2022–23 Ardal NE

The 2022–23 Ardal NE season (also known as the 2022–23 Lock Stock Ardal NE season for sponsorship reasons) is the second season of the new third-tier northern region football in Welsh football pyramid, part of the Ardal Leagues.

Ardal NE
Season2022–23
ChampionsCaersws
PromotedCaersws
RelegatedRhayader Town
Corwen
2023–24 →

Teams

The league was made up of 16 teams competing for one automatic promotion place to Cymru North, whilst the second-placed team qualified for a play-off with the second-placed team of Ardal NW. The bottom three teams are relegated to Tier 4.

Machynlleth have notified the Football Association of Wales of their withdrawal from the Ardal Leagues. Notifying the league, Machynlleth said: “This decision has come about due to lack of players and commitment".[1]

The FAW’s National Game Board (NGB) met on Tuesday, July 5 to discuss who will replace Machynlleth after their late exit. It was opted to promote the Denbighshire based team of Llangollen Town out of the options available.[2]

On 19 July 2022, the league suffered another blow after Berriew became the latest club to withdraw from the North East division.[3] Explaining their decision, they released a statement that read: “The Club has lost a significant number of senior players during the close season and have not been able to replace them."

With just under three weeks until the league season starts, a reprieve or promotion for any other team remains unlikely given the fixture list has been handed out, so remaining with 15-teams is the most logisitical option.

Team changes

Stadia and locations
Locations of teams in the 2022–23 Ardal NE
Team Location Home Ground Capacity
Bow StreetRhydypennauCae Piod1,000
Builth WellsBuilth WellsLant Fields1,000
CaerswsCaerswsRecreation Ground3,500
Cefn AlbionRhosymedreThe Rock3,000
CorwenCorwenWar Memorial Park1,000
Dolgellau AthleticDolgellauCae Marian2,000
Llandrindod WellsLlandrindod WellsLant Avenue Broadway1,000
Llanfair UnitedLlanfair CaereinionMount Field2,000
Llangollen TownLlangollenTower Fields1,100
LlanrhaeadrLlanrhaeadr-ym-MochnantThe Recreation Field1,000
LlanuwchllynBalaMaes Tegid3,000
PenycaePen-y-caeThe SoccerMillion Riverside Arena2,000
Rhayader TownRhayaderThe Weirglodd2,200
Rhos AelwydRhosllanerchrugogPonciau Park1,000
Welshpool TownWelshpoolMaes y Dre3,000

Source: Ardal NE Ground Information

Personnel
Team Head coach Captain
Bow Street Wales Llyr Hughes Wales Steffan Richards
Builth Wells Wales Stuart Turpin Wales Chris Roff
Caersws England Mark Griffiths Wales Matthew Mumford
Cefn Albion Wales Ian Andrews Wales Nathan Williams
Corwen Republic of Ireland Ben Heath Wales Scott Evans
Dolgellau Wales Owain Williams Wales Jonathan Sutton
Llandrindod Wells Wales Gareth Jones Wales Shaun Nicholls
Llanfair United England Lawrence WIlson Wales Ben Jones
Llangollen Wales Luke Maybury Wales Kristian Jones
Llanrheadr Wales Mike Barton Wales Joe Vaughan
Llanuwchllyn Wales Sion Tudor Wales Iolo Jones
Penycae England Daniel Richards Wales Adam Peters
Rhayader Wales Dai Davies Wales Joe Wozencraft
Rhos Aelwyd Wales Aled Parry Wales Aled Robertson
Welshpool Town Wales Russell Cadwallader England Ricky Litchfield

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Caersws (C, P) 28 22 3 3 89 26 +63 69 Promotion to Cymru North
2 Cefn Albion (Q) 28 18 6 4 74 22 +52 60 Qualification for the Ardal Northern Play-Off
3 Bow Street 28 17 6 5 66 26 +40 57
4 Llanuwchllyn 28 16 2 10 63 38 +25 50
5 Llanfair United 28 14 3 11 51 49 +2 45
6 Rhos Aelwyd 27 11 7 9 42 36 +6 40
7 Llandrindod Wells 27 12 3 12 53 56 −3 39
8 Llanrhaeadr 28 11 4 13 54 63 −9 37
9 Builth Wells 27 10 6 11 48 54 −6 36
10 Welshpool Town 28 10 3 15 54 67 −13 33
11 Penycae 28 9 6 13 48 64 −16 33
12 Dolgellau Athletic 27 9 3 15 38 56 −18 30
13 Llangollen Town 28 6 8 14 36 62 −26 26
14 Corwen (R) 28 4 7 17 34 80 −46 19 Relegation to Tier 4
15 Rhayader Town (R) 28 4 3 21 23 74 −51 12[lower-alpha 1]
Updated to match(es) played on 16 May 2023. Source: Ardal NE
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored; 4) Matches won; 5) Play-off.
(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. Rhyader Town were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player.

