Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
A Quiet Monkfish
I'm surprised that Merthyr can't compete on wages with teams in the Cymru Premier - this season the average attendance is 395
They dont have a broadcasting deal that the teams in the Cymru Premier have and they dont have an owner with deep pockets. They dont have any of the money the teams who qualify for Europe get. Its only in the last 18 months - 2 years that the crowds for Merthyr have been growing. Before 2022/2023 season Merthyr were only averaging around 3-400 themselves. Theres been a steady growth for a number of reasons.
1. For the last 2/3 years, every match a local junior football side lead the team out. Their parents pay £5 to attend as opposed to £13. Sme of these kids and / or the parents enjoy the live football experience and start to attend more regularly. Helps when the team are winning more often than not to get these next generation of fans on board.
2. Supporters of Cardiff and Swansea from the Valleys who have become disillusioned with modern football come along and enjoy the non-league experience so much they have become regulars.
3. The football since the new manager come in has been excellent and this season top of the league.
Remember, they had to have a years sabatical because of the different covid rules in Wales to England and had to build the club and team back up from scratch. So to be on the verge of promotion within 4 years is pretty remarkable, especially when before covid they were not exactly turning up any trees at the current level.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J R Hartley
They dont have a broadcasting deal that the teams in the Cymru Premier have and they dont have an owner with deep pockets. They dont have any of the money the teams who qualify for Europe get. Its only in the last 18 months - 2 years that the crowds for Merthyr have been growing. Before 2022/2023 season Merthyr were only averaging around 3-400 themselves. Theres been a steady growth for a number of reasons.
1. For the last 2/3 years, every match a local junior football side lead the team out. Their parents pay £5 to attend as opposed to £13. Sme of these kids and / or the parents enjoy the live football experience and start to attend more regularly. Helps when the team are winning more often than not to get these next generation of fans on board.
2. Supporters of Cardiff and Swansea from the Valleys who have become disillusioned with modern football come along and enjoy the non-league experience so much they have become regulars.
3. The football since the new manager come in has been excellent and this season top of the league.
Remember, they had to have a years sabatical because of the different covid rules in Wales to England and had to build the club and team back up from scratch. So to be on the verge of promotion within 4 years is pretty remarkable, especially when before covid they were not exactly turning up any trees at the current level.
That's interesting. Merthyr are getting close to 1800 at the top of the [7th?] tier of the English pyramid. I doubt they'd get half of that at the top of the 1st tier of the Welsh 'pyramid'. Games against Gloucester City, Taunton etc. have a better ring to them than Bala Town or Cardiff Met.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
A Quiet Monkfish
That's interesting. Merthyr are getting close to 1800 at the top of the [7th?] tier of the English pyramid. I doubt they'd get half of that at the top of the 1st tier of the Welsh 'pyramid'. Games against Gloucester City, Taunton etc. have a better ring to them than Bala Town or Cardiff Met.
Merthyr barry used to be a real rivalry. Great games and tension.
I watch barry more than cardiff and would be great to have merthyr in the league but its not unusual for teams to play 6 or 7 times a season so it gets boring fairly quickly!!
Barry fans have drums and flags etc and travel away from home also. Penybont are growing a fan base which is great, the cofis are great in north wales but in general the likes of bala cardiff met and tns (all top 6 sides) the atmosphere is extremely depressing.
As barry fans sing against cardiff met (to nobody in particular) "your only fans are your mums and dads". Sad, funny and true.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Sounds like merthyr have rejected it anyway so another non starter.
Not a great week for the FAW!
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J R Hartley
I dont think anyone connected with Merthyr Town owes you an explanation, Eric. :shrug:
I haven't said they do. I'm just curious and would be interested to find out.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Father Dougal
Merthyr barry used to be a real rivalry. Great games and tension.
I watch barry more than cardiff and would be great to have merthyr in the league but its not unusual for teams to play 6 or 7 times a season so it gets boring fairly quickly
Do Celtic and Rangers fans feel the same way about the Old Firm derby? I've wondered how we'd feel about playing the Jacks possibly 5 or 6 times in a season. Would it lead to an even bigger rivalry or lessen the effect?
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eric the Half a Bee
Do Celtic and Rangers fans feel the same way about the Old Firm derby? I've wondered how we'd feel about playing the Jacks possibly 5 or 6 times in a season. Would it lead to an even bigger rivalry or lessen the effect?
Do i reckon Rangers and celtic would join the Premier league in a heartbeat?
Yes. Yes I do.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Eric the Half a Bee
Do Celtic and Rangers fans feel the same way about the Old Firm derby? I've wondered how we'd feel about playing the Jacks possibly 5 or 6 times in a season. Would it lead to an even bigger rivalry or lessen the effect?
Playing the jacks twice a season is bad enough....
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Father Dougal
Do i reckon Rangers and celtic would join the Premier league in a heartbeat?
Yes. Yes I do.
Of course they would. I also reckon they'd jump at the chance of joining a European Super League.
They are, of course, the SPL's prize assets in the same way that the likes of Man Utd and Liverpool are the Premier League's prize assets. The SPL would be far worse off if it lost Celtic and Rangers in the same way the PL would be worse off if it lost the supposed "top 6", La Liga if it lost Real and Barca, Seria A if it lost Inter and Juventus and so on and so on. Role reversal and those clubs would probably argue they'd be better off joining a bigger European League, so the respective governing bodies in each country are desperate to keep hold of their biggest assets.
