While Welsh football may have its own league, the four biggest clubs all play in the English Football League.
Swansea City and Cardiff City are both in the Championship once again next season. One league down you’ll find Wrexham who will play in League One, and Newport County in the bottom tier of the English Football League in League 2.
Swansea City
The Swans were glad to see the end of the 2023/24 season. After losing manager Russell Martin to Southampton in June 2023, Michael Duff was replaced mid season by Luke Williams. Williams managed 22 games where he won eight, drew four and lost 10.
Plenty of work was required throughout the summer with the betting markets suggesting a difficult year ahead once again without huge improvements.
Like under Russell Martin, Luke Williams is trying to continue to build a possession heavy approach, though their defensive fragility and struggle to convert chances will require work. Defensive issues were only highlighted further with the departure of Nathan Wood, their promising central defender who joined Southampton this summer.
Attention has gone into improving the squad with the likes of Ji-sung Eom and Gonçalo Franco arriving, though more will still be expected. Williams will feel confident in improvements after a decent end to the season of improving on their 14th place finish last season.
Cardiff City
For the first time in a while, a manager at Cardiff City saw out the entire campaign. Erol Bulut also led his side to 12th place in the Championship, finishing two places higher than rivals Swansea.
It’s fair to say that Cardiff’s approach is more results driven, staying in matches and trying to steal the points at the end, opposed to Swansea’s possession heavy approach. It may not always be pretty, but Bulut brought some calm to Cardiff which it has been crying out for, and even brought their first win in the South Wales derby since 2021.
Work has gone into recruitment with players like Calum Chambers on a free transfer from Aston Villa who could make a huge improvement to the defence with plenty of experience. Partnering him with Mark McGuinness could prove to help Cardiff turn some of their defeats last season into draws or even wins.
Promotion may still be a while away, but with Bulut in charge there is a good chance they could continue to slowly build on their consistency.
Wrexham
The North Wales side continues to rise. Backed by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, eyes all over the world are on the League One side as they continue to impress.
After a second successive promotion, the Red Dragons moved up to League One and being led by Phil Parkinson, there is so much still to be excited about.
Transfers began quickly, bringing in goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo from Arsenal and George Dobson from Charlton to add to the midfield.
They will continue to rely on forwards Jack Marriott and Paul Mullin to fire them into the top half of League One, and maybe even further.
There is little to fear at present at Wrexham who will hope experienced heads like James McClean and Steven Fletcher can help guide the side forwards.
An opening day home tie with Wycombe Wanderers, a side under new ownership, will give Wrexham a good sense of how they will compete in Leage One this season.
Newport County
In the bottom division of the English Football League, Newport County are making sweeping changes in a bid to change their fortunes.
It was tough to watch at the end of the 2023/24 season, as Newport sunk to 18th place in the table following a run of eight defeats from their last eight games. Goals became hard to come by with just four scored in those final eight games and eighteen conceded.
Owner Huw Jenkins has looked to change the philosophy of the club and transform the future of the club. Nelson Jardim, who had spells at Swansea when Jenkins was owner there, has been brought in to lead the side this summer.
Jardim has worked with some successful managers, like Aitor Karanka and Paul Clement, as well as under Paolo Sousa at Swansea in 2009 and with him at Leicester City the year after.
This will be Jardim’s first management role for a senior team, having joined from managing Marítimo B in Portgual after a year in charge.
League One may be a way off for Newport County this season, and improvements will all rely on if the new regime can hit the ground running.
There have been plenty of additions this summer after a number of key players left. Ciaran Brennan from Sheffiled Wednesday could be a key addition and fans will be excited to see what former Cardiff City u21 player Cameron Antwi can bring to the side.
