Pure Swansea are top of the Novira Cymru South and unbeaten. Now they have applied for the piece of paper they would need to go up.
The Sketty Lane club is one of 28 to apply to the Football Association of Wales for a Tier 1 licence for the 2027/28 season, the FAW has confirmed.
What a Tier 1 licence is, and why it matters
The licence is the FAW’s stamp that a club is fit to play in the Cymru Premier, the top flight of Welsh football.
Clubs are judged on six areas: sporting, infrastructure, staffing and administration, legal, financial, and social and environmental sustainability. In practice that means everything from the ground to the accounts.
Under the FAW’s pyramid rules, a club needs the licence to be promoted, so finishing top of the second tier is not enough on its own.
Llanelli Town have seen both sides of it. When the Reds went down in 2018-19 they had no Tier 1 licence, which ruled out an immediate return. When they went down last season, they already held one.
The top three in the Cymru South have all applied
Seven Cymru South clubs have applied: Pure, Llanelli Town and Carmarthen Town, along with Aberystwyth Town, Caerau Ely, Newport City and Pontypridd United.
That includes the three clubs at the top of the table. Pure drew 0-0 at second-placed Aberystwyth on 25 September to stay a point clear of them and Pontypridd.
It has been a quick climb. The club lost its funding when Swansea University withdrew support in 2025, and was rebuilt as Pure Swansea, winning the Ardal South West league and cup double last season.
Every top-flight club wants to keep it
All 16 Cymru Premier clubs have applied, including Ammanford, Briton Ferry Llansawel, Trefelin BGC, Haverfordwest County and Penybont.
Ammanford are in their first ever Cymru Premier season, and Port Talbot’s Trefelin joined them when the league expanded to 16 clubs this summer.
Five Cymru North clubs have also applied: Bala Town, Brickfield Rangers, Bangor City 1876, Rhyl 1879 and Newtown.
When clubs will find out
Grounds will be visited and clubs audited between October and December. Any ground-sharing agreements have to be in by 1 March, and all the licensing paperwork by 31 March.
An independent panel will make its decisions on 9 April, and clubs will be told the same day.
Any club turned down has until 19 April to appeal. An independent appeals panel meets on 21 April, when the final decisions will be made.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
Llanelli Town AFC secure top-tier FAW licence despite relegation battle
How the Reds made sure they could come straight back up.
PURE SWANSEA: Honours even as top two cancel each other out at Park Avenue
The goalless draw that kept Pure top and unbeaten.
CYMRU PREMIER: Welsh league football to stay free-to-air as S4C confirm new deal
The new 16-club top flight, with Ammanford and Trefelin in it.
More on the FAW Tier 1 licence
Which clubs hold one, and what it means.
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