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Saturday's International fixtures officially brought the football season to a close but for a third of Welsh Premier League clubs it signalled the start of pre-season training as four clubs from the domestic top-flight prepare themselves for European football with the opening qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League taking place before the end of June. Once again Wales will have three teams competing in the Europa League in The New Saints, Neath and Llanelli while Welsh Premier League champions Bangor City will take part in the lucrative UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history and join some potentially high-profile opposition in the 2nd qualifying round.
All four clubs will benefit from a combined prize fund of over £500,000 just for entering the two respective competitions and all four entrants have already been busy in the transfer market over the last few weeks. The draw for both UEFA competitions takes place in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday, 20th June with the opening games for The New Saints and Neath taking place just ten days later. Out of the four clubs competing in Europe, only Neath are making their continental debut, but with their significant investment and the recent experiences and relative European success enjoyed by the other three in recent seasons, there is very chance that this season could prove to be one of the best for Welsh clubs in Europe for a number of years.
Bangor City - UEFA Champions League - 2nd qualifying round - Unseeded
That very title is enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of every Bangor City's fans neck. Just a couple of weeks after Barcelona eased past Manchester United at Wembley in the UEFA Champions League final, Bangor City will embark on their attempt to challenge them for their crown. Although Nev Powell's side are expected to find themselves knocked-out of the competition long before Pep Guardiola's side even begin to think about competing in Europe, the fact that they are there and teams such as Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic and Roma are not, puts the magnitude of their achievement into perspective.
Last season Bangor City qualified for the UEFA Europa League as Welsh Cup winners and claimed a superb 3-2 aggregate victory over Finnish side Honka Espoo. The two sides had met in the same competition at the same stage the season before, that time the Finns claimed a comfortable 3-0 win over the two-legs, but Bangor learnt from their mistakes as two late goals from Dave Morley and Chris Jones earned a 2-1 victory at Wrexham's Racecourse ground to take the Citizens through. The European dream ended for Bangor City in Portugal in the next round however, as CS Maritimo put the tie out of sight by scoring eight goals in the first leg before eventually claiming a 10-3 aggregate win.
Bangor City defeated Finnish side Honka Espoo in Europe last season
Recently named the Welsh Premier League Manager of the Year, Nev Powell has brought Michael Walsh back to the club ahead of their European campaign. The midfielder has played over 100 games for Bangor City before joining Cypriot side APOP Kinyras Pegias in 2009. Bangor have built their domestic success on the strength of their continuity and substantial changes are not expected at Farrar Road before they make their UEFA Champions League bow. The anticipation for Powell, his players and their excellent fan-base now focuses on their potential opponents.
Joined by lesser-known clubs from Georgia, Lithuania and Bulgaria, the seeded clubs in the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League include some well-known names. Bangor City, with a co-efficient of 2.058, could potentially find themselves up against experienced Champions League group stage campaigners such as BATE Borisov, Dinamo Zagreb, Partizan Belgrade, Maccabi Haifa or Rosenborg. Other well-known names include Malmo FF, Shamrock Rovers, Slovan Bratislava and APOEL Nicosia. To put Bangor City's chances of progression into perspective, BATE Borisov have a co-efficient of 23.216, boosted by two draws against Italian giant Juventus in the group stages of the competition in 2008.
The New Saints - UEFA Europa League - 1st qualifying round - Seeded
Former Welsh Premier League champions The New Saints came within 90 minutes of defending their title but had to settle for second place following a defeat to Bangor City on the last day of the season. The difference in prize money for reaching the Champions League compared to the Europa League is substantial and as a result the full-time professional club have made significant changes to their playing squad with the intention of regaining their title next season as well as emulating, if not improving, on their relative European success last year.
