DUNDALK, DERRY CITY and Shamrock Rovers have learned their potential opponents in the draw for the Europa League first qualifying round on Wednesday afternoon.
Dundalk are the 10th-ranked seeded team of 47, and will face one of six unseeded sides that have been put alongside them in Group 9. Derry and Rovers have avoided potential Scottish foes Hibernian and Rangers as well as relative giants Partisan Belgrade and FC Copenhagen.
Stephen Kenny’s men will do battle with one of Levadia Tallinn of Estonia, ÍBV of Iceland, KuPS Kuopio of Finland, Liepāja of Latvia, Tre Fiori of San Marino, Bala Town of Wales and NSÍ Runavík of the Faroe Islands.
In Group 4, unseeded Derry City will face one of five seeded teams. Either Górnik Zabrze of Poland, Vardar of Macedonia, Dinamo Minsk of Belarus, Spartak Subotica of Serbia or OFK Titograd of Montenegro will be journeying to the Brandywell.
Shamrock Rovers are also unseeded, and can be drawn against one of Hafnarfjördur of Iceland, Nordsjælland of Denmark, AIK of Sweden, Ventspils of Latvia, and Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus – all of whom are seeded in Group 5.
There will be two separate draws on Wednesday. Shamrock Rovers and Derry will have their numbers pulled in the first, which will produce the ties for Groups 1-7 – all of which consist of 10 teams.
Dundalk will feature in the second draw for Groups 8 and 9, which each have an extra two teams.
The first teams drawn in each tie will play the first leg at home.
All three League of Ireland clubs will earn at least €240,000 for the draw, €25,000 more than last year’s paycheck at this stage of the competition. Subsequent rounds will be worth €260,000, €280,000 and €300,00 – up from last season’s sums of €225,000, €235,000 and €245,000 respectively for the corresponding rounds.
27 clubs already lie in wait for the three prospective Irish qualifiers in the second qualifying round, including Sevilla, Burnley and Aberdeen. Dundalk will once more be seeded should they make it that far, however, and so will once more avoid other seeded teams.
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