By James Dow

Ahead of today’s JD Cymru Premier encounter at Park Hall, we’ve taken a closer look at The New Saints with Meet the Opposition!

The history

The club were formed in 1959 under the name of Llansantffraid FC, where they would play their matches at the Recreation Ground. They joined the Montgomeryshire Amateur Football League which they won seven times. In 1990, they were elected to the Central Wales League where they spent one season, after gaining promotion to the Cymru Alliance after finishing runners-up on their first attempt. The club kept rising through the leagues and in 1992-93 they gained promotion to the League of Wales, which was the top division of Welsh football at the time, while also winning the Welsh Intermediate Cup.

In 1996, a local computer company, Total Network Solutions of Oswestry agreed a sponsorship deal with the club, being renamed to Total Network Solutions Llansantffraid which was also their first experience of European football after qualifying for the European Cup Winners’ Cup. A year later, TNS rebranded once again to Total Network Solutions FC. which was the first instance in the United Kingdom where the club would be named after its sponsor’s name only. A merger was then formed in 2003 between Llansantffraid and Oswestry Town who were close neighbours with both sides playing in the League of Wales. TNS were still performing well, with the 2005-06 season seeing the Welsh side face UEFA Champions League winners Liverpool in the first qualifying round, with the Saints losing 3-0 in both legs as Steven Gerrard scored five of the six goals. TNS changed their name once more in 2006 after Total Network Solutions were taken over by British Telecom, which meant the club had to find a new name with the club deciding on The New Saints of Oswestry Town. The next 16 years saw TNS dominate the top-flight, winning the league title 12 times with their last being their 16^th title, and they are the most decorated side in the history of Welsh domestic football. TNS also made history this season, becoming the first Welsh domestic side to qualify for a European group stage after beating Lithuanian side Panevezys to qualify for the UEFA Conference League.

The form

Although the Saints are fresh off a 2-1 loss to League of Ireland side Shamrock Rovers on Thursday night, their recent league form has been very good. TNS have won their last five league matches while also picking up a 16-0 win against Llangollen Town in the JD Welsh Cup in October. They are also the highest goal scorers in the league with 39, and find themselves in second place on 30 points, one point ahead of the Bluebirds and seven points behind leaders Penybont, however TNS do have games in hand over the leaders.

The manager

Craig Harrison was appointed in August 2022, replacing Anthony Limbrick for his second spell in charge with the Saints. Harrison was previously at the Saints between 2011 and 2017 where he became the club’s most successful manager, winning six successive titles and breaking a record of 27 straight wins while also winning four Welsh Cups and three league cups during his first spell.

The 46-year-old had a short but successful playing career, with the Middlesbrough academy graduate having spells at Preston North End and Crystal Palace, before suffering a double compound fracture in his leg while playing for Crystal Palace reserves, with Harrison making the decision to retire a year later. Harrison started his managerial career at Airbus UK Broughton in 2008 before moving to TNS three years later. He left TNS in 2017, joining Hartlepool United where he spent nine months before leaving his position in February 2018. Harrison then returned to Wales to join Bangor City but left the club to become assistant manager at Connah’s Quay Nomads before being appointed head coach during the 21-22 season. Harrison has managed 119 games for TNS so far, winning 92 of them and having a points-per-match of 2.41.

The captain

Danny Redmond joined the Saints in 2018 from Scottish side Hamilton Academical. The midfielder started his career in Everton’s academy before moving to Wigan Athletic two years later, where he made his debut for the Latics in a 3-2 win against Hull City in the FA Cup. Redmond made four appearances during his time at Wigan while also having loan spells at Hamilton and Carlisle United. The 33-year-old joined the Scottish side for a second time in 2014, making 104 appearances over three years, scoring six goals and registering 17 assists before moving to TNS in 2018. Redmond has since made 238 appearances for the Saints, with 27 goals and 75 assists so far. He has made 22 appearances in all competitions for TNS this season, with two goals and four assists to his name, with Redmond playing in a number of different positions this season such as central midfield and left back.

Key player

Dan Williams has been a key figure in the Saints midfield over the past couple of seasons after joining from Swansea City in 2023. The midfielder is an academy graduate of the EFL side, making his debut for the Swans in 2021 in a 3-0 win over Reading in the League Cup. He scored his first goal for the club in the following round in a 4-0 win over Plymouth. The midfielder also had a loan spell out in Ireland in 2022, signing for Dundalk where he made 10 appearances and registered two assists. Williams then joined TNS at the start of 2022-23 on loan, where he was part of the side who won the league title and the Welsh Cup before joining permanently the following season when his contract with Swansea expired. So far this season, Williams has played 24 times for the Saints, scoring in a 5-0 home victory against Flint Town United and a 3-2 home defeat against Bala Town. He has also started all three UEFA Conference League league phases matches so far. The 23-year-old has also featured for Wales at age grade level, making eight appearances for the under 21s side, with his only goal coming in a 7-0 win against Gibraltar in 2021.