Fiorentina are one of Italy’s most recognisable clubs with their iconic violet kit and legendary ex-players such as Gabriel Batistuta and Manuel Rui Costa.
However, on Thursday evening, they face little-known Welsh Premier League side The New Saints (TNS) – who will play their first-ever group-stage fixture in the Conference League.
TNS centre-back Danny Davies spoke to SPORTbible ahead of the clash with one of the competition’s heavyweights and chartered his journey from his days as a wagon driver to now coming up against elite opposition in European competition. Just five years ago, he worked as a driver for a builder’s merchants. On Thursday evening, he will go up against former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea and will hope to nullify former Everton and Juventus man Moise Kean, who could start up front for La Viola; a challenge Davies is relishing.
Speaking about his journey in to professional football, he said: “I was in the reserves at Prestatyn. But I got pretty good at cricket; a few opportunities came my way in Australia when I turned 18. I took that; then it was all cricket from there. I pretty much gave up on football.
“I was playing cricket for Northamptonshire, but my left arm wasn’t much use [after an injury]. But my legs were sound, so that’s when I took football back up.
“I went back to Prestatyn, and I wanted to help them out, so I said, ‘I’ll come and play for you.’ Then I got picked up by Connah’s Quay. I had one season where we won the league, and then TNS wanted me after that. I moved onto full-time football, and it’s been good ever since.”
He added: “I get a bit more than I was getting working full-time with the part-time wages from Connah’s Quay. I re-signed a new deal after two years, which was improved. The contracts at TNS are pretty good, the owner puts a lot of money in and wants the best players to stay there. He’s been chasing this dream of making a [European] group stage for five years now.”
Davies explained how he believes the level of the Welsh top flight is similar to that of the National League and League Two, with several of his teammates having been offered contracts at such clubs but preferred to remain at the Oswestry-based side.
All of TNS’ first-team squad are full-time professionals and Davies claims their preparation and professionalism is the key to their success domestically, having won the league in every season he’s played for the club.
Of course, the fixture in Florence will be a challenge with several international players in the squad for Vincenzo Italiano’s side.
Fiorentina are not only a well-known side, they have reached the final of the competition in the last two years but lost to West Ham United in 2023 and current champions Olympiacos in 2024. However, Davies maintained that TNS will be looking for a result at the Artemio Franchi Stadium.
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Davies (right) will face several international players (Credit:Getty)
“We can go and get a result. We’ve been working on shape and game situations,” he explained.
“We’ve spoken about making the qualifying round. We spoke about it and think we need about six points to get in that qualifying round. We have got players who can do something special. We aim to be in that top 24.”
The Welsh side started their European adventure way back in July but were eliminated from the Champions League during the second qualifying round by Ferencvaros despite defeating Montenegrin side FK Decic in the first round.
As a result, they dropped down to the Europa League but fell to defeat against Moldovan outfit Petrocub. However, against all odds, they beat Panevezys 3-0 on aggregate to realise their dreams of playing in Europe.
Although featuring in the group stage will be a first, this is Davies’ fourth European campaign in total, having played at this level each year since the 2021/22 season.
The defender, by his own admission, is one of the fastest players at the club, but he revealed the true difference at the elite level: “It’s sharpness, playing against those wingers. I am one of the quickest players in the team, if someone’s fast, it won’t really scare me, but the sharpness of like the double-movements and when they shift the ball from their feet – it’s that instant sharpness.
“When I played against a team like Ferencvaros, my legs throbbed after it because there was that much changing direction. That’s the biggest difference from playing in the Welsh Premier League.”
After their trip to Italy, TNS will face Briton Ferry, a club based near Cardiff with an average attendance of less than 600 spectators, a world away from Thursday’s venue, which at capacity can hold just over 43,000 fans.
As their European journey continues, the Welsh side will face Djurgardens, Astana, Shamrock Rovers, Panathinaikos and NK Celje in the group phase of the competition.