FAW unveils Llunio Cymru plan to double women and girls playing football by 2035 and demands more funding

Ambitious ten-year plan sets out Welsh football's targets

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has called for greater funding for Welsh football after setting out ambitious targets for the next decade. The governing body says it wants more players, more pitches and more qualifications for major tournaments over the next ten years.

The aims are outlined in a new strategic plan, Llunio Cymru, which includes seeing the men's national side return to the top 20 of Fifa's world rankings. The plan sets out a number of measures of success between now and 2036, all based on growing participation and helping the national sides "perform on the world stage".

Facilities and funding at the heart of the plan

A key goal is ensuring "quality" facilities are in place "within 15 minutes of every community", with a target of 100 new or upgraded pitches by 2030. Chief executive Noel Mooney admits the association will be looking to the Welsh Government for greater help.

"We need a lot more support," Mooney told BBC Sport Wales.

Mooney said the FAW plans to increase the number of registered players in Wales by 30%, and that facilities are needed for that growth. "We're very clear on the growth of the female game that we need facilities for that. We've spent more than £30million over the last four years building pitches all across the country but we've a long, long way to go," he said.

"Thankfully, our resources are increasing - which is good - but we really need more support from Welsh Government and from the 22 local authorities to deliver this."

A recent review suggested it would cost £150m to deliver the facilities local authority areas needed. Mooney said increased revenues from Fifa following the 2026 World Cup and the planned windfall from staging Euro 2028 had helped the FAW nudge towards revenues of £50m. He is eager that the forthcoming Welsh Government budget, the first since Plaid Cymru's election success earlier this year, will increase money invested in capital projects. The FAW has received money from the UK Government for some of its plans to date, but the current £13m for capital expenditure was, in Mooney's words, "a scratch on the surface of what we need to get to".

"We've got confidence. We've had a lot of discussions with the new government and they've given us all of the signals that we're going into the right direction," Mooney added.

Elite game and talent pipeline

Key targets for the elite game include qualifying for every other major tournament and reaching the knock-out stages of the co-hosted Euro 2028 and the 2035 Women's World Cup. The FAW want 80% of men's and women's national team players to be regular starters in the world's top five leagues, up from 65% for the men's team currently.

One plan to achieve that is to see two elite category club academies in the country. The FAW has admitted there has been a drop-off in talent produced for the men's national side following Swansea City's loss of category one status. The association says it will work with clubs to lend resources and staff, with an aim of producing two players per team every year. It has also developed data tracking of dual-qualified players and continues work on national academies for the women's game.

Participation and health at the core

The FAW last set out targets in 2021, when qualification for the 2022 men's World Cup and the 2025 women's Euros were two key goals ticked off. It also hit goals for increasing participation, with registered players rising from 80,000 to 120,000. The new target is 160,000, including doubling the number of women and girls playing to 40,000.

The FAW believes increasing participation will help the top level and boost the nation's health. Projects in the 100 most deprived and diverse communities will be a priority, alongside a 50% increase in priority pitch access for women and girls. Mooney said allocating greater resources to football's role in preventative health was "a no-brainer".

A specific strategy for the women's and girls' game will be launched next month, and will include doubling the money invested.

Other key aims

• Every game under-12 level and below to have a qualified, neutral referee
• Halving the number of teenagers dropping out of football
• Growing the number of qualified coaches by a third
• Taking Cymru Premier average attendances past 1,000