32-647: The Welsh Football League Challenge Cup (known for a time as the Nathaniel Car Sales League Cup for sponsorship reasons, and not to be confused with the national Welsh League Cup ) was a knock-out competition for all members of the divisions that make up the Welsh Football League in south Wales . Welsh League Cup The Cymru League Cup , currently known as the Nathaniel MG Cup for sponsorship reasons,
64-526: A League and Cup double . During the 2005–06 off-season , after newly crowned Champions League winners Liverpool were initially denied a place in the next season's competition, TNS offered to play a one-legged tie against the Reds for TNS's place in the first qualifying round. After UEFA reached a compromise by which Liverpool were placed in the first qualifying round of the competition, TNS and Liverpool ended up drawn against one another anyway. Liverpool won
96-630: A Welsh professional football club that play in the Cymru Premier , but are based completely within England, in Oswestry, Shropshire. They are the most successful club in the Welsh league structure, with 16 league titles to their name. Since the 2001–02 season, they have finished as champions or runners-up in every season, apart from 2008–09 , where they finished third in the league. They became
128-733: A view to them being permitted to represent Wales in European football. Until 1995, Welsh clubs playing in the English football league system took part in the Welsh Cup , which granted the winner a place in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup . However, they were excluded from 1996, with UEFA stating in 2012 that any such club playing outside the Welsh football league system would no longer be permitted to represent Wales in European football, with
160-484: Is a cup competition in Welsh football organised by the Football Association of Wales . The competition was established in 1992 and is considered to be the second-most important domestic cup competition for Welsh football clubs, after the older and more prestigious Welsh Cup . Unlike the Welsh Cup , where 135 teams entered in 2008–09 , the competition is only open to the members of the Cymru Premier ,
192-436: Is currently held by Connah's Quay Nomads , who defeated Cardiff Met 10-9 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. The New Saints dominated the competition between 2015 and 2018, winning all four finals during that period. Saints have won nine of the ten finals they have appeared in. They have however not made the final since beating Cardiff Met in 2018. The 2018–19 final between Cardiff Met and Cambrian & Clydach Vale holds
224-545: The Cymru North , Cymru South and a very select few other clubs. It should not be confused with the Welsh Football League Cup , which was for the clubs in the Welsh Football League , which despite its name only covered the south and centre of Wales up until it was disbanded at the end of the 2018-19 season. For the 2023-24 season Cardiff City and Swansea City U21 sides are 'wildcard' entries into
256-484: The Scottish Challenge Cup . The first Welsh League Cup was won by Afan Lido in 1992/93 , who beat Caersws FC 4–3 on penalties, after drawing in the final 1–1. The New Saints hold the record for the most League Cup titles; they have won the competition six times. Bangor City hold the distinction of making the most number of appearances in the final and losing on every occasion (6). The cup
288-737: The 1970s for the most consecutive club victories by a top-flight team in Europe. The New Saints qualified to the 2024–25 UEFA Conference League following a 3–0 win on aggregate over Panevėžys in the playoffs on 29 August 2024, becoming the first club from the Welsh league system to qualify for the group stage of a major UEFA competition. The New Saints were forced to play their home matches at Shrewsbury Town 's New Meadow stadium due to Park Hall not meeting UEFA's regulations for hosting non-qualification matches. The New Saints faced Fiorentina in their first European group stage match on 3 October and were defeated 2–0. On 24 October, The New Saints became
320-618: The 2010–11 season, the Saints entered the Europa League qualifying rounds in 2011. They beat Belfast club Cliftonville 2–1 on aggregate in the first round, but were eliminated by Danish club FC Midtjylland 8–3 on aggregate in the following round. On 30 December 2016, The New Saints defeated Cefn Druids 2–0 in the Cymru Premier. This extended their winning run to 27 matches, surpassing the previous record of 26 set by Ajax in
352-505: The 2018/19 season, with each round up to the semi-finals being regionalized, and the semis an open draw. The semi-finals will also take place over a weekend for the first time. From 2019-20 the format was expanded significantly with all 44 teams from the top two tiers of the Welsh football league system taking part as well as two wildcard entries. Twenty-eight clubs will enter in Round 1, which will be made up of any club without floodlights ;
