Introduction

One of my favourite saves to do in FM is the “build a nation” style save, inspired heavily by content creator SecondYellowCard! A few years back I dabbled in Wales and fell in love with Conwy Borough, and although I didn't achieve my aims, I did gain a connection to the club to the level of me now following them irl, alongside gaining an interest in the Welsh leagues. So when I saw that unfortunately Conwy Borough were relegated at the conclusion of the 2022/23 season, I decided to make them my save this year.

Of course, in the standard database, only the first division and second division are available, and with Conwy now in the third tier I would require either an extended database, or, would have to sim the first season and hope they were one of the promoted teams. I therefore ran some tests to see how likely Conwy were to be promoted into the playable leagues, and they fairly consistently came up, so I set up a database I was happy with, then simmed, and eventually had Conwy in the JD Cymru North for the 2024/25 season - where my journey would begin! To add - I did this by creating a new manager when I was ready to take over, and then retired the manager I used to sim ahead via holidaying. 

For reference, I am now in the 2029/30 season as I start writing, this is just to be sure it was a save I was commited too, and I will give season roundups, alongside posting who has won the following trophies available to clubs within wales, the coeeficients at the end of each season, and how well each club has done in Europe. Given I have started writing this a few seasons in, I do not have the coefficient data from the previous season, so will add this from the 2029/30 season roundup. Below please find a list of trophies available to the clubs within Wales, and how they work, I have included the International and Continental trophies just for completeness. 

International

FIFA Club World Cup

This trophy will become available to any Welsh team who win a UEFA Champions League, there are a few other ways of qualifying for the new format, and to the best of my knowledge it involves being runner up, in a year where the team that beat you had already qualified for the club world cup via a previous win. 

Continental

UEFA Champions League

This trophy is available to any Welsh team who qualify via league position, currently in the save, only 1st gets entry, and they enter at Champions Path first Qual. Round. 

UEFA Europa League

This trophy is currently only available via drop down during qualifying for the Champions league, where currently in the save no Welsh team gains automatic entry to the Europa League.

UEFA Europa Conference League

This trophy is currently available to any Welsh team who qualify by either, finishing 2nd or 3rd in the league, or winning the JD Welsh Cup. If a team achieves both, then a playoff is held between 4th-7th to determine the last European place. At the current point in the save, all clubs enter at the First Qualifying Round.

UEFA Super Cup

This trophy is available to a Welsh team that wins either the Europa League or the Champions League, and is the annual fixture held between the previous years winner.

Domestic

JD Cymru Premier

This is the top division in the welsh league system, 12 teams, playing 2 games each for the first phase. After this the league splits in half, with 1st-6th playing each other twice more (Champions Conference), and the same for 7th-12th (Playoff Conference). This can be particularly entertaining when a European playoff occurs, as the top of the “Playoff Conference” faces off against the other non-qualified teams in the “Champions Conference”. There is also two relegation spots! So the Playoff Conference really is a fight to survive!

JD Cymru North & South

This is the second tier of Welsh football, with 16 teams in each divison, all battling for the ONE promotion place in each league, with three relegation slots too the fight is on to move up the table and not down, with teams who get relegated from the top division often lingering and struggling for repromotion. 

JD Welsh Cup

The best way to explain this trophy (and sorry to any native Welsh people!) is to compare it to the FA Cup, it is the top cup in Wales, and consists of most the teams from Wales, including those outside of the top two divisions, battling it out for the top prize!

Nathaniel MG Cup

Sorry to any Welsh folk again - another English comparison comming up, effectively this is the “league cup” or “Carabao cup” of Wales. This cup consists of all teams from the top two divisons, and two wildcard entries from outside those leagues! I haven't worked out how the game chooses these, and it could well just be random. However in real life this season, Swansea City U21s and Cardiff City U21s were granted the wildcard, with Swansea just losing out in the final to the mighty TNS.

Welsh Blood Service League Cup

A relatively new trophy launched in 2022/23 season, and is effectively the “Tier 2 league cup" - the game even calls it as such! Its simply the teams from the North and the South league, giving them a domestic trophy to fight for. It is regionalised so that North teams only play North teams, and South, South teams up until the Final, Where the regional winners get to take each other on!

SPFL Trust Trophy

Now this is an odd one if you aren't familiar with UK football outside England. Each year Scotland hosts the SPFL Trust Trophy and allows 2 wildcards from Wales, alongside 2 from Northen Ireland. Before the great pandemic they also allowed 2 from England, usually from the National League. The game seems to choose these wildcards as just the top two from Wales and Northern Ireland, so simply finishing 1st or 2nd should earn your team qualification to this one. Ensure you enable Scotland as playable if you wish to play these games, or the game will just sim them and you may win it without even trying!