The new Saints claimed one of the Welsh Premier League's best European results last season when they defeat Irish side Bohemians 4-0 at home in the UEFA Champions League to overturn a one goal deficit from the away leg. Belgian-giants RSC Anderlecht proved too strong for The New Saints in the next round as they eased past the Welsh Premier champions 6-1 on aggregate but their exit at the 3rd qualifying round stage earned The New Saints a place in the UEFA Europa League. Paired against Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia, The New Saints conceded three late goals away from home but held their opponents to a 2-2 at Wrexham in the return leg. It was not enough for them to progress, but their efforts mean that this year the club will be seeded in the 1st qualifying round with a co-efficient of 2.308.
Within minutes of conceding their Welsh Premier League title to Bangor City, The New Saints Managing Director Mike Harris stated that "massive changes" would be made at the club. Within days veteran striker Jamie Wood joined Danny Holmes, Tommy Holmes, Craig Williams, John McKenna, Craig Whitfield, Ryan Marriott and Sean Jones in leaving the club while defensive-duo Jermaine Johnson and Simon Spender arrived from Stafford and Barrow respectively. The management team of Mike Davies and Carl Darlington have also welcomed former Wales and Wrexham defender Steve Evans back to the club after a long-standing contract and disciplinary dispute and the side will start their European campaign with a new-look defence.
Irish side Glentoran are the only familiar name in the list of unseeded European minnows. Potential trips to Azerbaijan, San Marino, Armenia or the Faroe Islands mean that the real test for The New Saints will be in the travel arrangements and the climate change as much as the quality of their opposition. The club have already arranged European warm-up games against an Ynys Mon and Irish duo Cliftonville and Glentoran while their professional set-up will ensure they enjoy the best possible preparation for their early European start.
Llanelli - UEFA Europa League - 2nd qualifying round - Unseeded
The Reds enter their sixth consecutive European campaign with the luxury of an extra fortnight to prepare as they enter the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League having qualified as Welsh Cup winners. The future of manager Andy Legg was the subject of much-speculation as the season came to a close but the former Wales International appears to have confirmed his intentions to stay with the club for another season as he begins to prepare his side for Europe. Their campaign is set to begin in the middle of July and while the club have retained and strengthened their current squad, a few more signings are expected as Legg looks to add European success to his growing managerial CV.
Llanelli's last success in Europe arrived in 2006, ironically during their European debut, as they defeated Swedish side Gefle before being knocked-out by BK Odense of Denmark. Last season the club were defeated 5-4 on aggregate by Lithuanian side FK Taurus and enter this season's competition with a co-efficient of 1.058, one of the lowest in the 2nd qualifying round. Potential opposition including Austrian duo FC Salzburg and Austria Vienna while English Premier League side Fulham could also find themselves visiting Llanelli if they can progress through from the 1st qualifying round having qualified through the UEFA Fair Play initiative. In 2009 Llanelli claimed a memorable 1-0 win over Scottish Premier League side Motherwell before losing in the second leg, but the aim this year must be to once again progress through to the next round for the first time since 2006.
Striker Rhys Griffiths was named Welsh Premier League Player of the Year as his side lifted the Welsh Cup for their first time in their long history. Griffiths also picked up his sixth consecutive Golden Boot award despite facing competition from Neath's former £1m striker Lee Trundle. Griffiths is the only Welsh Premier League player to score a hat-trick in Europe and is the league's leading European goalscorer. Manager Andy Legg has strengthened his squad with the addition of impressive left-sided defender Lloyd Grist from South Wales rivals Port Talbot Town while keeping the together the squad that lifted the Welsh Cup last month.
With significant work taking place on the playing surface at Stebonheath to solve the long-standing drainage problems encountered by the club in recent years, the neighbouring Parc-y-Scarlets will host European football in the town next month. The last time Llanelli played at the new rugby home they lifted the Welsh Cup with a well-deserved victory over holders Bangor City and Legg will be looking for similar glory when his side again take to the field there. A friendly against a Manchester United reserve side has also been confirmed at the ground on Monday, 8th August and Llanelli must now start to believe that their European campaign will not be over by the time they host the English Premier League champions.