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#1732772290717384-527: The 72,000-seat Millennium Stadium in Cardiff ). To comply with UEFA's regulations on third-party sponsorship, the club were known by their initialism TNS by the European governing body in their competitions. In 1997 the club's name was changed to Total Network Solutions F.C. , being the first instance in the United Kingdom of a football club renaming itself after its sponsor's name only. Following
416-616: The BBC reported that the New Saints had applied to play home games at Chester City's Deva Stadium in 2010–11, after having been turned down for a grant to help fund the construction of a new 1,000-seat stand at Park Hall. At the time, the mooted move was complicated by Chester City's governance issues. Deva Stadium's pitch and stands lie in Wales, but outbuildings on the site that housed the club offices are in England, and Chester City were under
448-558: The English leagues, it would mean that they were no longer able to qualify for Europe via any English competition. The total prize fund for the competition is £15,000. The league awards £1,000 to each losing semi-finalist, £3,000 to the runner-up and £10,000 to the competition winners. Notes: The New Saints F.C. The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club , commonly known as The New Saints ( Welsh : Clwb Pêl-droed y Seintiau Newydd ) or TNS FC , are
480-673: The League of Wales, now the Cymru Premier, as champions and won the Welsh Intermediate Cup (formerly the Welsh Amateur Cup). In 1996, Llansantffraid won the Welsh Cup and qualified for the first time for the European Cup Winners' Cup . At this time, a local computer company, Total Network Solutions of Oswestry, arranged a £250,000 sponsorship deal which involved incorporating the company name into
512-737: The Montgomeryshire Amateur Football League (then the fourth level of the Welsh football league system ), winning the championship seven times. At the end of the 1989–90 season they were elected to the Central Wales League (now the Mid-Wales League ) but their stay was brief, winning promotion to the Cymru Alliance as runners-up on their first attempt. Llansantffraid's meteoric rise continued and in 1992–93 they gained promotion to
544-555: The Second Qualifying Round. They lost the first leg 1–0 at Dalymount Park in Dublin on 13 July 2010. However, they won the second leg at Park Hall 4–0 and won the tie 4–1 on aggregate, the first ever tie won by the club since their European debut in 1996. Bohemians manager Pat Fenlon later labelled his team's performance as "disgraceful" and said that "the players let the club, league and country down". The result
576-503: The border in Shropshire . The Football Association of Wales (FAW) ratified the merger on 14 August 2003 as did UEFA eventually, despite its initial objection to a merger of two clubs with different governing bodies. The 2003–04 season was trophyless for TNS as they finished runners-up in the League of Wales to Rhyl and were beaten finalists in the Welsh Cup , also to Rhyl. The 2004–05 season proved much more successful, as TNS won
608-532: The club name. As Total Network Solutions Llansantffraid , they met Polish Cup winners Ruch Chorzów and earned a 1–1 draw at home before losing 5–0 in Poland. Since then they have qualified for European competitions several times. The club's European home games are generally played at either Newtown's or Wrexham 's stadium, as their old Recreation Ground was far below UEFA's standards (though for their 2003 meeting with Manchester City , they played their home game at
640-498: The competition. Since the inaugural season in 1992/93 the format of the competition has changed many times. The 2006/07 season saw the introduction of a new format for the competition. Beginning in August, the eighteen premier league teams are split into six regionalised groups of three teams. The six group winners and two runners-up enter a quarter-final knock-out phase, followed by a two legged semi-final match before ending with
672-550: The final in April. The current format, introduced in 2014/15, saw a radical shake up for the competition. The 12 Cymru Premier teams are joined by six teams each from the two feeder leagues, and also four wildcard entrants. 24 teams enter Round 1, with the previous season's four semi-finalists receiving a bye through to Round 2. The draw for each round is regionalized as per competition rules, with teams being divided between northern and southern sections. The format changed slightly for
