What to watch out for as Cymru Premier kicks off new era

The Cymru Premier returns tonight with a fresh lick of paint and plenty of narratives to sink our teeth into.

Wales' top tier has been revamped for its 35th edition, expanding to 16 teams and predominantly switching to Friday night games.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) hope that the wide-reaching changes will grow the league's popularity and, in turn, improve its standard.

Whether those changes have the desired impact remains to be seen, but excitement is high amongst supporters.

BBC Sport Wales have taken a look at the things you should look out for as Welsh football's top flight enters a new era.

Even in this new era, one thing remains the same - The New Saints head into the season as clear favourites to lift the Cymru Premier title.

It will be tough to knock TNS, Welsh football's most dominant side, off their perch after five straight league title victories.

External expectations of TNS are matched by those within the club, where nothing less than a 19th league title will be deemed a success.

Manager Craig Harrison - who has won the division in each of his 10 seasons at Park Hall - has made several additions to his full-time playing squad.

Dynel Simeu once joined Southampton from Chelsea for £1.5million, and arrives to reinforce a defence that conceded just 25 goals last term.

Former Aston Villa youngster Brad Young is back at TNS, two years after his move to Saudi Arabia and the legal issues that followed.

However, the new signings did not yield a lucrative European run.

Harrison's side suffered a body blow on Thursday night when they crashed out of the UEFA Conference League qualifiers, beaten by Flora Tallinn on penalties.

TNS are not the only Welsh club with financial backing.

While they remain the best-funded, others are increasingly looking to the Cymru Premier as an investment opportunity.

Penybont, runners-up in 2024-25, are one of the clubs operating under a hybrid model, allowing some key players to train more regularly.

The Bridgend-based side landed "significant new investment" this summer and have recruited players from professional clubs, including ex-Newport County defender Liam Shephard.

It was Connah's Quah Nomads who finished closest to TNS last season, albeit 22 points adrift of the perennial champions in second place.

John Disney's side will desire to cut that gap this year, although the task has been made harder with key players departing, most notably Rhys Hughes, who has joined TNS.

The Nomads are ambitious. In November 2025, they announced potential plans to build a new 4,000-seater stadium capable of hosting international fixtures.

Haverfordwest also gained a new backer this year, with American businessman Andreas Johansson joining Rob Edwards as co-owner of the Bluebirds in February.

Edwards completed a takeover of financially troubled Hamilton Academical in January and also owns Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) - the wrestling company that trained WWE legends John Cena and Randy Orton.

With other clubs also benefiting from new FAW funding, the question is whether a new contender will emerge to tussle with TNS at the top.

If Welsh football were the stock market, you would want to have your money on Llandudno's Jordan Hadaway.

At 25 years old, he is the youngest currently active top-flight manager in Europe, and, quite possibly, the world.

Hadaway's burgeoning coaching career caught national attention in April when he guided the Seasiders to the Cymru North title.

No stranger to media coverage, Hadaway, from Holywell, also hit the headlines as a teenager after landing a coaching role with the Real Madrid Foundation.

Last season's promotion capped off a remarkable turnaround for Llandudno, who nearly went out of business in 2023.

Hadaway did not have enough players to field a lineup when he took charge of the club under that cloud, yet kept them in the second tier against the odds.

In fact, the young manager's break came after Llandudno's entire coaching staff walked out just weeks before the start of the 2023-24 season.

After overseeing an impressive Cymru North campaign, which saw Llandudno claim 80 points from 30 games, Hadaway will hope his stock continues to rise.

Llandudno are one of six promoted teams competing in the Cymru Premier this season, up from the usual four due to the league's expansion.

All three sides promoted from the Cymru South - Ammanford, Cambrian United and Trefelin BGC - are setting out on their debut campaigns at this level.

Cambrian's promotion is doubly historic as they are the first club from the Rhondda Valley to play in the top tier of Welsh football since Ton Pentre in 1996/97.

Their manager, Liam Williams, was born into the club, with his father Phil playing a key role in Cambrian's development.

Hot-shot forward Liam Eason, named Cymru South player of the season last campaign, is certainly a player to watch.

Ammanford's Dan John, now back at the club permanently, is another after winning the Cymru South young player of the season award last year.

Holywell Town, up from the Cymru North, were founding members of the League of Wales in 1992 and are back in the top-flight for the first time since 1999.

This is an emotional return for The Wellmen after their Tier One license was granted on appeal, two years after they were denied promotion despite winning the Cymru North.

Airbus UK Broughton's last campaign at this level is one they would rather forget.

Relegated on minus four points without winning a game, it cannot go much worse this time around.

For all of TNS's domestic dominance, the Oswestry-based club did not win either of the Welsh cups last season.

Harrison's side lost the Nathaniel MG Cup final to Barry Town United, with Ieuan Owen - who has since earned a move to Kilmarnock - scoring twice.

It was Caernarfon Town who got their hands on the JD Welsh Cup, doing so for the first time in their history, beating Flint Town United in the final.

Barry and Caernarfon will hope to make good on those cup successes, although the Cofis' home advantage may have been eliminated.

The champagne popped by Caernarfon after their maiden cup win has now gone flat, and so too has their pitch.

The Oval was notorious for its sloped pitch, but the ground underwent major work ahead of the Uefa Men's Under-19 Championships that were held in north Wales over the summer.

"As anybody who knows the Oval, it did have a bit of a slope, so that's now gone and it's looking fantastic," manager Richard Davies, affectionately known as Fish, said.

Many fans will be pleased to see several familiar faces still involved with the Cymru Premier, from former pros to league legends, even with all the changes.

Jamie Reed is back in the league at 38, while Chris Venables, who outscored Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in 2014, is still going at 41.

Darren Thomas remains an important player for Caernarfon at 39. Michael Wilde, scorer of over 300 top-flight goals, is in charge of Colwyn Bay.

Four-time Wales international Shaun MacDonald will turn out for Trefelin, and ex-Cardiff and Newport man Aaron Wildig has joined Cardiff Met.

Several players will hope that this is the year that they too can become an iconic Cymru Premier player.

The old guard may be ageing, but the Cymru Premier is entering a new era – and there should be plenty of fresh faces ready to make their mark.