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  TNS
and Oswestry Town have announced a shock merger at today's
Welsh Premier AGM.
The
clubs will join forces and play in next season's Welsh Premier
under the Total Network Solutions name. The club have plans
for a modern 'super stadium' in Oswestry, which should be
ready for 2005. Meanwhile the club will continue to play at
their Treflan home in the village of Llansantffraid until the
new stadium is complete. TNS
Managing Director, Mike Harris has revealed that his plans to
find a site suitable for building a new stadium capable of
meeting UEFA standards were hampered by the FAW's insistance
that the Llansantffraid club could not play outside Wales.
Harris has his eye on a site in the town of Oswestry, and now
the clubs have merged the club can proceed with the
relocation. Both
TNS and Oswestry have suffered from poor crowds in the Welsh
Premier, and Harris is clearly hoping that this merger will be
the catalyst to attract new fans and appeal to a larger fan
base. Harris told www.saints-alive.co.uk
"UEFA's licensing regulations will prove difficult for a
number of clubs. With TNS pioneering the way forward,
this merger of two ambitious clubs will perhaps act as a
catalyst for other Welsh Premier outfits."  Although
there is no official news on the Welshpool relegation
situation, it seems unlikely that they will have been awarded a
reprieve now that the league will be reduced to 16 clubs with
the merger of Oswestry and TNS. We will confirm this as soon as we hear the official
decision.
What
do you think about the merger? Mike Harris has appealed for
more WP clubs to merge - Is this a sensible idea or have
TNS just followed in Wimbledon's route and re-located to a new
town with a larger fan base? Let us know your thoughts on the
messageboard, and please remember that there is a chat tonight
(Sunday) from 8pm, which is sure to be lively! More
reaction to follow |
