Even on a Friday night, Llansantffraid doesn’t normally make the headlines, but on August 9th, 2002, English Premier League side, Chelsea FC, came to town to face Total Network Solutions.

The team that visited the small Welsh village was made up of international stars like Gianfranco Zola and Eiður Guðjohnsen.

Chairman of The New Saints (as the club is now known), Mike Harris, developed a strong friendship with the then Blues chairman, Ken Bates, after the pair were introduced through a business colleague.

“Ken was introduced to me by a person in my marketing team, who had previously worked for him back in the 70s/80s,” Harris explained.

“Over the next six months or so, we built up a friendship, and then Ken offered to bring Chelsea to Llansantffraid.”

The club’s owner was exhilarated when he learned that the side from West London would be visiting to Mid Wales.

“I’d been involved with the club for four years at that point, but it was obviously still a part of our early growth, so it was all very exciting, especially with the number of first team players that were involved.

“At the time, Gianfranco Zola was probably one of the World’s best footballers.”

Scott Ruscoe, who played for The Saints for more than 15 years, before going on to win two titles in a later stint as manager, was in his first full season with the club, having joined in the January of 2002.

He remembers the feeling of facing a lot of big-name players fondly.

Ruscoe said: “It was interesting at the time, as we were just making the transition into a full-time team.

“When you come back [from the Summer break] and you’re told that there’s a chance of playing against Chelsea in a friendly, it’s lovely to hear.

“The next thing you know, they’re playing at our place, and you’re coming up against some superb footballers as well.

“It is not often that you’re in the position to be playing against the likes of Zola, Mario Stanić, and Jesper Grønkjær to name a few. It was certainly a very big test for us.”

2,000 people turned out to watch that night in the summer of 2002, and Ruscoe remembers a great feeling around the ground.

“It was really packed out,” he goes on to say.

“Treflan [The Saints’ former home in Llansantffraid] is only a small ground, but the atmosphere was great.

“There was a real buzz around the place, and especially as a young lad, it was brilliant.”

After dominating most of the play in the first-half, TNS would’ve been disappointed to go in 1-0 down at half-time.

In the second 45 though, the equaliser arrived, and it was Ruscoe who would get the goal with a superb free-kick.

“It was a decent free-kick to be fair,” The Saints’ legend said.

“About 25-yards out, I remember looking at the wall and trying to bend it around, and it was a great feeling when it went in.

“It was quite a nice feeling being able to celebrate being on equal terms against Chelsea.”

Quite ironically, it was the Blues’ star striker, Zola, who actually committed the foul on Ruscoe which led to the equalising goal.

“Zola fouled me, before picking me up and putting his arm around me,” Ruscoe said.

“Someone took a photo of me and Zola together, it was great!

“It’s one of the mementos that I’ve collected over the years, and it’s very nice to look back at.”

As the game progressed, Claudio Ranieri’s side went on to score five more goals, taking home a 6-1 win, with a hat-trick being scored by, quite predictably, Gianfranco Zola.

“Later in the game, they came into their own, and we got given a little bit of a run-round,” continues Ruscoe.

“There was definitely a gulf in class, but certainly not in endeavour or commitment”

Chairman, Harris, remembers Zola coming off the pitch late on in the game and making sure that every child in attendance managed to get a photo or autograph from the man himself.

“They brought him off with about five or ten minutes to go,” he said.

“As he was walking off behind the goal, he came across a group of children, and he stood there long after the final whistle.

“He was there for about twenty minutes, and was signing anything they were presenting him. I’m sure the rest of the team were probably already changed by then!

“He didn’t move until every kid had an autograph or some sort of memorabilia with them, and when the teams were changed, he walked around the ground, engaging in conversations with the spectators.”

Since that famous day in 2002, The Saints have gone on to face Manchester City and Liverpool in both UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup qualifying ties, and have become a regular name on the European stage.

With Harris’ ambition and the club’s success over the last two decades, it shouldn’t be long before the Cymru Premier side has another big adventure against an English Premier League club.

Lead image: Phil Blagg