Cardiff Met University have scooped a £193,000 windfall after qualifying for the Europa League for the first time in their history.
The students failed in their last three attempts of making it to Europe and had to come through a nervous dramatic penalty shoot-out against Bala Town at Maes Tegid on Sunday night to pocket the €220,000 prize for being in the Preliminary Round draw.
But before they start dreaming of trips to Manchester United, Arsenal, Lazio, Sevilla, and Borussia Monchengladbach in the group stages, there's the small matter of coming through four qualifying rounds where Cardiff Met will be joined by fellow Welsh Premier League sides Barry Town and Connah's Quay Nomads.
The Nomads go straight through to first qualifying while Barry and Cardiff Met have a two-legged preliminary round, with those matches played on June 27 and July 4.
The draw takes place on June 11 and the sides awaiting the two Welsh teams include Luxembourg's Jeunesse Esch, Faroe Island minnows NSI Runavik and KI Klaksvik, Gibraltar's Europa, Andorran side Sant Julia and Tre Fiori of San Marino.
But Christian Edwards' Met side head into Europe brimming with confidence after overcoming the stiff examination put up by Bala.
Behind the scenes at the most successful football team in Wales right at this moment
The sides could not be separated after 90 minutes and then a further half-hour, with Henry Jones’ opener for Bala after 20 minutes cancelled out four minutes later by Eliot Evans.
The penalty shoot-out was a tense affair, with nerves showing in both sides, as Bala missed three kicks before Evans fired home the decisive penalty to take the students through and spark scenes of jubilation.
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