Wales are represented strongly throughout the football leagues with now four outfits in the EFL who are always looking for a route towards the top. We’re looking at which of the sides has been the best throughout 2024, with a lot of positives to take ahead of the New Year.
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00:00Well, Charles, it's been quite the year in Welsh football in the league system, of course.
00:07Most, well, most of the big Welsh teams actually play in England, of course. But looking through
00:12all of them, you've got Cardiff City and Swansea City both in the Championship. You've got
00:16Wrexham in League One and Newport in League Two. And so the question today is, who has
00:22had the best year in 2024? Not looking at necessarily the season, because of course
00:26the season's not over, but the best calendar year from the end of last season and through
00:30to the start of this season. So going from 2024 all the way through. Is it Cardiff? Is
00:35it Swansea? Is it Wrexham? Is it Newport? Now, of course, Cardiff and Swansea, they're
00:39doing OK in the Championship, it's fair to say. Wrexham, they're still on their meteoric
00:44rise going from where they were a couple of years ago in the National League, in Non-League,
00:49and now all of a sudden they're in League One. You know, lots of promotions that they've
00:52managed to achieve. Then Newport, who you've got sat in League Two. So, Charles, I'll come
00:57to you then. Who's had the most standout year in 2024 and why?
01:02Yeah, I think it is probably Wrexham. I think it has to be Wrexham. Just the incredible
01:09trajectory that they're on continues, and I will touch back on them. But, you know,
01:13in terms of the other clubs, obviously Cardiff and Swansea had that fantastic promotion 10
01:19years or so ago now to the Premier League, which is incredible, when obviously Cardiff
01:24were last up into the Premier League, it was with Neil Warnock. So, it's fair to say Neil
01:30Warnock was at a time of his career where he wasn't really taking on a project at Cardiff
01:34City and it was an amazing promotion for them. But they just weren't able to remain there.
01:39Obviously, there were some massive VAR issues, the refereeing decisions that he was clear
01:45to point out. But they are struggling and, you know, they've sacked Errol Bullock as
01:50well in September of 2024, which was massive. It seemed that he was doing well at the back
01:55end of last season. But it's just a theme for Cardiff and Swansea. Swansea just missing
02:00out on the playoffs. They finished 10th last season and Cardiff actually just narrowly
02:06escaping a relegation battle. Now, we've seen with multiple clubs, whether it be Wolves,
02:11Birmingham City, Sunderland, a bit of a rejuvenation when they go down to League One. Maybe Cardiff
02:17City actually need a relegation to do that. Maybe they don't really look at the likes
02:22of Bolton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic, for example, teams like that, who've also dropped
02:27from the championship and failed to get up. So, it's a risky one, but I think maybe Cardiff
02:32need that. Newport, however, they need to make sure they hang on to their EFL status.
02:38It's not been an amazing year for them. But as I say, Wrexham, they've clearly been the
02:42standout. They're just continuing on this journey. An amazing journey it is. And who
02:47knows where the ceiling is for them. They can just keep going on and on and on. It wouldn't
02:54be surprising to me if they're a Premier League club in years to come.