeeper	Oliver Byrne (Connah's Quay Nomads)
Defenders	Mael Davies (Penybont)			Danny Davies (The New Saints)			Nathan Peate (Bala Town)			Dion Donohue (Caernarfon)			Kane Owen (Penybont)
Midfielders	Daniel Redmond (The New Saints)	Ryan Brobbel (The New Saints)
Forwards	Lifumpa Mwandwe (Newtown)					Declan McManus (The New Saints)					Will Evans (Bala Town)

Fair Play award

The winner for each respective division's FAW Fair Play Table was to be given £1,000 prize money and the FAW Fair Play Trophy.

The winners of the Nationwide Building Society Fair Play Award for the 2021-2022 Cymru Premier season are Connah's Quay Nomads^[11]