{"id":14885,"date":"2026-03-29T10:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/?p=14885"},"modified":"2026-03-29T10:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T09:55:13","slug":"north-cardiff-cosmos-journey-from-u19s-football-to-division-two-league-leaders-in-swwgl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/north-cardiff-cosmos-journey-from-u19s-football-to-division-two-league-leaders-in-swwgl\/","title":{"rendered":"North Cardiff Cosmos&#8217; journey from U19s football to Division Two league leaders in SWWGL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.14.12-1024x682.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14887\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">North Cardiff Cosmos are currently top of the SWWGL Division Two (Photo by Lewis Mitchell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/episodes.captivate.fm\/episode\/2d4a11f6-3745-47bf-8b97-20500d4da7e8.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Formed in 2023, North Cardiff Cosmos are growing their football opportunities year-on-year across every team. For their women&#8217;s &#8216;blue&#8217; team, it&#8217;s been a unique journey to the top of the SWWGL Division Two, which is where they are after 13 wins from 13 games. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After parting ways with their original name, Cardiff Cosmopolitan, the senior women&#8217;s team battled in the Genero Adran U19s League during the past two seasons, before moving across to the senior South Wales Women&#8217;s and Girls League pyramid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With two squads in the system, with a &#8216;Red&#8217; team in Division Three, it&#8217;s a club that have provided more and more capacity for women and girls to play football. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whilst everyone wants to hit the pinacle of Welsh football, the Genero Adran Leagues, for Cosmos, it&#8217;s about the development and progression of footballers, with over 500 players across the teams at the football club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;The last couple of years have been quite busy,&#8221; <\/em>Cosmos coach John Norman explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We managed to obtain a lease on Llanishen Park in Cardiff, which is a 20 year lease. We&#8217;re working on developing the facilities as well as we can to provide a good football environment for everyone.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"612\" src=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.27-e1774717484635-1024x612.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14929\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.27-e1774717484635-1024x612.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.27-e1774717484635-300x179.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.27-e1774717484635-768x459.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.27-e1774717484635.jpeg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">North Cardiff Cosmos play their football at Llanishen Park <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to promote an ethos where we&#8217;re trying to develop every player that&#8217;s with us, and try create an environment which is just based on respect and development. Results are nice in football, but I think if you lose sight of the individual development of players, you can lose a lot.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whilst they&#8217;ve had the red team in the SWWGL already, this is the first season that this blue team has played in the pyramid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the seasons before this one, they&#8217;ve been part of the Genero Adran U19s League. A key member of their team is midfielder Ellie Harris, formerly of Llantwit Fardre, Cardiff City and Cardiff Met. Harris joined North Cardiff Cosmos in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;I decided I wasn&#8217;t enjoying football anymore, so I took a year off,&#8221; Harris said.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;Craig the secretary reached out to me as he used to coach me at Cardiff Met, asking me if I was still playing which I wasn&#8217;t.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;He said that North Cardiff Cosmos U19s were looking for players. I went training first then I played the same week I trained, and I really enjoyed it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14-1024x682.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14946\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14-1024x682.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14-1536x1023.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.20.14.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ellie Harris has now been with North Cardiff Cosmos for three seasons (Photo by Robert Blunt\/Tidy Photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;The girls I played with were such a good group of girls and we really got on, and I didn&#8217;t think I&#8217;d still be playing football but I am, and obviously we&#8217;re the women&#8217;s team now and we&#8217;re doing really well in our league. We&#8217;ve gone from strength to strength.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;At the start it was a lot more just fun, but as we&#8217;ve gone into a better league it&#8217;s fun but also competitive, it&#8217;s really ideal for me.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t expect this at all, I don&#8217;t think anyone expected us to do so well. I really think we deserve it.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Always a uphill battle against the finances and quality of U19s sides from clubs in the Genero Adran Leagues. In fact, they were the only side from outside the Genero Adran Leagues with a team in the U19s league, a feat in itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">10th in 2023\/24, a much improved Cosmos side finished 8th the following season, with 18 more points to their name. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;Availability was a bit difficult<\/em>,&#8221; Norman explained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<em>We pushed our way through the first season. We played one game with 9 players, one game with 10 and a few with 11 and 12.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14948\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26-526x395.jpeg 526w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.00.26.jpeg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We built up the squad, we had a couple of good results. We pulled off a draw with Swansea City and had a nice win up at Pontypridd United.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;By the time we got to the second year, I felt we were much more competitive. Apart from two games we fielded a squad of 16 players, and that made a massive difference. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We were able to pick up some nice wins against Carmarthen Town, Aberystwyth, Cardiff Met, a nice draw with Barry Town. We felt like we were going to go into this season and try and search for a top four place.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;But coming into this season we didn&#8217;t qualify for Adran U19s on account of not qualified to set up an academy, which I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;d be looking to do anyway at the moment, and not having a senior team in the Adran Leagues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14950\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-1024x768.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-768x576.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42-526x395.jpeg 526w, https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.33.42.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We made the journey into Division Two of the SWWGL. We didn&#8217;t know what to expect, some of the girls had games for the women&#8217;s team last year and had some competitive matches, so we knew a few of the teams.<\/em>&#8220;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">First season for the blue team in the senior SWWGL setup, they&#8217;re now top of Division Two. 13 wins from 13, in a close tight battle with Llangynwyd Rangers and AFC Llwydcoed, Cosmos have a huge chance of Division One football next season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;Although we&#8217;ve got a 100% record at the moment, that&#8217;s not our focus<\/em>, &#8221; Norman stated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;<em>One thing that&#8217;s really caught me is the competitiveness of that league, how organised the teams are and how good they are playing to their strengths.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;We&#8217;re not alone. Our Red team is in Division Three. There&#8217;s lots of communication there between the coaches. That environment is really important, there is definitely a togetherness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>&#8220;There&#8217;s not a crazy push to get the senior teams as high as possible. It&#8217;s obviously something we&#8217;d like to do, but you&#8217;ve got to have the building blocks in place for that.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">North Cardiff Cosmos&#8217; next game is on Sunday 5th April against Cwmbran Celtic Reserves, in a 2pm kickoff Llanishen Park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Formed in 2023, North Cardiff Cosmos are growing their football opportunities year-on-year across every team. For their women&#8217;s &#8216;blue&#8217; team, it&#8217;s been a unique journey to the top of the SWWGL Division Two, which is where they are after 13 wins from 13 games. After parting ways with their original name, Cardiff Cosmopolitan, the senior [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14887,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[123,99,138],"tags":[155,231,181],"class_list":["post-14885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-sports","category-the-adran-leagues-show-extra","tag-north-cardiff-cosmos","tag-south-wales-womens-and-girls-league","tag-swwgl"],"acf":[],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-03-20-at-19.14.12-e1774716993797.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14885"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14953,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14885\/revisions\/14953"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cymrusport.cymru\/cy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}