It isn’t often that football clubs from one country play in another country’s league. The most well-known instance of this oddity in sports may be found in England, where 5 Welsh teams are represented in the competition,
How were clubs from a different nation able to accomplish this feat, and why are Scottish football clubs not permitted to follow suit and play in English football leagues, England’s other football neighbour?
How It Is Possible?
Cardiff was the first and only non-English team to win the FA Cup in 1927, while Swansea became the first Welsh club to represent England in a European tournament after winning the League Cup in 2013.
Welsh teams playing in English football are eligible to advance through the league structure and eventually play in the Premier League. Cardiff City and Swansea, both of whom are now in the Championship but formerly competed in the Premier League, are the two Welsh clubs to have already graced the league since its creation in 1992.
The Welsh Football Teams in The Premier League
Five Welsh football teams are eligible to play in England: Cardiff City, Swansea City, Newport County, Wrexham, and Merthyr Town.
When the teams were formed, there were no Welsh competition alternatives. They were thus permitted to participate in the English league structure. Despite the 1992 formation of the Welsh Premier League (also known as Cymru Premier), the aforementioned teams insisted on continuing to compete in the English football league structure.