The New Saints made history to play in the group stage of European competition.
Now manager Craig Harrison thinks they have made their point and shown they deserve to be there.
Wales’ champions – the first from the country’s pyramid to progress this far – may have lost their opening Uefa Conference League game against Fiorentina in Florence.
But this was defeat with distinction rather than disgrace.
Harrison admitted “it doesn’t sound quite right” to feel slightly disappointed at losing 2-0 at the competition’s beaten finalists of the past two seasons.
“What supersedes that is how extremely proud I am of the players, staff and everyone involved because we’ve come to a massive football club – bigger than we’ve ever played before – and put in an extremely professional performance,” said Harrison.
“Our first game at this level and we’ve proven tonight we well and truly deserve to be there. We’re looking forward to what the next five games bring.”
The visit of Astana is next for TNS in a schedule that also includes Shamrock Rovers, Sweden’s Djurgardens and Greek giants Panathinaikos before finishing with fifth-seeds Celje of Slovenia.
Quite whether those fixtures will be enjoyed as much as this one remains to be seen.
The road to Florence, after all, had been one of 86 qualifying ties over 27 years.
No wonder chairman Mike Harris made the most of sharing the experience with many of the travelling fans. Drinks were on the owner the night before, songs sung down the phone to players courtesy of video calls from family members also enjoying a different side of this city’s culture.
Even if their constant success or border-hopping history has made them a team difficult to like by all, several fans of rival Welsh league sides had also made the trip to support the side acting as flagbearers.
It is a responsibility Harrison says he is happy to shoulder.
“When we play European football we’re very conscious and very proud of that,” he said, perhaps knowing that those who wish to criticise the Welsh system have often found justification in European results.
“We want to improve, we want to help up the standards, to bring a lot of people who don’t want to – whether it is ignorance, lack of time or being obsessed with other leagues – that the Cymru Premier is a league worth coming to watch.”
Striker Declan McManus, once of Aberdeen and who has played across the Scottish levels and England’s League One, added: “For outsiders looking in, it’s probably easy to say it’s not much of a league, but tonight’s shown it’s not the case and it should do wonders for the league.”
Of course, history quickly gathers dust. After reaching one goal, new dreams were spoken of in Tuscany.
Harrison mentioned pre-game about how 7-8 points could be enough to finish 24th in the new structure and reach the knockout stage, though at that point you wonder how many believed TNS were genuinely targeting such a tally.
It turns out they are and for 65 minutes – before Fiorentina were forced to bring internationals off the bench to appease a concerned Curva of ultras and find a breakthrough from Yacine Adli and ex-Everton striker Moise Kean – they appeared they might even pick one up at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Harrison thinks the performance away to an iconic Italian name of European pedigree would give confidence, that this was a step forward. He was not alone.
“We definitely have a chance of getting there if we play at our best, but that’s always been the case,” said striker Declan McManus.
“We knew on paper this was our hardest game, albeit with five really hard games to come, but we know if we can go toe-to-toe with a team that’s been in the final two years running we can go and hurt anybody on our day.”
What will help will not only be the return to fitness of a number of players – including record signing MacManus whose appearance off the bench was only his second cameo since August – but also the way TNS are incrementally improving with each European lesson.
Knocked out of their Champions League route by Hungary’s Ferencvaros, Harrison bemoaned that the two-legged summer tie was over within 30 minutes of the first meeting that eventually finished 5-0.
It prompted a studious change of approach that could pay dividends for a team used to having the onus and odds in their favour when they play in their own league.
Maybe it was why Harrison and chairman Harris spoke of the expectation being to avoid embarrassment in this fixture, of not playing their usual attacking game. Harrison and players had wanted to show they had learned lessons.
“I was brought up a Celtic fan and I watched them the other night and that’s what can happen when you play against a top-level side,” accepted McManus, referencing Dortmund’s 7-1 win on Tuesday night.
“We showed some real steel against a side who are astronomical in size compared to ourselves, but we held our own for 65 minutes. I’m proud of every single one in the dressing room. Sides like that can just take it up that notch, and we will always be wary of that.”
The New Saints’ next opponents will also be wary that the Welsh team who became the first to reach this stage do not intend to just make up the numbers.
