The 2016–17 Welsh Premier League (known as the Dafabet Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 25th season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The New Saints are the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 22 June 2016.[1] The season began on 12 August 2016 and ended on 22 April 2017; the Europa League play-offs will follow afterwards.
| Season | 2016–17 |
|---|---|
| Dates | 12 August 2016 – 22 April 2017 |
| Champions | The New Saints (11th title) |
| Relegated | Rhyl Airbus UK Broughton |
| Champions League | The New Saints |
| Europa League | Connah's Quay Nomads Bala Town Bangor City |
| Matches played | 192 |
| Goals scored | 587 (3.06 per match) |
| Biggest home win | The New Saints 10–0 Rhyl (28 August 2016) |
| Biggest away win | Airbus UK Broughton 0–7 Newtown (14 April 2017) |
| Highest scoring | The New Saints 10–0 Rhyl (28 August 2016) Bala Town 4–6 The New Saints (22 April 2017) |
← 2015–16 2017–18 → | |
Teams played each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups at the end of January 2017 – the top six and the bottom six.
On 30 December 2016, The New Saints broke Ajax's 44-year-old world record for the longest winning streak in top-flight football with their 27th consecutive win in all competitions.[2] Their record run of 27 wins came to an end with a 3–3 draw on 14 January 2017.[3]
On 4 March 2017, The New Saints defeated Bangor 4–0 to clinch their sixth straight Welsh Premier League title and eleventh Welsh league title overall.[4]
This was the final season the league was sponsored by Dafabet.
Teams
edit
Haverfordwest County and Port Talbot Town were relegated out of the Welsh Premier League the previous season, while Cefn Druids were promoted as winners of the Cymru Alliance and Cardiff Metropolitan University were promoted as winners of Welsh Football League Division One. It will be Cardiff Metropolitan University's debut campaign in the league under that name, although they were formerly members when known as Inter Cardiff.
Stadia and locations
edit| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aberystwyth Town | Aberystwyth | Park Avenue | 5,000 |
| Airbus UK Broughton | Broughton | The Airfield | 1,600 |
| Bala Town | Bala | Maes Tegid | 3,000 |
| Bangor City | Bangor | Nantporth | 3,000 |
| Cardiff Metropolitan University | Cardiff | Cyncoed Campus | 1,620 |
| Carmarthen Town | Carmarthen | Richmond Park | 3,000 |
| Cefn Druids | Wrexham | The Rock | 3,000 |
| Connah's Quay Nomads | Connah's Quay | Deeside Stadium | 1,500 |
| Llandudno | Llandudno | Park MBi Maesdu | 1,013 |
| Newtown | Newtown | Latham Park | 5,000 |
| Rhyl | Rhyl | The Corbett Sports Stadium | 3,000 |
| The New Saints | Oswestry | Park Hall | 2,000 |
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation[a] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The New Saints (C) | 32 | 28 | 1 | 3 | 101 | 26 | +75 | 85 | Qualification for the Champions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Connah's Quay Nomads | 32 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 45 | 24 | +21 | 58 | Qualification for the Europa League first qualifying round[b] |
| 3 | Bala Town | 32 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 61 | 46 | +15 | 57 | |
| 4 | Bangor City (O) | 32 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 53 | 53 | 0 | 52 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[c] |
| 5 | Carmarthen Town | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 39 | |
| 6 | Cardiff Metropolitan University | 32 | 10 | 6 | 16 | 41 | 41 | 0 | 36 | |
| 7 | Newtown | 32 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 45 | Qualification for the Europa League play-offs[c] |
| 8 | Cefn Druids | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 39 | |
| 9 | Llandudno | 32 | 7 | 14 | 11 | 31 | 45 | −14 | 35 | |
| 10 | Aberystwyth Town | 32 | 10 | 4 | 18 | 41 | 63 | −22 | 34 | |
| 11 | Rhyl (R) | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 38 | 76 | −38 | 30 | Relegation to the Cymru Alliance |
| 12 | Airbus UK Broughton (R) | 32 | 5 | 6 | 21 | 37 | 78 | −41 | 21 |
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Matches won; 5) Play-off.[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Teams played each other twice (22 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last 10 matches.
- ^ Bala Town qualified for the Europa League first qualifying round by winning the 2016–17 Welsh Cup.
- ^ a b Teams played for one spot in the Europa League first qualifying round.
Results
editTeams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league split into two groups – the top six and the bottom six.
Matches 1–22
editMatches 23–32
editUEFA Europa League play-offs
editTeams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season participated in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League, who qualified for the first qualifying round.
Semi-finals
edit| Bangor City | 3–2 | Newtown |
|---|---|---|
Taylor-Fletcher  5'Nardiello 12'Roberts 75' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Boundford 19' Mitchell 26' |
| Carmarthen Town | 1–2 | Cardiff Metropolitan University |
|---|---|---|
| Griffiths 48' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Roscrow 60' Corsby 90+3' |
Final
edit| Bangor City | 1–0 | Cardiff Metropolitan University |
|---|---|---|
| Rittenberg 31' |
BBC Sport Soccerway |
Season statistics
editTop goalscorers
edit| Rank | Player | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Jason Oswell
|
Newtown | 22 |
| 2 |  Greg Draper
|
The New Saints | 15 |
| Alex Darlington
|
The New Saints | ||
| 4 | Mike Haynes
|
Bala Town | 14 |
| 5 |  Daniel Nardiello
|
Bangor City | 13 |
| 6 |  Adrian Cieslewicz
|
The New Saints | 12 |
| 7 | Nick Rushton
|
Connah's Quay Nomads/Newtown | 11 |
| Liam Thomas
|
Carmarthen Town | ||
| 9 | Tony Gray
|
Airbus UK Broughton | 10 |
| Ashley Ruane
|
Cefn Druids | ||
| Henry Jones
|
Bangor City |
References
editThe league's rules are contained as a section of the Handbook of the Football Association of Wales.[6]
- ^ "2016/17 Dafabet WPL Fixtures Unveiled". www.welshpremier.co.uk. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
- ^ "Welsh Premier League: Champions New Saints break Ajax world record - BBC Sport". BBC Online. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- ^ "New Saints' world-record run of victories is ended by 3-3 draw with Newtown - BBC Sport". BBC Online. 14 January 2017. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ "Welsh Premier League: The New Saints seal an 11th Welsh title - BBC Sport". BBC Online. 4 March 2017. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ "Premier League 2016/2017 - Season rules". Scoresway. Archived from the original on 2 November 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.
- ^ "Rules" (PDF). Welsh Premier League. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2016.