Prince of Wales
FORGET A-LISTER RYAN REYNOLDS AND WREXHAM, MIKE HARRIS HAS BROUGHT HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR TO THE NEW SAINTS WITH CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FOOTBALL... ON JUST A £1MILLION BUDGET
THERE is a touch of Hollywood about the way The New Saints have become the dominant force in Welsh football – which is ironic in that the Cymru Premier League champions are based only 15 miles away from Wrexham.
The Saints reclaimed the title nine days ago and will play in the Champions League for the 15th time in 25 seasons, when the first qualifying round for 2023-24 takes place in July.
The club have made giant strikes since local entrepreneur Mike Harris took over in 1997 with an ambition to one day go toe-to-toe with Europe’s biggest names.
Manchester City beat them in the UEFA Cup back in 2003.
Two years later, a Steven Gerrard hat-trick helped Liverpool to progress from the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
Eat your heart out, Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mcelhenney, the two movie actors whose takeover has put Wrexham back on the map.
But Harris is certainly not finished yet.
“It’s been a helluva ride,” said the man who made his fortune in telecommunications. “We think we’re now the best-run club in Wales’ national league.
“We’ve got a better team now than back when we played City and Liverpool and our ambition is to see The New Saints playing in the group stages of a European competition.
“After that, we hope to get to a point where the conversation will be about whether we’re good enough to reach the knockout rounds. You’ve got to aim high, haven’t you?
“No one gave us a chance of getting to the stage we’re at – where it’s now a bit of a shock if we get knocked out in the first qualifying round.
“It might take us another 25 years or even longer.
“I might not be around then to get the accolades, but I know my family are keen to continue the good work after I’ve gone.
“It’s all about going the distance with my football club. You don’t measure success over one or two seasons. It’s a lifetime’s journey.”
The New Saints have the advantage of being the only full-time club in the Welsh League. Their annual budget is around £1million and Harris is hopeful that a decent European run – which could feature his club dropping into the Europa League and the Europa Conference League – will see them bring in most of that. It is not quite the £100m on offer for making the Champions League group stages. But Harris (left) insists the Saints are an example of what’s achievable – though he believes the club’s development would be further helped by the competition and sponsorship revenues that a more competitive domestic league would bring. He bought the club when they were the village team of Llansantffraid, on the understanding that he could change their name to Total Network Solutions – in a bid to promote the company that eventually became so big that British Telecom made Harris an offer he could not refuse.
They merged with Oswestry Town in 2003 and retained their membership of the Welsh league, despite moving across the border to play their games in Shropshire.
Later, when Harris sold his company, the club became The New Saints of Oswestry Town and Llansantffraid.
Harris watched the Saints clinch the title with a goalless draw at reigning champions Connah’s Quay Nomads over a Youtube link at one of his favourite restaurants near his holiday home in South Africa.
It is a story that seems scripted for the big screen – or at least a fly-on-the-wall documentary. Which brings us back to Hollywood-powered Wrexham.
“It’s great what’s happening to them,” said Harris. “Anything that raises the profile of the game in our area is something that has to be welcomed.
“Wrexham used to be a big club and it’s good to see they have now got owners who want to build on that history.
“We’re different. We are making our own history – and we’re not finished yet.
“We lost one game 10-0 in my first season as the owner – and we’ve gone from that team to one that scored four goals against Viktoria Plzen, a club that did reasonably well in the Champions League this season.”