Former Ballymena United defender set to sign for Welsh champions TNS
Former Ballymena United defender Zach Nolan is set to sign for Welsh champions The New Saints following his departure from The Showgrounds.
Nolan, who came through the ranks at League of Ireland outfit Bray Wanderers, joined the Sky Blues as a free agent in November and made his Premiership debut against Glenavon.
The 20-year-old also featured for Ballymena in their BetMcLean Cup semi-final defeat to Linfield in January before leaving the following month.
Full-back Nolan, who made 36 league appearances for Bray, is now poised to join dominant Welsh side TNS – they’ve won five consecutive top-flight titles and 18 since 2000.
Nolan could be playing in Champions League qualifying this summer with Craig Harrison’s side once again progressing to Europe’s premier cup competition.
Just like Larne in 2024, TNS created history by becoming the first team from their country to qualify for the Conference League’s League Phase – current Glentoran star Josh Daniels played a key role in that success.
Nolan arrived at Ballymena highly-rated by Jim Ervin, who said at the time: “We first came across Zach in January last year.
"We had him in and had a look at him, but it was touted he could be going across the water, but that didn't quite happen.
"With the numbers we are missing and as we try to climb the league table, we need to get quality in like Zach.
"He can play left back, left wing back, left of a back three and gives us more quality and legs in that area of the pitch.
"I'm excited to get him in, he's tough tackling, willing to get forward with the ball and has a good delivery and hopefully he can hit the ground running.
"He's been playing friendly games recently as part of a Republic of Ireland agency set up, but there's a difference obviously between friendly games and competitive. The good news is he's available straight away, but we'll get a look at him to see where he's at."