A League of Our Own - The Cymru Premier Story 19

9781904609100
    Delivery time:Out 19 October 2023
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  • Description

A League of Our Own features over 20 exclusive interviews with many of the key characters - administrators, players, fans and club bosses - who played key roles in the formation and development of the competition:

Trefor Lloyd Hughes (ex-FAW Council)
John Deakin (ex-L of Wales Secretary)
Gwyn Derfel (ex-Cymry Premier General Manager)
Norman Parselle (Cwmbr
ân Town)
Nigel Adkins (Bangor City FC)
Marc Lloyd Williams (LoW Top Scorer)
Darren Ryan (Barry Town)
Mike Harris (Owner, The New Saints)
Jamie Moralee (Barry Town FC)
Neville Southall (Everton & Wales)
Dave Jones (football reporter, Daily Post)
Rhys Griffiths (Llanelli FC)
Greg Strong (Rhyl FC)
Craig Garside (Bangor City FC)
Craig Harrison (TNS & Connah’s Quay)
Gavin Chesterfield (Barry Town)
Chris O’Neal (Fan, Bangor City)
Dave Rapson (Connah’s Quay Nomads)
Jamie Insall (Connah’s Quay Nomads)
Nicky John (Sgorio, S4C)
Alex Ramsay (Bala Town FC)

Foreword

1 How the Land Lay

2 A League of Our Own

3 When The Crows Soared

4 Back-To-Back Bangor

5 The Professionals

6 The Company Men

7 A New Era Dawns

8 Rise and Fall

9 Dancing in The Streets

10 A Town Painted Red

11 The Dream Team

12 The Super 12

13 The Best of Bangor

14 The Saints March On

15 Dragons Reborn

16 Shattered Dreams

17 The Rise of The Nomads

18 The State of Play

Epilogue
Appendices
Index

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.




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