Bosses at Oswestry’s The New Saints FC said today they were “over the moon” to be bringing European club football to Shropshire for the first time next month.

The Welsh Premier League club will play Icelandic outfit Fram Reykjavik in the first qualifying round of the Europa League on July 2.

The Park Hall-based club will then travel to Iceland on July 9 for the return leg of the competition, which replaces the Uefa Cup competition.

The draw for the new-look competition was made yesterday and bosses at The New Saints said they were already making plans for the big game at The Venue.

In previous seasons the club has had to host its home European games in Cardiff, Newtown or Wrexham because of the standard of its own facilities.

But thanks to a new stand, it will be able to host its home game at its own ground in Shropshire for the first time.

The club’s commercial manager Lisa Bishop said: “We are over the moon with the draw and everyone is looking forward to welcoming our visitors to Shropshire for European football for the first time.

“We believe it is a real coup to be hosting a European game in Shropshire for the first time.

“We had a dry run of the new seating arrangements on Saturday against Linfield and it went very well.

“We also have a green travel plan in place for the European game which will avoid traffic problems at the ground.”

Tickets for the Fram Reykjavik will cost £8 for adults and £4 for concessions and will be on sale from Thursday.