The 2025/26 EFL Season has come to an end, which saw an overall positive season for the 4 Welsh clubs within the EFL. Cardiff City, the most notable, managed to bounce back straight away by finishing second in League One after being relegated from the Championship the year before. In the Championship, Wrexham AFC had a very impressive season, back in the second tier for the first time since 1982, but agonisingly missing out on a playoff place on the final day as Hull City managed to beat Norwich City, confirming sixth place.
Unfortunately there was nothing to write home about for Swansea City, who ended up in 11th on 64 points. Definitely not a bad season for the Swans, especially with having Golden Boot winner Zan Vipotnik on their side but still room to improve overall ready for the 26/27 season. Newport County on paper performed the worst of the four, barely escaping the drop in League Two and finishing in 20th, four points clear of the relegation zone.
Looking ahead to next season, Newport stay in League Two and in the Championship, all 3 other Welsh sides will compete in the same division – for the first time since 1980/81 and only the second time ever.
Reflecting on the season, we’ve compiled a best XI from the four Welsh clubs to highlight the star performers of this season in Wales. After much deliberation, we’ve gone with a 4-2-3-1 formation with a deserved 4 Cardiff City inclusions, 3 from both Wrexham and Swansea and one player selected from Newport County.
Goalkeeper/Defenders
GK: Nathan Trott (Cardiff City)
RB: Perry Ng (Cardiff City)
CB: Dylan Lawlor (Cardiff City)
CB: Callum Doyle (Wrexham AFC)
LB: Josh Tymon (Swansea City)
Midfielders
CDM: Matty James (Wrexham AFC)
CDM: Ethan Galbraith (Swansea City)
Attackers
CAM: Bobby Kamwa (Newport County)
CAM: Josh Windass (Wrexham AFC)
CAM: Ollie Tanner (Cardiff City)
ST: Zan Vipotnik (Swansea City)
Cardiff City
Trott, Lawlor and Ng were central to City’s successes, being part of the joint-3rd best defence in the league and keeping an impressive 17 clean sheets. Left-back Joel Bagan was also unlucky not to be included, especially after being included in the EFL’s League One TOTS but unfortunately misses out behind Swansea’s Josh Tymon. At the top end of the pitch, Ollie Tanner impressed throughout on the right side, amassing 12 assists and 3 goals in just 28 appearances.
Yousef Salech also deserves a mention, as the Danish forward scored 14 for City this season.
Wrexham AFC
For the Red-Dragons, Callum Doyle and Josh Windass were the clear standouts, both picking up individual player awards at Wrexham’s awards. Windass scored a career-best 16 goals and also achieved 5 assists, whilst Doyle impressed in almost every game he played and clearly has a bright future ahead with some Wrexham fans worried about a potential buy-back by Manchester City, who Wrexham bought Doyle from last summer.
Lastly, Matty James’ calmness in midfield made Wrexham a fundamentally better side, with a far better record with James in the team than out.
Swansea City
Despite the team’s overall performance being slightly lacklustre, the Swans arguably had the most notable individual performances of all the Welsh teams this season. Zan Vipotnik took home the Championship golden boot, finishing on 23 goals.
Josh Tymon also had a great campaign throughout, with 9 assists, a very impressive tally for a full back. Manchester United academy graduate Ethan Galbraith also looks to be a very exciting young talent, one that Swansea will do well to keep hold of over the next few transfer windows.
Newport County
While County had a disappointing season, barely surviving the drop, Bobby Kamwa impressed on the left side of attack and scored some crucial goals towards the end of the season that hugely contributed to the Exiles staying up.
In particular, Kamwa scored a dramatic late winner at Rodney Parade against Oldham Athletic in the penultimate game of the season, proving to be a vital three points for County.