April 25 - Unbelievable Jeff!

IF you can’t make it to the game on a Saturday afternoon the only thing to do is head to the pub, get in a couple of pints and let Super Jeff Stelling guide you through the afternoon’s action.

Jeff is one of the unexpected stars of the Sky Premier League era, he has amassed a cult following among fans and he has even spawned a Facebook group with more than 55,000 members.

Apart from being the consummate pro and keeping everyone up to date with all the goings on up and down the footballing map Jeff’s genius lies in his cheesy dad jokes which he trots out every week come rain or shine.

One of his favourite lines centres around a team from the Welsh border: “They’ll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions tonight” he exclaims whenever the team win.

It was on this day in 2006 that the club put one of Jeff’s favourite catchphrases at risk by putting up their naming rights for auction on Ebay.

The club was originally founded as Llansantffraid FC to represent the tiny border village of Llansantffraid-ym-Mechain (population: 1,000) in 1959, and played at the Recreation Ground. Over the following years the club enjoyed a meteoric rise through the ranks of Welsh football culminating in a Welsh Cup win in 1996.

They then signed a sponsorship deal with a computer firm from nearby Owestry to become Total Network Solutions Llansantffraid FC, and they dropped the ‘Llansantffraid’ part in 1997. The became the first club in the UK to be renamed entirely to a sponsor’s name only.

In 2003 the club merged with Owestry Town FC who, despite being from over the border in England, played their football in Wales but in 2006 the club was forced into another change.

Total Network Solutions was bought by British Telecom and a new main sponsor and name had to be found so the club turned to Ebay to auction off the name of the club.

TNS founder Mike Harris said his company had benefited immeasurably from sponsoring the club since 1997.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for a company to raise their profile, increase brand recognition and gain market share in the chosen sector,” said Harris.

“It worked like a charm for me,” he added, presumably while trying to stuff a few more £50 notes from BT into his wallet.

In the end no one fancied becoming the new subject of Stelling’s best joke as the reserve price was not met and the club had to come up with their own name. They settled on The New Saints FC which as well as handily retaining the initials TNS, was also a nod to the history of the original club Llansantffraid who were known as The Saints.

As well as being a reference to the fact that Total Network Solutions is obviously not a place, Stelling’s joke also has historical basis and is a tip of the hat to BBC commentator Sam Leitch who reacted to a Raith Rovers win in the 1960s with the words: “They’ll be dancing in the streets of Raith tonight!” Being a Scotsman Sam really should have known Raith is actually not a town but the site of a battle, with the club based in Kirkcaldy.

Here are some of the best moments from Jeff and his motley crew on Soccer Saturday and we will be back tomorrow for another name-changing story, unless we are busy dancing in the streets of Harchester.

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