The New Saints  will become the first Welsh team in history to participate in the prestigious UEFA Youth League with the club’s highly-coveted U19s set to enter the 2024/25 competition.

The UEFA Youth League sees 64 of Europe’s best U19s teams compete against each other for European glory.

After clinching the league title, TNS U19s will join the domestic youth champions of all UEFA member associations in the ‘Champions Path’ of the competition.

This U19s must pass through three initial knockout rounds to qualify for the UEFA Youth League round of 16, where they’d then face a side who successfully qualified through the UEFA Youth League group stage phase, which is played out by the U19s sides of all teams who qualified for this year’s UEFA Champions League proper.  

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The Saints will learn their Champions Path opponents when the draw takes place on September 3rd in Nyon, Switzerland with Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa representing England, Spain represented by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Girona and Atlético Madrid, Germany by Bayer Leverkusen, Stuttgart, Bayern München, Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund while Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, Atalanta and Bologna represent Italy.

Qualification into this year’s competition is just the latest in a long list of achievements for TNS’s academy, having also been awarded Category A status for the outstanding level of provision it provides players across all age groups.

This move encompasses the club’s vision for its men’s, women’s and academy sides to all be competing in Europe’s elite competitions on a regular basis. 

Providing his thoughts, Head of Coaching and first-team assistant, Chris Seargeant, said: “We’re really excited to compete in this year’s UEFA Youth League against some of the biggest and best academy sides in Europe.

"Our academy has been on a real journey of success in recent years and it’s a testament to the hard work of all involved that we now get to showcase ourselves on one of Europe’s biggest stages.”

“The team will continue to work as hard as ever to give the best account of themselves against whoever we face in the opening knockout fixture. Moreover, the experience it will provide our young players will be invaluable as they continue to flourish in the early part of their careers.”

Chairman Mike Harris added: "This is another proud milestone in the history of The New Saints, as we become the first Welsh side to enter this prestigious competition. We take immense pride in developing some of the finest talents in the country and to be able to fly the flag against some of the biggest clubs in Europe will continue to ensure we lead the way in our academy provision. 

“We’ve worked incredibly hard to get our academy to the point where it can sit alongside some of the best in Europe and I’m really excited for the team to showcase what they can do on the European stage.

“I’ll be watching closely as our club begins another exciting adventure in Europe.”