r/cymruleagues

• Scraping 2 cups for no reason
• Putting the welsh cup final in Newport
• Offering 6 million for Merthyr to join welsh prem
• Letting TNS play in England

And much more...

Worst - Airbus (no soul)

Best - Colwyn Bay

Favourite - Bangor, or Holyhead (very odd)

Recently, Colchester United announced they were in talks with a consortium led by ex Chelsea captain John Terry to sell the club. A figure of £14m was quoted in the press. Col U do not own their ground (the Council does, with a £10m loan against it), and according to companies house have net liabilities of circa £40m, mostly relating to loans from the owner to finance cumulative losses. The club has been in the basement division for some time now and not really looked like going anywhere.

Further north, Hearts sold a 29% stake to Tony Bloom in June 2025 for just under £10m. Thanks to his data driven recruitment process and a comparatively modest investment in players, Hearts are within 3 games of delivering the club's first league title since the 60s and a 1st non old firm winner since the 80s. This in turn provides a gateway to champions league football and the money that comes with it. Coupled with Edinburgh's position as a world class tourist destination (particularly drawing interest from continental Europe and north America), a well located stadium and a large local population, the potential is obvious to the point you question why it's taken this long to happen. The club made a comparatively modest loss of just under £2m last season. They have not achieved this season's form by bringing in a load of expensive ringers, just targeted investment challenging an incumbent champion who'd taken their eye off the ball after years of no effective challenge. If Tony and co can deliver CL or even Europa League group stafe next season, it's not out of the realms of possibility the club starts turning a profit, all for less of an initial outlay than John Terry is rumoured to be making for Colchester.

All of which brings me to Wales. TNS have dominated the league for the best part of two decades. According to companies house, the club's approximately £1.4m in net assets are financed mostly by accumulated profits. Share capital is about £8. They're small company accounts so hard to see exactly what's gone on but the latest include a statement of changes in equity which suggests total comprehensive income of about £1m from their season making the group stages of the Conference League, all of which appears to be financed entirely by money generated by the club itself. I have no idea how much TNS make for their annual preliminary round performance but, given participation in the league stage alone of the CL is a guaranteed payment of just shy of €20m before you even get to performance bonuses, I'd say it's not out of the realms of possibility that Harris' team get a couple of million a year out of it, more in more successful years.

The club has zero fanbase, even locals have little interest, yet it's maintained a stranglehold on the league simply by being Wales' unchallenged sole CL participant for most of the last 20 years. Harris doesn't appear to have a shed load of outstanding loans to the club. The ground is small, they used Shrewsbury's ground for Conference league games (have played at Wrexham in the past) so no massive outlay there, modest transfer fees in the low 6 figures have been enough to maintain.

So here's my question: say you have £14m burning a hole in your pocket and you want to buy a football club. Do you

A) buy an English lower league club which is pretty much nailed on to make a loss, pay spiralling wages and generally compete in one of the most brutally competitive league structures in world sport? Or

B) buy Penybont or any club in the south Wales connurbation areas (or one of the better supported northern clubs like Bangor, Bay or Connah's Quay), immediately plug the change into the playing squad, blow TNS out of the water and have a self sustaining, self financing operation in a couple of seasons at most?

Obviously I understand the limitations of a population of c4m vs 50 odd over the border but surely at least 1 person must have thought of this other than Mike Harris? There must be potential for a well supported Cardiff based Cymru Premier club, surely?

I wonder if Hearts' success will have investors starting to look at Wales and potentially Northern Ireland as potential shortcuts to the UEFA money gravy train? I know Haverfordwest have new American owners and Caernarfon made some ambitious signings (eg Brad Young) so maybe that thought process is starting to catch on already?

I think the best way is to stay true to football and the people who have lost hope in the Premier league will come. (Hope VAR does not affect this)

And have a team that connects with the fans.

And get rid of TNS.

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Bala, Llanelli?

Outside chance Prestatyn no where near where the sould be and lost 5-1 to Felinheli.

Sure you've got decent fans up North as the likes of Caernarfon, Colwyn Bay and many more. But would implicating the use of flares and giving some fans a more free perspective on supporting their local and giving the leagues a more exciting aspect.

I understand families and the FAW would not appreciate a more hostile gathering but I do believe it could bring more of an identity to the leagues like Scotland and Ireland.