January 3 – A tiny Welsh team have won a glorious place in the global footballing record books after beating the longest winning streak in top-flight football set by Johan Cruyff’s Ajax 44 years ago.
The New Saints secured a 2-0 win over Cefn Druids to secure their 27th straight competitive win and rewrite footballing history, eclipsing the mark set by the Dutch giants in 1972.
“It’s a fantastic achievement,” said TNS owner and chairman Mike Harris after an emotional night on the outskirts of Llangollen, in Denbighshire, North Wales in front of 662 fans, a miniscule gate by some professional league standards but a big attendance in the unheralded Welsh league.
“I used to watch Ajax and never believed I would one day be with a team that could beat their record.”
The Welsh champions now have a 21-point lead at the top of the table after winning all 21 league games this season.
They have won eight league titles in the last 11 seasons and last tasted defeat when they lost 3-0 to Apoel Nicosia in a Champions League qualifying round clash in Cyprus in July.
Scottish side East Kilbride believed they had broken the record earlier this season after clocking up 30 wins in a row but their achievement was not recognised by the Guinness Book of Records since they play in the fifth tier of Scottish football.
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