Llanelli striker Rhys Griffiths is the Welsh Premier League's leading European goalscorer
Neath - UEFA Europa League - 1st qualifying round - Unseeded
The most talked about club in the Welsh Premier League make their European debut this year having qualified for the UEFA Europa League through the inaugural play-off with a victory over Prestatyn Town. Their domestic season did not finish until their 21st of May as a 3-2 win ensured the big-spending club would begin to justify some of the investment made in their playing squad with European football, but already the club have made significant changes by sacking manager Andy Dyer and replacing him with a member of his coaching staff in former Wales International Peter Nicholas, while a host of new signings have already arrived at The Gnoll as the club embark on a new full-time era as a professional football club.
Andy Dyer was much more than the manager who took Neath into Europe. Over the last nine years Dyer has invested an incredible amount of time and money to take a club formally known as Skewen Athletic through three divisions of the Welsh League to an eventual merger and promotion to the Welsh Premier League under the present guise of Neath. Dyer was also instrumental in orchestrating the clubs move The Gnoll and the benefits that would materialise as a result of it. As the figurehead of the club, Dyer played a vital part in bringing in the substantial investment that allowed him to sign players such as former Swansea City duo Lee Trundle and Kristian O'Leary last season, but the monster that he created has now confirmed the shift in power, as Dyer pays for the price of his own clubs professionalism.
Peter Nicholas was a high-profile addition to the backroom staff as the new-era at Neath evolved and the warning signs for Dyer should have become apparent back then. Nicholas joined the backroom staff at Llanelli in a similar capacity back in 2005 before working his way upto the position of manager at the expense of Spaniard Lucas Cazorla Luque. As a result Nicholas will now take charge of Neath as they make the transition to full-time football and with it a first experience of European football for a surprising number of their star names. For all the Football League experiences enjoyed by Trundle and O'Leary, they, like their club, will be playing European football for the first time in July, but their substantial investment has brought increased pressure to achieve almost instant success as their financial outlay can only start to be justified with European progression and not just qualification.
Neath head into UEFA Europa League with a co-efficient of 0.558, the sixth-lowest out of all the teams competing in the competition. English Premier League side Fulham headline the list of possible opponents with a co-efficient of 40.157 having reached the UEFA Europa League final in 2010. Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia and St. Patrick's Athletic of Ireland are two other familiar names from the seeded list in the 1st qualifying round draw, but whoever finds themselves up against Neath will not take them for granted through their co-efficient, as they will field a team filled with far more quality and experience than a number of higher-ranked sides in the competition.
Although European football was achieved last season, the amount of money invested in their squad means that they did largely under-achieve. A move to full-time football will offer a more familiar base for the majority of their squad who have experienced professional football in the past and they will be early favourites to challenge for the league title next season. Nicholas has been busy in the transfer market since his arrival and has already strengthened his squad ahead of their first European campaign by brining in strikers Kerry Morgan and Luke Bowen from Newport County and Port Talbot Town respectively along with experienced midfielder Adie Harris from Bath City. A number of other new signings and exits are expected in the coming weeks as the pressure mounts on Neath to make their first European campaign a memorable one.
The Verdict
With all four clubs planning their pre-season training and preparation while others prepare for a two-month break, the first step on the road to Europe for Bangor City, The New Saints, Llanelli and Neath begins with the draw in Nyon, Switzerland on the 20th June. All four teams have the potential to draw a high-profile name, but more importantly, all four also have the potential to draw beatable opponents and progress to the next stage of their respective competitions. Out of the four clubs, The New Saints and more recently Neath are full-time professional outfits and their set-up means they have the best chance of progressing with the right draw. Bangor City and Llanelli however are experienced European campaigners and both know what it takes to progress. The Welsh Premier League has become stronger in recent years and European results have improved, this season the four clubs must now show that Welsh Premier League clubs are no longer in Europe to make up the numbers, and this years competing clubs have the potential to make this the league's most successful in Europe to date.
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