Oswestry must wait another 12 months for European football

The New Saints will play this month's Uefa Cup home leg against Suduva at Newtown and not, as the club had hoped, at their Park Hall ground at Oswestry.

"We've simply run out of time for Oswestry," managing director Mike Harris told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"Rushing to get 1,000 seats in at Park Hall just for this game would've taken away the flexibility of how we want to develop the ground in the future.

"We wanted to bring European football here, but we must wait 12 months."

Uefa criteria demanded the installation of 1,000 permanent seats at Park Hall, which has been part of Saints' plans for the stadium since their move from Llansantffraid.

"But the restrictions a rush-job would have placed on us were onerous," added Harris. "And I will not jeopardise the long-term viability of the stadium."

That means a return to Newtown's Latham Park, where the Saints played Ventspils in the Champions League qualifiers a year ago.

The game against Lithuanian side Suduva will be on 31 July.