THE biggest political hot potato in British football will raise its head again next week as a new bid is made to get Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham back into Europe.

The subject will be brought up at top-level FA of Wales talks after official confirmation from the highest level at the English FA that the Welsh Big Three will NEVER be put forward for Europe by them.

The formal English stance is officially documented in a letter sent to the FAW by Soho Square chairman Geoff Thompson.

He and his FA colleagues have looked at the Cardiff, Swansea, Wrexham issue over the past few months after being asked by the FAW to help out on the matter.

But Thompson says the English FA will not put forward Cardiff, Swansea or Wrexham in the event of any of that trio winning one of the competitions they play in.

He goes on to state in his letter that it is a matter the FAW must resolve themselves.

The FAW kicked the Big Three out of the old Welsh Cup when the League of Wales was set up in the mid-1990s, arguing UEFA only wanted European spots for team playing in the Welsh pyramid system.

But the FAW believe the English FA's stance - which has never been formally minuted in the rulebook before - changes the issue.

They want UEFA to relent, let the Big Three back into Europe via Wales and will thrash out the whole argument at a meeting next week.

The issue is a political, football and potentially legal minefield.

Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham are the only clubs barred from having any avenue to European competition.

The ultimate scenario is for the trio, spearheaded by go-ahead Bluebirds chairman Sam Hammam, to take UEFA to court for restraint of trade.

Conversely, the unique situation of Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham playing in England as Welsh clubs may be raised by UEFA.

David Rhodes, who represents the Big Three on the FAW Premier Cup board, said, "This is the first time anything like this has been documented in black and white by the English FA. It means our clubs are officially barred from Europe by the English FA, the Welsh FA and UEFA.

"That is a grossly unfair situation. Every other team in Europe has got an opportunity to somehow get into the Champions League or UEFA Cup, if they are good enough to win competitions.

"Everyone has presumed the English FA would take this stance, but suddenly we have received official notification about it.

"Armed with that, we would hope the FAW will help out and work towards finding a way back into Europe for us."

The options in front of the FAW are to let the clubs back into the Welsh Cup and ignore what UEFA have to say, or to nominate the winners of the Premier Cup for Europe.

The competitions have always been dominated by Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham, a trio who have always had a proud European heritage.

Ken Tucker, chairman of the FAW's management committee, said the issue was a complex one which needed to be aired.

The will of the FAW, he explained, was for the Big Three to be back in Europe, but it wasn't as simple as that.

"This is an awkward matter," said Tucker. "But I think there is a general view among FAW members to pursue the issue in the interests of fairness.

"There is an argument from some of us which says the Welsh Cup is our competition, and thus we will have who we want in it, nominate the winners for Europe and see what happens then with UEFA.

"Certainly bringing the three League clubs back into the Welsh Cup would give our competition a massive boost.

"But we would be flying in the face of what UEFA say. And, as we have unfortunately seen for ourselves, once UEFA make a decision it's difficult to get it overturned.

"We will discuss the letter from the English FA next week, hear what UEFA have told us and take the matter from there."