Nia Griffith MP is calling on the Football Association of Wales (FAW) to reconsider its decision that AFC Llanelli, our town’s reformed football club, should join the local Carmarthenshire League, instead of the Welsh Football League. The decision, which was made at a FAW Council meeting on 13 June, at which both AFC Llanelli and Barry Town United were denied access to the Welsh Football League for next season, has dismayed many people because of its perceived unfairness.
Nia, together with Llanelli’s AM Keith Davies and Joyce Watson regional AM, met Bob Jeffreys and Nicky French from AFC Llanelli today to plan how to lobby individual members of the FAW.
Nia said “I am sure that every fair-minded person will look at this decision with disbelief, as it is just so unfair. Our football club has achieved great success since its formation in 1896 – we have won the Welsh League several times, represented Wales in European competitions and we have won the Welsh Cup. AFC Llanelli plays a vital part in encouraging young people to take up football and there are over 100 children in its academy. Our club has a magnificent stadium and a successful and proud history, but its future is endangered by the FAW Council’s decision. That is why I have begun lobbying the Member Clubs of the FAW to seek an Extraordinary General Meeting at which the decision could be overturned, and I am trying to get my MP friends across Wales to approach their local clubs on our behalf.”