TNS history maker Rory Holden is hopeful the Cymru Premier can reach the standards of the League of Ireland as his side faces Shamrock Rovers in the UEFA Conference League.
With the three-time Northern Ireland under-21 international having experienced both the League of Ireland and the Cymru Premier, having been at Derry City in his earlier years, he’s well placed to offer a verdict on the two leagues.
With European clashes often having a degree of uncertainty regarding who the opposition is and the quality that teams may face, having somebody who has experienced both leagues is a valuable asset.
He said: “There’s a lot more full-time teams in the LOI, so that’s the main difference between the LOI and the Cymru Premier.
“But the Cymru Prem is going in the right direction, so hopefully, it could be very similar in a couple of years.”
“In an ideal situation, you want all teams in the Cymru Premier to be full-time, but that takes time.
“Hopefully now with money getting pumped into the league with time teams will become full-time and it will become more competitive.
“Maybe teams will see that we’ve done well in Europe, there may be more investors looking into the teams and they may possibly go full-time.”
With a career that has seen him play in the EFL for teams such as Bristol City, Salford City and Port Vale, Holden made the trip across the border to Wales in 2023. He gave his thoughts on the benefits of playing Welsh football and how playing in Europe is one of the main selling points:
“It’s amazing, to be honest, we played Fiorentina and I never thought in my career that I’d play Fiorentina.
“It’s one of the benefits of football that you get to experience these things. Obviously it was nice then to play Astana and score. As an experience, it’s been a really enjoyable time.
“I think people don’t realise until you’re here, it was the same for a couple of boys at TNS when they first got here, you don’t realise how good the standard is until you play here. There are a lot of good players in the Welsh system.
“So I would encourage players to come and try and experience it because playing in Europe is massive and probably something you won’t get to achieve in other leagues.”
Rory Holden writes his name in to TNS history books
His goal in the previous match was historic, with his 40th-minute header having been the first-ever goal for TNS on a European group stage.
“At the time I didn’t even realise, you don’t think like that,” he admitted.
“But after when people were talking about it it’s a massive achievement and something that I will be proud of for the rest of my career.”
TNS’ match at the Tallaght Stadium could offer the opportunity for Holden to reunite with some of his former teammates. He was at Walsall at the same time as striker Rory Gaffney.
“One of my mates plays for Shamrock Rovers, I played with him at Derry City,” Holden said.
“Playing in the LOI as a kid and growing up in Ireland I keep an eye on it so I know a lot of players.
“I forgot about Rory at first, he was on loan I think when I was at Salford. But it (his friend from Derry City) was Aaron McEnuff.
“We sort of grew up together and played at Derry City for a few years up until I was 17/18 and moved over to Bristol.
“It’ll be nice to maybe get to speak to him after the game. But look, before the game there are no friends in football, but after it would be nice to speak to him and maybe get his shirt.
“We spoke after the draw, saying that it would be good to play against him. It will probably be the first time playing against him for a different team.”
Tonight’s opponents Shamrock Rovers knocked out Slovenian side Celje in the qualifiers this summer. With the Slovenians hosting TNS in the final league phase game, Holden may seek the advice of his former teammate to prepare him for what could be a big game.
“To be honest it’s not something we think about, it’s cliche but we take each game as it comes,” said Holden.
“Each game is different so we will take this game as it comes and come the time we play them we will do the same and obviously have different game plans for different scenarios so take it as it comes.”
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