Youth

Cymru Premier Developmental League

This works similar to Tier 2, with a North and South division of largely premiership, but some Tier 2 teams U19's, with the winners of each league then going into the final at the end of the season for the trophy.

The FA Wales Youth Cup

The U19's version of the JD Welsh Cup. Simple as that.

Hopefully that has helped clarify things, and hopefully build some excitement and explain a little why I love the league system so much. Especially with the league split, the random Scottish trophy, and a few other things that just make it loveable. I will add a “Teams to watch" section below, that will detail the teams who irl, do well or have done so. Please also note, that if a team is highlighted in bold on the Contintental, International or SPFL Trust Trophy sections, then it is a Welsh Team, hopefully this will help if you do not know the Welsh Clubs too well!

FIFA Club World Cup

*Old Yearly Format with 8 teams

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Europa Conference League

JD Cymru Premier

JD Cymru North

JD Cymru South

JD Welsh Cup

Nathaniel MG Cup

WBS League Cup

SPFL Trust Trophy

Cymru Premier Development League

FAW Trophy

Teams to Watch

The New Saints - TNS

TNS are the big dogs of the Welsh League system currently, however they actually play in England, at Park Hall in Owestry. They are the only Professional club in wales at the start of the 2023/24 league season following the unfortunate demise of Bangor City. They have won 8 of the last 10 Cymru Premier's, 6 of the last 10 Welsh Cups and 4 of the last 10 Nathaniel MG Cups. Making them the true dominant force. They are also the record time winners, sitting at 15 times winners at the start of 2023/24.

Connah's Quay Nomads

Arguably the second largest club in the last 10 years, given they won the top flight the two years TNS did not, in 2020 & 2021. During those last 10 years they also won 1 Welsh Cup and 2 Nathaniel MG Cups. The last few seasons however have seen them slip back below their domestic rivals TNS, finishing as low as 9th in the 2021/22 season.

Bala Town

Bala are secretly my second favourite team in Wales after Conwy, and for some reason, they seem to be really consistent in Football Manager. They aren't setting the world on fire, and have never won the JD Cymru Premier, but have won the Welsh Cup and Nathaniel MG Cup once each. They have been present in the Cymru Premier since 2009/2010, and I think it is a safe bet to assume we will see them clinch the title or some silverware over the course of the save. 

Cardiff Met Uni

Winners of the Nathaniel MG Cup in 2019, Cardiff Met Uni are an amateur team, based obviously at Cardiff Met University. In Football manager they are one of few teams set as “Always Amateur”, as a side note, Swansea Uni are also a Always Amateur team. This will have its struggles with the build a nation save, as despite recieving money, they will never be able to offer full time deals, and will never be able to properly utalise the money. Will this see them stuggle and go down in time? We can only wait and see. 

Barry Town United

Barry are a very succesful club in the Welsh Leagues, having won 7 Cymru Premiers, 6 Welsh Cups and 4 Nathaniel MG Cups, they however are in a slump, and were relegated at the conclusion of the 2021/22 season. Fortunately for Barry Town fans, they have once again been promoted to the Cymru Premier as champions of the south in the 2022/23 season, alongside being the inaugural winners of the WBS League Cup! Will they once again assert dominance or, will they drop once again?

Conwy Borough

How could I do a teams to watch without mentioning the team I am managing!? Conwy Borough are, without a doubt my favourite team in Wales, playing at Y Morfa, up against a lovely rocky hill in Conwy, Wales. The club had been a mainstay in the 2nd division, however did get relegated in 2016/17, then again in 2022/23. Seeing this demise has made me determined to get them to the giddy heights of a Cymru Premier win! Previously the club spent time in the top flight between 92/93 and 99/00, comming as high as 3rd in 95/96. However, they do not have any of the current honours to their name - let's change that!

2023/24 Season Review

Cymru Premier -

Cymru North -

Cymru South -

Welsh Cup -

Nathaniel MG Cup -

WBS League Cup -

UCL Qualifiers -

UEL Qualifiers - 

UECL Qualifiers -

Premier Development League -

FAW Youth Trophy -

Any other honours? - 

2024/25 Season Review -

Cymru Premier -

Cymru North -

Cymru South -

Welsh Cup -

Nathaniel MG Cup -

WBS League Cup -

UCL Qualifiers -

UEL Qualifiers - 

UECL Qualifiers -

Premier Development League -

FAW Youth Trophy -

Any other honours? -  

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