FAW Shock? No, it’s par for the course
Friday 13 November 2009
FAWby Jez Hemming

I READ with interest and no surprise at all about the FAW’s latest plan to neuter the Welsh Premier League.
Not content with steam-rolling over agreed plans for re-structuring the league in the close season, they now wish to take away any Welsh Premier involvement in the ruling body’s business.
Let’s not kid ourselves, one seat on the ruling council was never going to be instrumental in changing the long established old boys’ network that operates from their plush Cardiff Bay HQ.
Yet a Welsh Premier representation does give the league a vital insight into the policies of the FAW and perhaps some understanding of what its intentions towards its underprivileged cousin are.
Herein, one logically assumes, is the problem. With the vocal and passionately pro-Welsh Premier Mike Harris in the room, any plans and frank discussion on the future of the competition might be stifled by the ‘Quisling’ in the ranks. We would all know what they were up to if Harris was there and that would never do.
Incidentally, I thought David Collins was supposed to be retiring. I assumed he would leave it until after this past summer’s trip to the West Indies for the FIFA jaunt, but I thought we would see the back of him after that. Apparently not, as welsh-premier.com informed us this week.
The insipid steerage of the national league by the FAW has brought us to a stage where this season is a dead duck for many teams and may well be fruitless for many in the feeders. Membership will largely be decided by tidy admin and a few bucket seats rather than flair football.
As for the future, let’s hope they manage this change in format better than the last. They say hope springs eternal.
One would expect better sponsorship now at least, with their new ‘dynamic’ format and better standard of facilities promised by the plan. Let’s hope it’s not the same pittance, just shared between fewer clubs.
Of course, should they succeed in ousting the Welsh Premier’s solitary representative from the ruling council, we will probably never know this and many other things. If an organisation like the FAW dragged its heels over talking to our national government, why should we suppose it would inform the fans or clubs of its future business.
It would be lovely to be wrong about this and discover that the FAW is indeed a leopard that can change its spots, but one doubts it somehow. Our sympathies should ultimately lie with Mike Harris and, more importantly, those hardy, dedicated officials and fans who battle year in, year out to save their local clubs.
Stand by for Welsh Premier committees with no premier representation and John Deakin being trussed up and gagged before ruling council meetings. Of course it’s understandable if Mr Deakin, decent fellow that he is, doesn’t risk upsetting his paymasters too much by speaking out of turn. That is exactly why Harris’s presence, or someone of his ilk, is such a vital component of council meetings.
Before long we’ll be back to regional football with a play-off between southern and northern winners to find the Welsh champions. The UEFA money will probably be safe then and the extension on the extension can be built at Cardiff Bay HQ.
If only the FAW ventured out of their ivory towers occasionally, they would see the product they dismiss so readily, Welsh domestic football, is actually getting better - despite their influence.