Following a series of friendlies that have covered five nations – England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – the rubber hits the competitive road this Wednesday (July 12), when The New Saints are on their travels again, this time in Sweden.
It’s not a new country for the champions of Wales, as Östers IF and Helsingborgs IF were European opponents in 2004/05 and 2012/13 respectively.
On both those occasions, it was the Swedes who had the upper edge, with aggregate defeats of 1-4 and 0-3.
The solitary goal was scored in July, 2004, when Mike Wilde levelled the score in the second-leg at the Racecourse Ground to hand Total Network Solutions (as the club was then known) a lifeline, before Östers IF went on to grab a late winner.
None of the matchday squad from those games are still at the club. However, the encounters against Helsingborgs IF eight years later saw Greg Draper, Paul Harrison, Chris Marriott, Chris Seargeant and Simon Spender all in the starting line-up for both legs.
Back to the present and it’s BK Häcken this time round, as The New Saints look to make it third time lucky against Swedish opposition. Founded in 1940, Getingarna (the wasps, due to their club colours of yellow and black) play their games at the Bravida Arena, Gothenburg.
It’s there that the champions of Sweden and Wales will be going head-to-head in the UEFA Champions League Qualifying Round 1 on Wednesday.
Having won the Allsvenskan (the Swedish equivalent of the Cymru Premier) last season for the first time in their history, BK Häcken triumphed with a gap of seven-points over Stockholm’s Djurgårdens IF Fotboll.
This time round, with it being a summer league, Per-Mathias Høgmo’s side currently occupies third place, in a division made up of sixteen teams.
It’s close at the top, with Malmö FF leading the way (P12, PTS31), IF Elfsborg just behind them (P12, PTS29), followed by Getingarna (P13, PTS28).
The game on Wednesday has a local 7.00 p.m. kick-off time, which with time difference means it will be underway at 6.00 p.m. in the United Kingdom.
You can follow the action on TNS Radio, via our website/Facebook page.
