Does anyone know ( Brendan?) if 'the restraint of trade' judgment that found in favour of Newport AFC, was a UK, or a European law, if the latter, could Brexit open the doors to the FAW, once again, trying to force the 'Big 4' into the Welsh league again?

I have no idea on the legalities on this subject, but I think that the Welsh FA is a different body now, and given the noise/fall out last time out, in my opinion, wouldn’t be interested in pushing for such a dramatic move.

The real danger is, I guess, a Welsh independence vote by 2030.

Nothing to do with the EU. Unreasonable restraint of trade is illegal under English common law, with the lead court case dating back to 1711.

rncfc wrote:The real danger is, I guess, a Welsh independence vote by 2030.

Wouldn't matter, there is plenty of precedent for clubs playing in other nations' leagues (Canadian teams in MLS and a New Zealand team in the A-League two of the most recent of those examples), all that matters is that the FA, EFL, UEFA and FIFA are fine with it, and they are.

jonescmj1 wrote:Does anyone know ( Brendan?) if 'the restraint of trade' judgment that found in favour of Newport AFC, was a UK, or a European law, if the latter, could Brexit open the doors to the FAW, once again, trying to force the 'Big 4' into the Welsh league again?

At the time of the judgement EU law and UK law were and still are the same. The reality is that as George Guest has indicated the restraint of trade rules are well established and the WFA could never have won either post or prior to the UK's accession to the then Common Market on January 1st 1973.

Put at it's most simple no western liberal democracy will ever prevent trade so long as the rules are abided by. The only way that County could be forced out of the EFL would be if the English FA were to say that no side other than an English team could play in an English League. Which is rather unlikely. And in my opinion would in any event be open to challenge unless Wales were to become an independent country.

Stan A. Einstein wrote:

jonescmj1 wrote:Does anyone know ( Brendan?) if 'the restraint of trade' judgment that found in favour of Newport AFC, was a UK, or a European law, if the latter, could Brexit open the doors to the FAW, once again, trying to force the 'Big 4' into the Welsh league again?

At the time of the judgement EU law and UK law were and still are the same. The reality is that as George Guest has indicated the restraint of trade rules are well established and the WFA could never have won either post or prior to the UK's accession to the then Common Market on January 1st 1973.

Put at it's most simple no western liberal democracy will ever prevent trade so long as the rules are abided by. The only way that County could be forced out of the EFL would be if the English FA were to say that no side other than an English team could play in an English League. Which is rather unlikely. And in my opinion would in any event be open to challenge unless Wales were to become an independent country.

Thank you!

The FAW will never go down the legal route again. They don't need to. Slowly the non league clubs have been coming over one by one of their own accord. There are only Wrexham and Merthyr left besides the big three League clubs. What's the betting that when the next crisis strikes at Merthyr they will do what Colwyn Bay did in the summer and switch to the Welsh pyramid.

Barnabas wrote:The FAW will never go down the legal route again. They don't need to. Slowly the non league clubs have been coming over one by one of their own accord. There are only Wrexham and Merthyr left besides the big three League clubs. What's the betting that when the next crisis strikes at Merthyr they will do what Colwyn Bay did in the summer and switch to the Welsh pyramid.

Quite high I imagine. The plastic pitch is an admittance that they're not interested in progress on the pitch.

rncfc wrote:

Barnabas wrote:The FAW will never go down the legal route again. They don't need to. Slowly the non league clubs have been coming over one by one of their own accord. There are only Wrexham and Merthyr left besides the big three League clubs. What's the betting that when the next crisis strikes at Merthyr they will do what Colwyn Bay did in the summer and switch to the Welsh pyramid.

Quite high I imagine. The plastic pitch is an admittance that they're not interested in progress on the pitch.

Well they can progress as far as the National League which would be quite impressive. If they did that in, say six seasons, who knows what the EFL rules regarding artificial pitches will be by then. If they switched to the Welsh Premier, I would imagine many fans that stuck by them through the years might find Cardiff City more attractive.

Only 4 of the 12 WPL clubs are in the south. This makes the WPL more attractive to northern clubs such as Colwyn Bay. This may well be a consideration for Merthyr in considering their future.