First legs await for JD Cymru Premier clubs in Europe

A big week awaits for the four JD Cymru Premier clubs in Europe as the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa Conference League get under way. 

15-time title winners The New Saints are in UEFA Champions League action on Wednesday night as they travel to Swedish champions BK Häcken in the first leg of their first qualifying round tie. 

It has been a busy pre-season for Craig Harrison’s side, as they played three friendlies in three days in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in June before two more matches in consecutive days away at Scottish side Hamilton and Cardiff City last week. 

With further behind-closed-doors matches in-between, the Saints finished off their preparations for Europe by winning 1-0 against English non-league side Macclesfield on Saturday thanks to Declan McManus’ first half goal. 

“It is always a fantastic experience to be involved in the Champions League,” Harrison said. “It is the most elite club competition in the world and we are so proud to be in it, representing Wales and the Cymru Premier. You are pitting yourselves against the best coaches and the best players, even in the early stages.” 

BK Häcken won the Swedish Allsvenskan for the first time in their history in the 2022 season and are therefore making their UEFA Champions League debut this summer. They have however been regulars in European competition over the last decade, reaching the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League in 2011/12 and 2013/14. 

Managed by former Norway national team boss Per-Mathias Høgmo, Häcken are currently mid-season and sit second in the Allsvenskan. They are unbeaten in their last five matches and triumphed 2-1 away at AIK on Saturday. 

Young Ivorian winger Bénie Traoré has caught the eye of a number of clubs across Europe, while Häcken’s side also contains full internationals such as captain Samuel Gustafson of Sweden and former Norway stars Ola Kamara and Even Hovland. 

It will be The New Saints’ third competitive trip to Sweden and first since a 3-0 defeat against Helsingborgs IF in the UEFA Champions League in 2012.

Also heading to the Nordic region this week are Connah’s Quay Nomads, who face Icelandic side KA Akureyri away from home on Thursday in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. 

Noah Edwards and Ryan Harrington found the net for Neil Gibson’s side as they rounded off their pre-Europe friendlies with a 2-1 win over Northern Irish outfit Linfield, who reached the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round last year.

Edwards is back for a second spell at the club and is one of several new signings made by Gibson ahead of the European campaign, with Jordan Davies and Declan Poole also returning to Flintshire. 

“I think they [KA Akureyri] are a very, very accomplished, more than useful team,” Gibson told Sgorio. “We are going to have to be very much at our best to get a result. However, we are going to try to embrace it. We want to go there and try to get a result. I think it’s important that all the Welsh clubs try to put ourselves on the map a little bit because I don’t feel the Cymru Premier gets the credit it deserves really.”

KA Akureyri are competing in Europe for the first time in 20 years after finishing second in the Icelandic top-flight in the 2022 campaign. The current season has proved slightly trickier as they find themselves sixth in the table after 14 matches. 

Faroese international forward Paetur Petersen signed in February and has hit the ground running with eight goals so far, while midfielder Daníel Hafsteinsson made his full Iceland debut last year. 

The place to be to watch European football on Welsh turf this week is the Dunraven Brewery Field in Bridgend, where Penybont host FC Santa Coloma of Andorra in the first leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round tie on Thursday.

The Bont are competing in Europe for the first time in their history following their third-place finish in the JD Cymru Premier and have been busy in the transfer market in preparation – adding Henry Jones from Haverfordwest and veteran JD Cymru Premier scorer Chris Venables from Bala Town among others. 

A trip to Cardiff City was the team’s standout pre-season fixture, with the English Championship side winning 2-0, before Rhys Griffiths’ team settled into the Brewery Field with a 1-0 victory over Haverfordwest. 

“I don’t think it’s a bad draw for us, there’s certainly worse draws out there,” Griffiths told Sgorio. “But at the same time, we’re massive underdogs. I’m not a spiritual person and I certainly don’t believe in fate, but part of me feels that our journey isn’t meant to end against this Andorran team.”

FC Santa Coloma are the most successful club in Andorra’s Primera Divisió, winning 13 league titles, but finished third last season. They competed in Europe in 15 consecutive seasons between 2008/09 and 2021/22, but have only ever won three ties on the continent. 

Their squad contains multiple Andorran internationals including 82-cap goalkeeper Josep Gómes, while Venezuelan striker Christian Novoa averaged a goal every other game in the league last season.  

Haverfordwest County make their return to European competition after a 19-year absence on Thursday night, as they travel to KF Shkëndija of North Macedonia in the first leg of the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round. 

The Bluebirds were the last JD Cymru Premier club to qualify for Europe after triumphing in the play-offs, but they have wasted no time in strengthening their squad. Former Chelsea academy prospect Martell Taylor-Crossdale is the standout arrival, while Kai Whitmore has joined from Penybont. 

Tony Pennock’s side have tested themselves against Northern Irish champions Larne and English Championship side Swansea City in pre-season in preparation for their North Macedonian opponents.

“The lads are in good spirits and so they should be,” Pennock told Sgorio. They worked extremely hard last year to get into the play-offs and then to win them was exceptional. We’re not just going to make the numbers up in Europe, that is something we said from the word go. We are going to give a good account of ourselves and that’s what we’ve been training for for a number of weeks.”