Uefa Conference League: Chris Venables and Penybont face familiar foes

Chris Venables has mixed memories of the previous time Penybont faced Andorran side Santa Coloma in the Uefa Conference League.

Venables scored Penybont’s first ever goal in European competition when he netted in the first qualifying round first leg at the Brewery Field in Bridgend in 2024.

But in a bad tempered second leg away from home, Venables was sent-off and Bont conceded two goals in extra-time and were knocked out.

“Obviously, we’ve got a little bit of history with Santa Coloma, so it takes away I guess, a little bit of the element of unknown,” Venables told BBC Sport Wales.

“It gives you an insight into not so much sort of tactics and strategies and things like that, but more so how the players behave, I guess, and things like that.

“They’ll have the same insight of us from the previous game as well, so they’ll have an idea of how we kind of conduct ourselves.

“But if we’d have looked at what our team was back in that game, it’s completely different now and the way we play is different as well, so you can’t go on it too much.”

Venables, who turns 41 later this month, has made over 20 appearances in European competitions for clubs including Aberystwyth Town, Llanelli and Bala Town.

But only once has Venables been part of a side which has won a European tie, when he scored the winner for Bala against Malta’s Valletta in the Europa League in 2020.

“We know what it’s like in Europe. We know how hard it is – last time proved that,” said Venables, referring to Penybont’s 4-1 defeat on aggregate to Kauno Zalgiris of Lithuania in the past season’s Conference League.

“It’s no mean feat and I’ve only done it once where I’ve been through and that tells you everything that you need to know really.

“It just means that you’ve got to be so well prepared and obviously the way in which our season finishes you’ve got to prepare from coming out of off-season as well.

“And very often, you’ll be playing against clubs who are obviously in-season.

“That has a massive impact because they’re obviously up to speed, whereas you’re trying to get yourselves to the levels that you need to be at without being in-season.

“That’s always a challenge.”

Cardiff City Stadium hosts the first leg on Thursday and Venables is looking forward to playing at a venue where Penybont played in the 2022 Welsh Cup final.

“We’d like to play at Penybont if we could,” Venables added.

“But it’s going to be a great experience for the lads playing at Cardiff and a nice occasion for the fans too.

“Hopefully we’ll get as many in there as we can do and they’ll make a big difference in the first leg, hopefully.

“I’m sure they will and they will do when we travel away as well.

“We’ve had great away support the last two times we’ve been in Europe, and hopefully we get the same level of support again.”