Birmingham City and West Brom's rivals considering 'transformational' change - ramifications for English football

Birmingham City and West Brom could soon have four less teams to worry about when challenging for a European spot.

According to the BBC, all four Welsh football clubs that play in the EFL; Cardiff City, Newport County, Swansea City, and Wrexham are in discussions with the Football Association of Wales, about joining a Welsh competition, which would allow them to qualify for Europe. They are reportedly all willing to give up their ways of qualifying through the English system, to qualify through the Welsh League Cup.

At the moment, Cardiff, Swansea, and other Welsh teams can qualify for Europe either by winning the FA Cup, Carabao Cup, or finishing in a European spot in the Premier League. If the proposals were accepted however, then they would give up that right, in favour of qualifying just through one Welsh competition.

There are plenty of barriers to overcome yet, as governing body UEFA would have to approve of the decisions. The English FA would have to be involved in the discussions, as it is four of their member clubs.

Welsh clubs playing in England used to be able to qualify for Europe by winning the Welsh Cup, but that was stopped in 1995. In March 2012, UEFA rejected the FAW’s request to allow Welsh teams to qualify for Europe through their competition.

A report which is named Prosiect Cymru, reads: “Welsh football is in a unique position within European football in that its largest clubs play in the domestic league of another country (England).

“This has historically limited the ability of Welsh domestic clubs to be competitive in Uefa club competitions.

"An innovative solution to address this position has transformational potential for the whole Welsh football ecosystem from grassroots to the professional men’s and women’s game.”

Blues competed in the Europa League in 2011 after beating Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final. Swansea City achieved the same feat in 2013, but despite being in Wales, they were representing officially representing England when they were knocked out in the Round of 32 by Napoli.

Cardiff, Newport and Swansea’s academy teams already compete in the Welsh League Cup (Nathaniel MG Cup) but they are promoting a change to the competition that would see the prize for the winner go from just prize money to a spot in Europe. In this present moment, Wales has three European spots with the winner of the league qualifying for the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, whilst the Welsh Cup and the play-off winners qualify for the first rounds of qualifying in the UEFA Conference League.

The top flight of Welsh football is a mainly semi-professional league with the champions The New Saints, the only official full-time team, and this year they qualified for the league phase of the UEFA Conference League.