Wrexham will soon be crossing swords with some of Europe’s most famous names if football bosses approve a radical plan later this year.
The League One club have become a global sensation thanks to the investment from Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and Welsh FA chiefs have developed a proposal that would see Wrexham, Swansea, Cardiff and Newport competing in the Welsh League Cup – giving them a far easier route to European competition.
Key FAW (Welsh FA) figures also believe the move would drive investment across Welsh football.
As the clubs are part of the English pyramid, they can qualify for Europe only through the Premier League, FA Cup or EFL Cup. If they entered the Welsh League Cup, they would no longer be able to reach Europe through the ‘English’ route.
Yet Mail Sport understands there is significant interest in the idea in the initiative, named ‘Prosiect Cymru’ (Project Wales).
Prosiect Cymru would see Welsh clubs playing in the English pyramid compete in the Welsh League Cup for a place in the Europa Conference League
UEFA, the Football Association, Premier League and clubs in the Cymru Premier, Wales’ domestic top flight, have seen the proposal and it is due to go before the FA’s Professional Game Board before the end of 2024.
The winner of the Welsh League Cup enters the Europa Conference League, which this season features Chelsea, Panathinaikos and Fiorentina.
Roma won the first edition in 2022, followed by West Ham in 2023 and Olympiacos last year.
Welsh clubs in the EFL have not participated in an FAW competition since the FAW Premier Cup – which did not offer European qualification – was abolished in 2008, but they have a rich history in continental contests.
Cardiff beat Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971, Wrexham defeated Porto in the same competition in 1984 and Newport reached a Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final in 1981, while Swansea won 3-0 in Valencia in a 2013 Europa League match.