7DAYS, United Arab Emirates
June 24 2005

Minnows hoping to paint the town Red
Written by 7DAYS | Friday, 24 June 2005

Champions League holders Liverpool will discover the first obstacle
between them and their trophy when the draw for the first qualifying
round is made today.

The Premiership side were handed a reprieve earlier this month, when
UEFA changed their own rules to allow the holders to defend their
trophy, despite the fact that Liverpool failed to qualify through the
league – finishing fifth.

The Reds, five-times European Cup winners, will need as detailed a
map of Europe as they can find with such continental luminaries as
Pyunik of Armenia, Kairat of Kazakhstan, Neftchi of Azerbaijan and
Rabotnicki of Macedonia lying in wait. They will be desperately
hoping to avoid an arduous trip to eastern Europe as they prepare for
their league campaign, and will be keeping their fingers crossed for
a tie much closer to home.

Glentoran, of Northern Ireland, are in the hat, but with the city of
Liverpool sitting on the cusp of Wales, the ludicrously named Total
Network Solutions will be an even more attractive proposition. The
town of Llansantffraid, just 100km from Liverpool, has a population
of little over 1,000 – more than 44,000 less than the capacity of
Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.

Llansantffraid only reached the League of Wales 12 years ago, but the
real catalyst in their history came when local computer firm, Total
Network Solutions, made the club an offer they couldn’t refuse and in
1997 TNS FC was born. Three years later, largely thanks to the
financial injection the sponsorship deal afforded them, TNS became
Welsh champions. Their subsequent venture into Europe was typical of
their form on the continent since.

They lost 6-2 on aggregate to Levadia Maardu, and have since suffered
6-0, 12-2, 7-0 and 4-1 aggregate defeats. Liverpool would probably
set a new Champions League scoring record if the pair were drawn
together, but the Welsh club are, all the same, dreaming of a
match-up with one of Europe’s most illustrious clubs.

`Clearly it would be a fantastic draw in terms of gate receipts and
the interest in the tie would be enormous,’ says TNS managing
director Mike Harris `If we took the game to the Millennium Stadium
(in Cardiff), we would get a bumper crowd. `It would be Liverpool’s
first game since winning the European trophy, so of course it would
be incredibly special.

`On the other hand, meeting the champions means it would be difficult
for us to proceed to the next stage, though I’m sure Liverpool would
prefer to meet us, than some of the other teams.’