ABERYSTWYTH Town is one of only five Welsh Premier clubs to be given the go-ahead to compete for a place in Europe next season by being granted a national licence. The club officially met the approval of the FAW's club licensing first instance body in Cardiff last week to compete in the Champions League, Uefa Cup or Intertoto Cup. Champions TNS and Welsh Cup finalists Carmarthen were also granted a national club licence, along with Caersws and Welshpool, but applications from the other 13 Welsh Premier clubs were turned down. The decision means that Rhyl and Bangor City's participation in next season's Uefa competitions is in jeopardy, and they must now appeal before learning their fate. Aber also had to go through the appeal process last year before playing in the Intertoto Cup, so the award of a club licence this year has come as a welcome boost. The licence, however, does not mean Park Avenue will now be permitted to host a European match, as it does not meet Uefa's requirement of a 1,000 seating capacity. Only three Welsh Premier grounds - Newtown, Cwmbran and Rhyl - meet the infra-structure criteria, which is one of five headings under which clubs are assessed. It is possible for clubs to nominate an alternative ground to play European matches at, but there will definitely be no repeat of Carmarthen opting to host their Uefa Cup match at Park Avenue this season. Last year, when only Newtown were initially awarded a licence, Aber failed to meet the strict financial criteria, which expects the club to undergo a full and stringent audit. This year the club earned the praise of FAW licensing officer Andrew Howard, who also voiced disappointment that some clubs had made no effort to meet the standard. "I am delighted that a number of clubs, even some without a chance of qualifying for Euro competition next season, have made commendable progress," said Howard. "The achievement of being awarded a club licence is something that all those involved with the club should be very proud of, and Aberystwyth Town deserve credit for this." It has meanwhile been confirmed that this year's Welsh representatives for the Intertoto Cup will meet Latvian opposition, which looks almost certainly like being FC Dinaburg, who Aber met last year, again. In 2004 the Seasiders drew 0-0 with the Latvian club in the home leg at Newtown's Latham Park, before losing 4-0 at Dinaburg, prior to ex-boss Gary Finley's resignation. However the basic facilities at Dinaburg's ground failed to impress the Aber officials, and it was questioned whether Uefa's new ground criteria could really be justified. Meanwhile a three-man Welsh Premier delegation has returned from Ireland with league secretary John Deakin more convinced about a switch to summer football. On behalf of the league's board, who requested more information on the pros and cons of summer soccer, Deakin was accompanied by league chairman Alun Evans and south Wales representative Jeff Thomas. "I'm even more convinced now that I've seen what's happening in Ireland that summer football is the way forward for Welsh domestic football," commented Deakin. "Overall, it was generally positive - however, we must talk to the other stakeholders here and then we'll do a brief report to the board. After that, we'll report to member clubs at our annual meeting on 21 May. "Whatever we do, it's going to be up to the clubs. It won't be imposed on them, we'll have to get their consent," added Deakin. • ABERYSTWYTH Town will be aiming to secure their place in the FAW Premier Cup when they complete their season at seventh-placed Cwmbran Town this weekend. Only Welshpool can deny them a top-eight finish by winning their last two matches against Carmarthen last night (Tuesday) and Afan Lion this weekend, and hope that Aber lose their final fixture. Meanwhile player-boss Dave Burrows has revealed he has already begun his search for new players, and is looking forward to having a better foundation next time. "I have been looking a few players already and I have got a wish-list, but I want to get everything sorted well before the pre-season, which is something that we were not able to do this season," said Burrows. Skipper Bari Morgan is suspended this week, but Aber will recall Luke Sherbon and Gari Lewis after playing for Penrhyncoch.