Top two tiers of football are rebranded

THE Football Association of Wales announced a new brand identity and sponsorship deal for the top two tiers of the men’s domestic game.

Forty-five clubs from across the country will come together as one community, under a new identity, entitled the Cymru Leagues.

The formerly named Welsh Premier League will now be known as the Cymru Premier, with Cymru North and Cymru South replacing the Huws Gray Alliance and Welsh League Division One.

Both divisions will come under the national governing body’s jurisdiction for the first time.

JD will continue their support of Welsh domestic football by becoming the title sponsor of all three divisions, which will henceforth be known as the JD Cymru Premier, JD Cymru North and JD Cymru South, with JD Cymru Leagues becoming the overarching name for the new structure.

An FAW spokesman said: “The three leagues encompass every corner of Wales, which is why the new bilingual naming system places ‘Cymru’ at the heart of Welsh football.

“Alongside the naming system, a new visual identity has been created for the leagues.

“A key component of the FAW’s brand identity, the daffodil, has previously been used to represent the 11 players of the national teams and will now be incorporated within the Cymru Leagues.

“Seven daffodils, each representing one of the seven leagues of Welsh domestic football’s top three tiers, upon completion of the pyramid restructure, come together to form the striking ball logo.

“The recent success of our domestic teams has captured the true Welsh spirit of supporters across the country. A radical departure from past identities, the modern logo reflects the modernisation of the new pyramid structure and the future ambitions of Welsh football.”

JD’s new sponsorship deal, which originally began in 2015, has been extended for a further seven seasons and will be up for renewal in 2025.

JD have been a partner of Welsh domestic football since 2015 as the title sponsor of the JD Welsh Cup.

The sponsor and the FAW extended their domestic partnership in 2017 becoming title sponsor of the Welsh Premier League as well as the exclusive retail partner to the FAW since 2013.