European football

Do we or go straight into the group stage if the winners have already qualified for the Champions League ? otherwise it will unbalance the preset numbers for cup winners entering the competition.[/quote]

All it says is that the cup winners will go into the group stage and if the cup runners up qualify then they’ll go into the playoff with the highest qualifying league place going into the group stage.

Basically, qualification for the Europa League seems to work as:

1st priority FA Cup winners – Group stage
2nd priority 5th place – playoff
3rd League Cup winners – 3rd qualifying round

In the event the FA Cup winners are qualified for the UEFA Champions League the FA Cup runners-up will qualify, but in the place reserved for the lowest ranking Barclays Premier League representative. The place with direct access to the Group Stage will be given to the club that finishes in the highest position in the Barclays Premier League of the clubs qualifying for the UEFA Europa League.

Saying that, if you read that then we would probably swap with Swansea and enter at the 3rd qualifying round.

Half Man Half Buscuit, now’s there’s a blast from the past. I read a post where someone said that European qualification would see our out of contact players sign up and make it easier to attract more players. I’m guessing they meant European football and Premier League survival. If we do go down what a consolation it would be. I might even get to see Wigan play in Ireland :woohoo:

Bangor?[/quote]
Not on the first date.

Prestatyn?[/quote]

Or just give her a cheap Rhyl?

The Europa League is more intriguing than I thought!

The Premier League ended on 13 May 2012 and the Europa League began on 5 July.

First Qualifying Round played on 5 and 12 July 2013 included;
Myllykosken Pallo-47 (FIN) v Cefn Druids AFC (WAL)
KuPS Kuopio (FIN) v Llanelli AFC (WAL)
FC Zimbru Chişinău (MDA) v Bangor City FC (WAL)
FK Skendija 79 (MKD) v Portadown FC (NIR)
Rosenborg BK (NOR) v Crusaders FC (NIR)
Saint Patrick’s Athletic FC (IRL) v ÍBV Vestmannaeyjar (ISL)
Bohemian FC (IRL) v Thór Akureyri (ISL)

Second Qualifying Round included;
Saint Johnstone FC (SCO)
Sligo Rovers FC (IRL)
KAA Gent (BEL) v FC Differdange 03 (LUX) – they are only 144 miles apart.
Gent have been spared long distance travel; in 2010 they drew Lille, just 41 miles away.

Third Qualifying Round; New entrants join the qualifiers from the previous round, with half seeded based on UEFA coefficients.
Dundee United FC (SCO) v FC Dinamo Moskva (RUS)
FK Renova (MKD)/FC Gomel (BLR) v Liverpool FC (ENG)

Play-off Round; The third qualifying round winners join the 14 losing clubs from the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round and further teams who begin their European campaigns here

Group Stage; The play-off winners, the ten losing teams from the UEFA Champions League play-offs and sides entering at this stage make up the 48 clubs that go into the group stage draw.

The 48 sides are split into four seeding pots based on UEFA’s coefficient system, with one from each drawn into the 12 groups. No team can meet another from the same association.

Round of 32; The draw for the round of 32 includes the top two teams from each of the 12 groups along with the eight sides transferring from the UEFA Champions League after finishing third in their pools.

The UEFA Europa League group winners are all seeded, along with the four UEFA Champions League qualifiers with the best record in their section.

I hope we’ve not already started counting our chickens here…! :blink:

Bangor?[/quote]
Not on the first date.

Prestatyn?[/quote]

Or just give her a cheap Rhyl?[/quote]

Crap puns aside ;) former Latics mon Greg Strong is the gaffer at Rhyl – They’ve also been knocked out of the Welsh Cup & got booted out of the WPL a couple of years ago so Latics won’t be playing them :P

I’d take anywhere in Europe to be honest even if it is just for one game although the quicker & cheaper to get there the better as I’m not taking out a second mortgage to go to some 3rd round qualifier in Kazahkstan [sic] or the east coast of Russia
Krakow is a nice city to visit as a tourist but I’m led to believe by many that it’s a nightmare as a football fan.[/quote]

I’ve been to Wisla Krakow, and yes indeed, they are nutters.

I saw loads of skinheads drinking what looked like huge cartons of fresh orange juice. Are they on a health kick? I thought.

Closer inspection revealed they contained VODKA and orange juice.

I WOULD go there, but I would exercise extreme caution, as they may have a pop at ‘anything English’ if they were playing us.

Lovely little City, over 400 bars in the square mile of the old town.

Wouldnt mind a visit to Torshavn meself.