For decades the Macron Welsh Football League’s handbooks and other documents used to list the league’s formation as the 1902-03 season. As the centenary of that season approached, there was increased research and discussion by followers of the league and Welsh soccer historians, none of whom had ever been wholly convinced of the accuracy of that date.

Published league honours records were silent on events before the First World War. However, there have been reasonably well-documented references to the Welsh League in the years immediately before the war, with Swansea Town confirmed as the first champions of a league bearing that name in season 1912-13.

More recent research, much of it published in Welsh Football magazine in the last three years, has proved that the Macron Welsh League was actually the direct descendant of leagues operating under the names Rhymney Valley and District Football League and subsequently the Glamorganshire Football League. Documentation confirming the last name change (from Glamorganshire League to Welsh League) in 1912 was unearthed – see Welsh Football magazine editions 82, 83 and 84 all of which are available at reduced prices as back issues.

The question of the first season of operation of the league, under its original title of Rhymney Valley & District F.L., generated much debate, but the myth that a competition took place in 1902 or 1903 has now been laid to rest. Official Macron Welsh League handbooks now recognise that the competition was founded in 1904 and the league was able to celebrate its centenary in 2004 with confidence.

Following the research into the league’s foundation, a reasonably definitive list of early champions has been compiled, filling in the pre-war gaps in the roll of honour. This information was published in Welsh Football issues 96-98 from 2004, which are also available at reduced prices as back issues.

The 1905/06 football season, exactly one hundred years ago, was the second in the life of the fledgling competition which would later become the Welsh Football League.

Known then as the Rhymney League, it wasn’t yet the top league in south Wales, but its potential must have been apparent, for the region’s strongest clubs of the day hedged their bets by entering ‘first elevens’ in both the Rhymney League and the longer-established South Wales League.

Rogerstone and Treharris were the dominant forces and fought out an extraordinary climax to the season in both leagues.

For the full story, plus much more of interest to fans of Welsh League football past and present, see the October 2005 edition of Welsh Football magazine.

Dave Collins - Editor Welsh Football magazine

 

Welsh Football magazine, the only publication which is dedicated to covering any and every aspect of football in Wales, reaches a major milestone in March 2005 with publication of its 100th issue.

For over 13 years, this independent publication has charted the highs and lows of the national team, the League of Wales/Welsh Premier and its clubs, as well as countless clubs elsewhere in the pyramid. Hundreds of club features and histories have been published, and thousands of programmes, books, DVDs and websites reviewed.

Current editor Dave Collins, who has been involved from the outset in late 1991, and has held the editorial and administrative reins for the past eight years, expresses both pride in the "100 up" and frustration that the magazine still has to fight for survival, its main enemy being apathy from within the game:

"Obviously it is great to reach our century of issues, and to be able to say that the magazine’s popularity with its loyal readership is apparently as high as ever, judging by the feedback I receive. Many followers of the game in Wales share my view that Wales simply must have a national soccer magazine, or our claim to nationhood loses some credibility. But the magazine’s popularity goes far beyond Welsh borders too".

"There is no doubt, either, that the present reproduction quality and the content, is as good as it has ever been. For that I must thank our printers, Harris Printers of Porthcawl, as well as the people who contribute articles, news, statistics and photos – all of them of course giving their time and effort for the love of the game rather than material reward. It remains a matter of pride that we’ve never paid any contributor – not that we could afford to".

"However, when you’re spending so much of your own time producing something you believe in, it is disappointing that its existence and viability continue to hang in the balance. A handful of Welsh clubs stock Welsh Football in their club shops, quite a few more have a subscription or two, but they are still a minority; we have always said that if every senior club in Wales subscribed, the magazine would be financially secure. I know also there are dozens of people – well-wishers if you like - who tell me they have "always meant to subscribe" (but never get round to it). It’s all very frustrating"

Whether Welsh Football will achieve another 100 issues, or even another 50, Dave admits he cannot say at the moment. The key to the answer probably lies in how much the football community of Wales really cares. As the song went "You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone" – what a shame if that proved to be the epitaph for Wales’s Independent Soccer Magazine.

Order your copy of the Welsh Football Magazine here

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