2014–15 Welsh Premier League

The 2014–15 Welsh Premier League (known as the Corbett Sports Welsh Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Welsh Premier League, the highest football league within Wales since its establishment in 1992. The season began on 22 August 2014. The New Saints claimed their ninth Welsh top flight championship on 14 March 2015 after a 3–0 win against nearest rivals in the table Bala Town.

Welsh Premier League
Season2014–15
ChampionsThe New Saints (9th title)
RelegatedPrestatyn
Cefn Druids
Champions LeagueThe New Saints
Europa LeagueBala Town
Airbus
Newtown
Matches played192
Goals scored656 (3.42 per match)
Top goalscorerChris Venables (25 goals)
Biggest home winBala Town 8–1 Carmarthen Town
Biggest away winCefn Druids 0–5 Aberystwyth Town
Highest scoringBala Town 8–1 Carmarthen Town
Longest winning run8 matches
The New Saints
Longest unbeaten run30 matches
The New Saints
Longest winless run10 games
Bangor City
Prestatyn Town
Longest losing run5 games
Cefn Druids
All statistics correct as of 14 March 2015.

Teams

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Afan Lido were relegated out of the Welsh Premier League the previous season, while Cefn Druids were promoted as winners of the Cymru Alliance.

Stadia and locations

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Team Location Stadium Capacity
Aberystwyth Town Aberystwyth Park Avenue 5,000
Airbus UK Broughton Broughton The Airfield 1,600
Bala Town Bala Maes Tegid 3,000
Bangor City Bangor Nantporth 3,000
Carmarthen Town Carmarthen Richmond Park 3,000
Cefn Druids Wrexham The Rock 3,000
Gap Connah's Quay Connah's Quay Deeside Stadium 1,500
Newtown Newtown Latham Park 5,000
Port Talbot Town Port Talbot Victoria Road 6,000
Prestatyn Town Prestatyn Bastion Road 2,300
Rhyl Rhyl The Corbett Sports Stadium 3,000
The New Saints Oswestry Park Hall 2,000

Personnel and kits

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Team Head Coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsors
Aberystwyth   Ian Hughes   Nike Cambrian Tyres
Airbus UK   Andy Preece   Macron Gardner Aerospace
Bala   Colin Caton   Joma Aykroyd's
Bangor   Neville Powell   Macron Pentraeth Kia
Carmarthen   Mark Aizlewood   Macron McGinley Support
Cefn Druids   Huw Griffiths   Joma AtWill Pubs
Nomads   Mark McGregor   Macron Think Accounting
Newtown   Chris Hughes   Givova NEO/EOM
Port Talbot   Jarred Harvey   Macron Blanco's
Prestatyn   Neil Gibson   Erreà G & G Foods
Rhyl   Greg Strong   FBT VanTruck
TNS   Carl Darlington   Legea Derma V10

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 The New Saints (C) 32 23 8 1 90 24 +66 77 Qualification for Champions League first qualifying round
2 Bala Town 32 18 5 9 67 42 +25 59 Qualification for Europa League first qualifying round
3 Airbus UK Broughton 32 18 4 10 62 34 +28 58
4 Aberystwyth Town 32 14 10 8 69 61 +8 52 Qualification for Europa League play-offs
5 Port Talbot Town 32 13 4 15 54 59 −5 43
6 Newtown (O) 32 10 8 14 52 65 −13 38
7 Connah's Quay Nomads 32 11 10 11 44 53 −9 43 Qualification for Europa League play-offs
8 Rhyl 32 11 9 12 41 49 −8 42
9 Carmarthen Town 32 12 6 14 48 57 −9 42
10 Bangor City 32 9 8 15 48 62 −14 35
11 Cefn Druids (R) 32 7 6 19 38 64 −26 27 Relegation to Cymru Alliance
12 Prestatyn Town (R) 32 4 6 22 43 86 −43 18
Source: Welsh Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (R) Relegated

Results

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Teams play each other twice on a home and away basis, before the league is split into two groups at the end of January 2015 – the top six and the bottom six.