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#1732772290717704-489: The financial meltdown of Barry Town in the summer of 2003, TNS became the only Cymru Premier club which had a full-time playing staff. In the summer of 2005, however, Llanelli also announced plans to go full-time. In the summer of 2003, the shareholders of Oswestry Town met to approve a merger with TNS. The financially weaker club was a close neighbour to TNS, and also played in the League of Wales despite being based across
736-637: The first domestic Welsh club to win in the group stage of a major European competition, courtesy of a 2–0 victory over FC Astana at New Meadow. The club's futsal side has also seen success, having been winners of the inaugural FAW Futsal Cup in 2011 and reaching the final in 2012. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. As of 29 August 2024 The New Saints F.C. Women participate in
768-427: The first leg at Anfield 3–0 thanks to a Steven Gerrard hat-trick . In the second leg, played at Wrexham , Gerrard added two goals after coming on as a substitute to Djibril Cissé 's opening tally for another 3–0 Liverpool victory. Although defeated, TNS drew praise, most notably for the young Northern Irish goalkeeper Gerard Doherty , of whom Rafael Benítez said: "The goalkeeper saved a lot of goals and for me he
800-590: The first side playing in the Welsh league system to qualify for the group or league stage of any European competition after reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League for the first time in the 2024–25 season . The club was formed as Llansantffraid F.C. to represent the border village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain (population: 1,000) in 1959, and played at the Recreation Ground . They first tasted competitive football in
832-655: The jurisdiction of the English Football Association . Chester City were liquidated a month later by HMRC; in any event, the New Saints were granted a domestic licence by the FAW in April 2010 and remained at Park Hall for 2010–11 season. The New Saints were crowned 2009–10 Welsh Premier League Champions. The New Saints entered the Champions League in 2010–11 . They were drawn against League of Ireland Premier Division Champions Bohemians in
864-513: The only routes to qualification were via English competitions. It was through this route that Swansea City played in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League , having won the previous season's Football League Cup . The proposal submitted by the four clubs would see the Welsh League Cup be granted a place in the UEFA Conference League , with the four EFL clubs entering their first teams in the competition. While this would not impact their places in
896-556: The record attendance in the competition, with 1,503 fans witnessing Met's first major trophy win. Since 2003, the League Cup has been named after its sponsor, giving it the following name: In 2024, a proposal was put forward to allow the (at that time) four Welsh clubs playing in the English Football League – Cardiff City , Swansea City , Wrexham and Newport County – entry into the Welsh League Cup, with
928-462: The two wildcard entries; and the remaining teams ranked lowest in their respective Tier 2 league from the previous season. Round 1 will be regionalised, as will all rounds up to the Semi-Final stage. The fourteen winners will join the eighteen remaining sides in Round 2. This will be seeded so that Premier League sides are not drawn against one another. The winner of the tournament gained entry to
960-400: Was agreed upon as appropriate to the history of both of the originally merged clubs: Llansantffraid was always known as "The Saints"; Oswestry had strong connections with Saint Oswald , while the club's name was already abbreviated to TNS. A new club badge was also developed at the same time, featuring a dragon to represent Llansantffraid and a lion representing Oswestry. On 10 February 2010,
992-701: Was labelled by others as the worst result in Bohemians' 40-year European history. The Saints advanced to play Belgian Pro League Champions and European giants Anderlecht . The Saints were beaten 3–1 in the home leg played in Wrexham and 3–0 in the away game at the Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels . The Saints then played CSKA Sofia in the Europa League playoff round, but were beaten 5–2 on aggregate. As league runners up during
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1024-405: Was the best player in the two games". In early 2006 the club's sponsor, Total Network Solutions, was taken over by British Telecom , as a result of which the sponsorship arrangement lapsed at the end of the 2005–06 season, and it became necessary to find a new name for the club. After a trawl for new naming ideas, including an attempt to sell the naming rights on eBay , the name "The New Saints"
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