Further down the line, I wonder how much of an issue of the "Welsh 5" playing in the English pyramid will become when discussing any potential European Super League? Celtic and Rangers could certainly point to the fact that there are 5 clubs not playing in their own domestic league and, while that may be a weak argument for ever joining the EFL/PL pyramid, something new like an ESL could point this out, lessening any controls the FA, SFA and other countries organisations have over their clubs. That could put the EFL in a very tricky position.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Playing the jacks twice a season is bad enough....
:frown:
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Father Dougal
Sounds like merthyr have rejected it anyway so another non starter.
Not a great week for the FAW!
Seems weird that people would gloat about it though.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
People can moan about the standard of the CP but if the four/five English sides joined it would change the dynamic a fair bit…over time. I think many people think short term, if we were plonked in there tomorrow. I think though, it could be a decent league over time. …. As enjoyable as the Belgian or Danish league for example.
I think a domestic league probably does more for the national team too as it would force teams to work harder on developing youth in favour of buying in from abroad.
I have really good memories of playing the welsh cup…and I seem to remember a lot of our fans enjoying it too…plus the games in Europe.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Divine Wright
People can moan about the standard of the CP but if the four/five English sides joined it would change the dynamic a fair bit…over time. I think many people think short term, if we were plonked in there tomorrow. I think though, it could be a decent league over time. …. As enjoyable as the Belgian or Danish league for example.
I think a domestic league probably does more for the national team too as it would force teams to work harder on developing youth in favour of buying in from abroad.
I have really good memories of playing the welsh cup…and I seem to remember a lot of our fans enjoying it too…plus the games in Europe.
Totally respect your view city should be in the CPL.
Its a debate worth having.
Wouldn't surprise me if things that went way.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
If you had -
Cardiff
Swansea
Newport
Wrexham
Merthyr
Barry
TNS
And then maybe four or five regional type sides from
Llanelli/Carmarthen
Haverfordwest/Abeystwyth
Bangor/Caernarfon
and maybe another NorthEast regional club.
Maybe ten or 11 decent sides with stadia on a par with the Gtech for the smaller sides. It could be a decent standard. Chuck in the Welsh Cup and some European games and it be totally serviceable without being the slog that are the English lower leagues.
People can turn their nose up at it if they want , but a Welsh league in that format would be a different proposition altogether compared to the current Cymru Premier.
It’s shit because we’re not in it.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Father Dougal
Wouldn't surprise me if things that went way.
I can’t envisage a world where any of the “big 4” would go with that. Maybe if they were all debt ridden and struggling in league one/two…maybe the prospect of better money would do it for the owners……but the fans would never go for it.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Divine Wright
I have really good memories of playing the welsh cup…and I seem to remember a lot of our fans enjoying it too...
I think you’re looking at this with your specs very much rose-tinted. The truth is the crowds for Welsh Cup games against any of the other league clubs would invariably be smaller than league matches between the sides, while City’s crowds for games against non-league sides were often tiny.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Divine Wright
If you had -
Cardiff
Swansea
Newport
Wrexham
Merthyr
Barry
TNS
And then maybe four or five regional type sides from
Llanelli/Carmarthen
Haverfordwest/Abeystwyth
Bangor/Caernarfon
and maybe another NorthEast regional club.
Maybe ten or 11 decent sides with stadia on a par with the Gtech for the smaller sides. It could be a decent standard. Chuck in the Welsh Cup and some European games and it be totally serviceable without being the slog that are the English lower leagues.
People can turn their nose up at it if they want , but a Welsh league in that format would be a different proposition altogether compared to the current Cymru Premier.
It’s shit because we’re not in it.
Yes, but we were never in it, so it's not down to us to make it better if you get what i'm saying. :thumbup:
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
A Quiet Monkfish
That's interesting. Merthyr are getting close to 1800 at the top of the [7th?] tier of the English pyramid. I doubt they'd get half of that at the top of the 1st tier of the Welsh 'pyramid'. Games against Gloucester City, Taunton etc. have a better ring to them than Bala Town or Cardiff Met.
1800 is a very good attendance for the NLS, only a few would bet it, Yeovil ( last season ) Torquay and I bet Maidstone ( who do seem to yo-yo between the NL and NLS ) alot have under 1K a week ( which isnt sustainable with a semi-pro team, certainly not with a full time team
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Another great result for Merthyr winning at Havant and Waterlooville today. 9 points clear albeit Totton have 3 games in hand.
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tuerto
Yes, but we were never in it, so it's not down to us to make it better if you get what i'm saying. :thumbup:
I don’t. You know that Cymru means Wales ? Cardiff is the capital of Wales. If YOU get what I’M saying .
Re: FAW offer Merthyr up to £6m to join Cymru Prem
I suppose Merthyr might also be interested to wait on whether the 4 EFL clubs being added to the Welsh League Cup is approved, nobody has mentioned that so far and it could be a big incentive on it's own, a strong chance of playing a EFL club every season that alone would be a big financial incentive.
I personally would like them to move to the Cymru Premier, it desperately needs more attention and funding, at this point in time the UEFA prize money is massive, losing the 4th european spot every other season is a huge amount of money for whichever club are fortunate enough to get it, I think Merthyr would be challenging the top 4 most seasons.
That being said it's obviously their call and being a fan owned club it's purely in their hands which is nice from a supporter POV.
