Gwalia United Pursues Top-Tier Ambitions While Focusing on FA Cup Challenge

Gwalia United, a third-tier football club, is setting its sights on a long-term goal of reaching the pinnacle of the English women’s football pyramid. However, this Sunday, the team’s immediate attention shifts to the Women’s FA Cup first round. The club’s manager, Fern Burrage-Male, previously played and also managed Pontypridd Town. The club will host Swindon Town, a fourth-tier team from the National League Division One South West, at Spytty Park in Newport, with kick-off scheduled for 14:00 GMT. Gwalia United holds the distinction of being Wales’ sole representative within the English football system. Currently, Gwalia occupies the ninth position in the 12-team FA Women’s National League Southern Premier Division. Co-owner Julian Jenkins expressed his desire for a “special cup run,” beginning with their match against Swindon. Jenkins stated, “In the third round the big guns come in, and I’ve always said since the beginning of this project, ‘what does a crowd of Gwalia United versus Manchester United look like?’” General manager Trystan Bevan also contemplates such high-profile matches, expressing confidence that the club could achieve promotion to the top-tier Women’s Super League [WSL] within “three to five years.” Jenkins reiterated this ambition, telling BBC Sport Wales, “We don’t want to be a club in the WSL, we want to be a WSL club.” Jenkins, alongside Australian businessman Damien Singh, assumed control of the club, then named Cardiff City Ladies, in September 2023. The duo led the Dragons23 consortium that acquired the club, though the transition has faced challenges. Jenkins recounted, “I always think about our first game in charge, Damien and I, we played Portsmouth away.” He continued, “We didn’t really have a manager… so we had the bus driver running the team with a goalkeeping coach.” Jenkins added, “I remember their manager speaking to Gareth and I was thinking, ‘he thinks he’s our manager’, but he was our bus driver and kit man. We lost 9-0.” Jenkins explained that the situation at Gwalia has significantly changed: “We’re in a new stadium. We had 1,200 people there. We’re eyeing up a new training ground. We’ve rebranded, we’ve done a new kit deal.” He further elaborated, “We’ve got a major sponsor on the front of the shirt, you know. We’re doing all of these things. The turnaround in 12 months is huge.” Manager Fern Burrage-Male, who succeeded Gemma Donnelly in December 2023, expressed confidence that Gwalia possesses the necessary structure to evolve into a top-tier club. Burrage-Male stated, “We’ve got the infrastructure behind us and a good, strong, talented squad that can then step up, compete, maintain ourselves in that league, to then push on even further into the WSL.” She emphasized, “It can’t be we’ve jumped up there and then we’re straight back down the next season. We want to be able to get there and maintain that position and push on again within the next couple of years. So yeah, WSL is the ideal within five to six years.” Gwalia anticipates that the recent achievements of the Welsh national team will positively impact the club, given its status as the nation’s sole women’s club competing in England. Rhian Wilkinson’s Welsh squad is set to face the Republic of Ireland in a two-legged playoff to secure qualification for Euro 2025 in Switzerland, having recently triumphed over Slovakia in Tuesday’s second leg held in Cardiff. Burrage-Male affirmed, “Every single week, we recognise that we are the only Welsh club both in the FA Cup, but also in the English tiers of football, and we take great pride in that.” She added, “Qualifying for a major tournament would be huge. Huge for Wales, huge for women’s football, huge for us in some degree, because I do think it would have a massive influence on football in Wales.” Burrage-Male concluded, “Whilst we acknowledge it would be huge for the whole of Wales, it would also be massive for us as well, and hopefully, the impact and how that filters down would be fantastic.” Julian Jenkins expressed pride in the fact that numerous players from the Welsh squad that competed against Slovakia had, at various stages of their careers, represented Gwalia, including the club’s current goalkeeper, Laura O’Sullivan-Jones. Jenkins stated, “Ten of that squad have represented Cardiff City Ladies, our club. Jess Fishlock, Sophie Ingle, they started at our club. This club has born and birthed over 100 internationals.” He further remarked, “You will fall in love with the club if you come down and meet these women.” Jenkins described the club’s environment: “It’s a really nice, family friendly atmosphere. The girls, the players, the management staff, they’re really engaged. So after the game you’re going to get exposure to the heroes on the pitch that you wouldn’t ordinarily get in a men’s game.”