Cross-border Euro trips on the cards for Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne
Shelbourne supporters celebrate after their side's victory over Waterford last week. Photo: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne could both be in line for some of the shortest away trips in Europe for their first qualifying round ties in UEFA competition next month, as they could potentially face Irish League opposition.
The draw for the first qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa Conference league will be made at UEFA HQ on Tuesday but European football’s governing body today gave a clue as to the likely battles when they released the pots for the various draws.
Champions Rovers know they will face one of Larne, NK Celje (Slovenia), Panevezys (Lithuania), Vikingur Reykjavik and FC Differdange (Luxembourg).
Larne would be the ideal draw for the Hoops for that first round tie, no logistical issues in terms of travel with a 400km round trip by road, though it’s possible the away leg could be played in the middle of the July 12 celebrations in Northern Ireland with Rovers in mid-season.
Larne are only due back for pre-season shortly before the first round takes place, the Hoops would be tagged as favourites. Rovers and Larne are both aware of the importance of winning that first-round tie in terms of progress and financial rewards should they lose at the second-round stage.
Today's Sports News in 90 Seconds - 17th June
Iceland's Vikingur would pose the biggest threat to the Hoops but Celje, who beat Dundalk 3-0 in a one-off tie in the Covid season of 2020/21 would be a tricky opponent.
Rovers fans with long memories would not relish a return to Lithuania as defeat to an average Panevezys side in 2012 was unexpected and caused huge problems for then manager Stephen Kenny.
Shelbourne would hope to to get paired with opposition from San Marino or Gibraltar in their draw for the Conference League and they could also be heading north on a cross-border mission, to Belfast and Crusaders. Their potential opponents are Tre Penne (San Marino), St Joseph’s (Gibraltar), Crusaders (Northern Ireland), Breidablik (Iceland) and Diddileng (Luxembourg).
Derry City are seeded along with Linfield so they miss out on a trip to Windsor Park but their side of the draw is a mixed bag. They would hope to draw either Bala Town (Wales) or FCB Magpies (Gibraltar) but would not relish a test against Víkingur (Faroe Islands), Stjarnan (Iceland) or VPS Vaasa (Finland)
As FAI Cup holders, St Patrick’s Athletic have been given a bye into the second qualifying round. The draws for the first round will be made on Tuesday with the second round draw to follow on Wednesday.