Matches 1–22

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Home \ Away ABE AIR BAL BAN CMR CDR CQN NEW PTA PRE RHL TNS
Aberystwyth Town 2–1 4–0 3–3 5–3 4–2 1–1 1–0 0–3 3–1 2–0 1–1
Airbus UK Broughton 1–1 2–1 5–1 2–0 2–3 4–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 2–3
Bala Town 4–0 0–0 3–0 8–1 3–1 0–1 3–1 4–1 4–2 1–2 0–3
Bangor City 2–2 1–2 0–3 1–2 0–1 0–2 1–3 2–1 3–3 0–0 0–5
Carmarthen Town 1–3 2–1 1–2 0–2 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 1–0 1–2
Cefn Druids 0–5 1–1 0–1 2–2 1–3 3–2 0–2 2–1 3–1 0–1 0–4
Connah's Quay Nomads 2–4 0–3 0–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–3 1–1 3–1 1–3 1–5
Newtown 6–3 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–2 4–1 1–2 3–3 4–3 1–0 2–3
Port Talbot Town 1–2 2–0 4–3 2–0 2–0 4–1 1–1 2–0 3–0 3–0 1–5
Prestatyn Town 2–1 0–2 3–3 1–2 1–3 0–4 3–2 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–3
Rhyl 0–1 1–2 0–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 0–3 2–2 2–2
The New Saints 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 3–0 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 6–0 6–1
Source: Welsh Premier League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Matches 23–32

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UEFA Europa League play-offs

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Teams who finished in positions fourth to seventh at the end of the regular season took part in play-offs to determine the third participant for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.

Semi-finals

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Port Talbot Town0–1 (a.e.t.)Newtown
Boundford   120'
Attendance: 347
Referee: Kevin Perry

Aberystwyth3–2Connah's Quay
Venables   18' (pen.)
Evans   84' (o.g.)
Jones   90'
Report Miller   14'
Evans   67'
Attendance: 391
Referee: Bryn Markham-Jones

Final

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Aberystwyth1–2Newtown
Venables   29' (pen.) Report Goodwin   9'
Hearsey   43'
Attendance: 1,012
Referee: Lee Evans

Season statistics

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As of 18 May 2015[1]

Top goalscorers

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Rank Player Team Goals
1   Chris Venables Aberystwyth Town 28
2   Martin Rose Port Talbot Town 18
  Jason Oswell Newtown
4   Greg Draper The New Saints 17
  Lee Hunt Bala Town
6   Michael Wilde The New Saints 16
  Tom Field Airbus UK Broughton
8   Luke Bowen Port Talbot Town 14
9   Mark Connolly Bala Town 13
  Ian Sheridan Bala Town
11   Lee Healey Cefn Druids F.C/Bangor 12

Hat-tricks

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As of 14 February 2015
Player For Against Result Date
  Chris Venables4 Aberystwyth Town Cefn Druids 5–0[2] 22 August 2014
  Mark Connolly Bala Town Carmarthen Town 8–1[3] 7 September 2014
  Aaron Bowen Rhyl Bangor City 3–2[4] 14 September 2014
  Luke Boundford Newtown Aberystwyth Town 6–3[5] 4 October 2014
  Lee Healey Cefn Druids Prestatyn Town 3–1[6] 31 October 2014
  Martin Rose Port Talbot Town Aberystwyth Town 3–0[7] 20 December 2014
  Chris Hartland Carmarthen Town Bangor City 3–3[8] 31 January 2015
  Tom Field Airbus UK Broughton Aberystwyth Town 3–2[9] 14 February 2015

4 Player scored 4 goals

References

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The league's rules are contained as a section of the Handbook of the Football Association of Wales.[10]

  1. ^ "Top 25 goal scorers season 2014/15". Welsh Premier League. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  2. ^ "Venables' baptism of fire for new boys Druids". Welsh Premier League. 22 August 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  3. ^ "Carmarthen Town lose 8–1 at Bala in Welsh Premier League". Carmarthen Journal. 7 September 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  4. ^ Hughes, Tomos (14 September 2014). "Bowen batters Bangor in superb Rhyl comeback". Rhyl Journal. Archived from the original on December 1, 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Late winner puts Saints clear". Morning Star. 6 October 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  6. ^ Harrison, Nick (3 November 2014). "Healey nets record-breaking hat-trick for Cefn Druids". The Leader. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Carmarthen and Port Talbot move back into Top Six with wins". Welsh Premier League. 20 December 2014. Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  8. ^ "City snatch a point despite Hartland's hat-trick". Welsh Premier League. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  9. ^ "Last-gasp Airbus keep Europa hopes alive". Welsh Premier League. 14 February 2015. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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