In 1876, Wales was one of the first countries to boast a national team, the third oldest in World football, yet it then took well over 100 years for its governing body, the Football Association of Wales, to establish its own national football league.
The League of Wales kicked-off its inaugural season in 1992 in a state of triumph and trepidation. Establishing the league was a huge step forward for Welsh domestic football but with the country’s 11 biggest clubs, including the ‘Irate Eight’, refusing to take part it was also a time of court cases, friction and distrust between the governing body and many of its member clubs.
Why did one of the oldest footballing nations on earth take so long to form a national league, and why did so many clubs refuse, and still refuse, to participate in the league which celebrated the completion of its 30th anniversary season in 2022?
A League of Our Own, written by freelance football journalist Mark Langshaw and containing over 60 photographs and illustrations, is the first book to tell the remarkable story of the establishment and 30-year history of the Welsh national league, now called The Cymru Premier, and is a major contribution to the football history of Wales.