Promotion and Relegation Issues

As at 11 May 2023, there were issues concerning which clubs would be promoted or relegated. Caersws won the Ardal North East title after suffering play-off heartache last year, but have been turned down for a Tier Two Licence. They have until Monday, May 15 to submit an appeal, and then a decision should be made on Thursday, May 18 or Friday, May 19.

Cefn Albion and Bow Street, both with one game remaining, are tied on 57 points and are vying for second place. Cefn hold a five-goal advantage going into their final fixture with Dolgellau on Saturday, May 13, meanwhile Bow Street are away at fifth-placed Llanfair United on the same day. Albion say they have been declined due to a ‘minor admin issue’ and confirmed they are appealing but Bow Street did not apply.

The Ardal North East runs with 15 teams and the North West runs with 14, so there is an uncertainty over how many relegation spots there are. Llandudno Albion however finished 11th, which is outside of the relegation zone, but will no longer exist as a club next the season which means a team could receive a reprieve or a lower division club could be promoted. [4]

Results
Home \ Away BOW BUI CAE CFN COR DOL LDW LFU LGN LRH LNW PYC RHY RHO WEL
Bow Street — 3–2 2–3 2–2 2–2 3–0 2–0 6–0 1–1 4–3 1–1 3–1 4–0 4–0 3–0
Builth Wells 2–0 — 2–0 1–1 2–4 1–1 3–1 4–2 1–2 2–2 2–3 3–1 1–4 3–1
Caersws 0–0 6–0 — 1–1 7–0 5–1 3–0 2–1 2–0 3–0 3–0 2–1 2–1 3–0 5–2
Cefn Albion 1–2 2–0 2–3 — 5–0 5–0 3–1 6–1 7–1 3–0 1–0 2–2 1–0 3–0 5–0
Corwen 1–2 0–0 1–5 0–3 — 1–1 0–7 1–5 3–2 2–4 0–3 1–2 4–0 2–2 0–4
Dolgellau Athletic 0–4 0–2 3–4 0–3 3–0 — 3–1 0–2 2–3 3–2 5–2 1–0 1–0 3–0
Llandrindod Wells 0–4 1–1 1–5 2–1 1–4 1–0 — 2–3 2–1 2–2 0–1 3–1 5–0 2–1 2–1
Llanfair United 1–0 0–3 2–0 2–1 1–0 4–1 0–3 — 1–1 2–0 0–3 2–2 4–0 0–0 6–2
Llangollen Town 0–0 0–0 0–5 0–2 3–3 2–5 4–3 0–3 — 2–1 2–4 1–0 0–0 1–2 2–4
Llanrhaeadr 0–4 1–4 0–6 2–2 4–1 1–0 4–2 4–3 1–3 — 0–4 3–0 10–3 0–0 2–2
Llanuwchllyn 1–2 5–3 1–4 0–3 5–1 2–0 3–4 1–4 0–1 0–1 — 4–1 5–0 1–0 2–1
Penycae 0–3 3–2 1–4 1–1 1–1 1–2 4–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 0–5 — 4–1 2–2 4–6
Rhayader Town 3–1 1–3 0–3 0–5 3–0 2–2 1–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–3 0–1 — 1–1 0–1
Rhos Aelwyd 0–3 7–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 3–1 1–2 1–0 4–0 3–1 — 3–2
Welshpool Town 2–1 3–0 2–2 1–2 2–1 3–1 3–4 2–0 2–2 1–3 2–5 1–4 3–0 1–2 —
First match(es) will be played on 6 August 2022. Source:
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Top Goalscorers - League Only

As at 16 May 2023
20 Goals: Glunn Coney (Caersws)
18 Goals: Jack Evans (Llandrindod Wells)
15 Goals: Ben Wilson (Llangollen Town)
15 Goals: Callum Mannion (Cefn Albion)
14 Goals: Ryan Knott (Welshpool Town)

Source:

References
  1. Jones, Jordan (1 July 2022). "Ardal Northern Leagues plunged into chaos as Machynlleth withdraw". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  2. Jones, Jordan (6 July 2022). "Fifth-placed Llangollen Town granted promotion to Ardal North East". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  3. Jones, Harrison (19 July 2022). "Ardal Leagues dealt major blow as yet another team withdraws". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  4. Jones, Jordan (11 May 2023). "Ardal Leagues & Cymru Leagues promotion and relegation explained". Y Clwb Pêl-Droed. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
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