The Football Association of Wales has launched Llunio Cymru, its strategy for 2026-2036: a ten-year plan to grow football in every community, strengthen the domestic game and help Cymru’s national teams succeed on the world stage.
At its heart, Llunio Cymru is about ensuring that more people can enjoy football for life – as players, coaches, referees, volunteers, supporters and club members, while building the pathways and environments needed for Welsh football to thrive.
The strategy is founded on the FAW’s purpose: building a confident, successful and inclusive Cymru through football. It will be guided by four values – excellence, family, respect and courage – and a commitment to celebrate Welsh identity, work collaboratively and be transparent about the impact delivered.
Llunio Cymru has been shaped by the football community. The FAW gathered over 3,000 contributions through workshops, consultations and sessions held across Wales, helping to identify the opportunities and priorities that will shape the next decade of the game.
Noel Mooney, FAW Chief Executive, said: “Llunio Cymru is our commitment to building a confident, successful and inclusive Cymru through football.
“It is a strategy shaped by the people who make our game special, the players, volunteers, clubs, coaches, referees, supporters and communities across the country.
Over the next decade, we will grow opportunity at every level of the game while aiming for success that the whole nation can share.”
Football enhancing lives in every community
A central ambition of the strategy is to make football more accessible, welcoming and sustainable for everyone.
The FAW aims to grow the number of registered players in Wales from 120,000 to 160,000 by 2036, including at least 20,000 additional women and girls. It will also work to halve the number of 12 to 17-year-olds who leave the game, recognising the importance of keeping young people connected to football during those formative years.
Focused projects will help grow football in the 100 most diverse and deprived communities in Wales, while the FAW will expand opportunities for disabled people to take part in the game. The strategy will support inclusive, flexible ways to play, ensuring there is a place in football for people of all ages, abilities and backgrounds.
The plan puts people at the centre of the game. Targets include increasing the number of affiliated, qualified coaches by 30%, ensuring that 75% of volunteers feel supported and equipped to succeed, and having every competition match at under-12 level and above officiated by a qualified neutral referee by 2035.
Creating the right places to play will be equally important. The FAW’s ambition is for every community in Wales to have access to quality football facilities within 15 minutes, with priority given to the areas and people who need them most. Clubs will be supported to become more inclusive, sustainable and embedded in their communities.
Safe, positive and respectful football will remain fundamental. The FAW will work to reduce incidents of hate and discrimination by 70% by 2036, while ensuring every report of discrimination is fully investigated.
Building pathways to perform
Alongside growing participation, Llunio Cymru sets out how Wales will develop the next generation of players, coaches and support staff.
The strategy will bring grassroots football, talent identification, domestic clubs, professional clubs and national teams closer together through an elite player pathway that is inclusive, high quality and sustainable. This includes establishing four elite academies within professional clubs, alongside domestic academies across Wales, providing world-class development opportunities for young players. These systems will support elite men’s and women’s talent into our national teams.
The FAW will focus on collaborating with the professional clubs in Wales with an aim to create four world-class player development systems to support elite men’s and women’s talent into our national teams.
The FAW will develop the people and environments behind elite success, combining outstanding coaching with sport science, performance services, data and innovation. Welsh identity will remain central throughout the national-team pathway, creating clear and inclusive routes for talented players to represent Cymru.
The FAW aims to graduate at least two players per calendar year from each pathway into Cymru’s senior men’s and women’s national teams. It will also focus on identifying, supporting and retaining high-potential players – including a target to retain 95% of dual-national players within Cymru’s youth national teams.
For the senior teams, the ambition is clear: Cymru’s men’s and women’s teams should participate in 50% of major international tournaments, reach the knockout stages of UEFA EURO 2028 and the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and improve their FIFA rankings to the men’s top 20 and women’s top 24.
The strategy also seeks to strengthen the domestic game. It aims to increase engagement with the national leagues by 150% over the next five years, grow the domestic football commercial portfolio by 300%, and see the Cymru Premier and Adran Premier become among Europe’s leading leagues for opportunities for young players.
A decade of opportunity
The next ten years offer significant moments for Welsh football, including hosting UEFA EURO 2028, the 2029 UEFA Women’s Champions League Final and the 2035 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
But Llunio Cymru is about more than landmark events. It is a commitment to use football’s power to bring people together, create lifelong opportunities and represent Wales and the Cymru national teams with pride – from grassroots pitches and local clubs to the biggest stages in world football.
The work will be supported by a strong focus on coaching and refereeing, facilities, safeguarding, equality, diversity and inclusion, Welsh language, environmental sustainability, governance, communications and the use of data and insight.
Over the next decade, the FAW will work with clubs, leagues, area associations, schools, communities, partners and supporters to turn the strategy into meaningful change, building a game that belongs to everyone and a Wales that is confident, successful and inclusive.
Llunio Cymru – Read the strategy
High Performance – Read the plan
The FAW High Performance Plan sets out how Cymru will create a connected pathway for talented male and female players to fulfil their potential and compete at the highest level. It will link grassroots football, talent identification, academies, domestic and professional clubs, and national teams, giving players the coaching, competition, education and performance support they need at every stage.
The plan will develop the people and environments behind elite success: outstanding coaches and practitioners, world-class performance services, and smarter use of data, analysis and innovation. It will keep Welsh identity at the heart of the national-team environment while creating clear, inclusive routes for the next generation to represent Cymru.
Dr David Adams, FAW Chief Football Officer, said: “Welsh identity will remain at the heart of how we develop and represent Cymru. Our ambition is to create a connected pathway that gives every talented Welsh player the chance to reach their potential.
“By bringing together grassroots football, academies, domestic and professional clubs, and our national teams, we can provide the coaching, support and performance environment required to compete with the very best. There will be a focus to collaborate with the professional clubs in Wales to create four world-class player development systems to support elite make and female talent into our nationals teams.”
High Performance Plan
2026-2030
Participation – Read the plan
The FAW Participation Plan turns Llunio Cymru’s ambition for community football into action: making it easier for people of every age, ability and background to play, coach, referee, volunteer and belong. It aims to grow the registered playing population from 120,000 to 160,000 by 2036, including at least 20,000 additional women and girls.
It will support the people, clubs and places that make football possible – from flexible playing opportunities and stronger local clubs to safer environments and better facilities. The plan will focus investment where it can make the greatest difference, helping football enhance lives in communities across Wales.
Participation Plan
2026-2036
Women & Girls’ Football Plan – Launching in November
The FAW will be releasing a dedicated Women and Girls’ football plan in November, which will be made available here on the website.
Bethan Woolley, FAW Head of Women and Girls’ Football, said: “This is a defining opportunity for women’s and girls’ football in Wales. Later this year we will release our dedicated Women and Girls’ strategy that is determined to create more places to play, more visible pathways to progress and more opportunities to coach, referee, volunteer and lead.
“By growing the game in a way that is inclusive and sustainable, we can ensure that every girl and woman who wants to be involved in football feels that the game belongs to her.”
