TNS to play Europa Conference home games in Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury's Oteley Road stadium - currently known as Croud Meadow - was completed in 2007 as a replacement for previous home Gay Meadow

The New Saints will play their home Europa League Conference matches at the home of English League One side Shrewsbury Town.

Oswestry-based Saints will host Djurgarden, Astana and Panathinaikos after becoming the first club from the Cymru Premier to reach the group phase of a European competition.

They also face away trips to Fiorentina, Shamrock Rovers and Celje.

The club's own Park Hall stadium meets Uefa regulations for staging qualifying games, but not matches in the main draw of European competitions.

“We’d like to thank Shrewsbury Town for allowing us to host these historic matches at the Croud Meadow," said The New Saints chairman Mike Harris.

“We are hopeful the community will come out in full force to support The New Saints as we face some of the continent’s biggest clubs.

“Being so close to our Park Hall home will mean that supporters from Oswestry, mid Wales, and north Wales can travel to cheer on the team.”

Shrewsbury's Croud Meadow Stadium is 22 miles from Saints original village base of Llansantfraid and under 20 miles from Oswestry, where they have played home matches over the English border since the redevelopment of Park Hall in 2007.

In 2003 The New Saints played a Uefa Cup qualifying game against Manchester City at what was then named the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but Harris had already ruled out the possibility of staging this season's European ties at Cardiff City Stadium.

"Places like Cardiff are three hours away from where we are, so our fans and stakeholders can’t really get there," Harris had said after beating FK Panevezys in the play-offs to qualify for the group stages.

"It’s got to be somewhere more local.

"Wrexham and Shrewsbury would be most ideal for us, but I’m not sure the Racecourse is available, so it’s our priority to get the games in a stadium that can cater for the games, but also giving the people around us a chance to go and watch.”

Their first match at Croud Meadow will be on Thursday, 24 October (20:00 BST), when they host Astana of Kazakhstan.

Djurgarden, from Sweden, will travel to Shrewsbury on Thursday, 28 November (17:45 GMT) before the visit of Greek team Panathinaikos on Thursday, 12 December (20:00 GMT).

Liam Dooley, Shrewsbury Town chief executive, said: “We are delighted to welcome The New Saints to the Croud Meadow. A lot of work has been completed behind the scenes on this by both clubs working together and we are really happy to get this over the line.

“It gives us the chance to showcase our stadium around Europe, as well as providing additional revenue for the club, and supporting TNS on their journey.”