What is the Europa Conference League?

COLERAINE will take part in the inaugural edition of the new Europa Conference League – but what is the new competition formed by UEFA?

The Bannsiders qualified for the competition after a second place finish in the Danske Bank Premiership in 2020/21.

Oran Kearney’s men have become accustomed to European football after qualifying four times in the last five seasons.

However, all of those have been in the Europa League, so colerainefc.com has outlined everything you need to know about the third UEFA club competition on the calendar.

Why is it being introduced?

The new structure for UEFA club competitions will ensure that at least 34 UEFA national associations are represented in the group stage of one or more competitions.

There will be a minimum of 14 domestic champions in the UEFA Champions League group stage, between eight and 11 domestic champions in the UEFA Europa League group stage, and between nine and 12 domestic champions in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. All member associations will have access to all three club competitions, and all associations’ quotas will remain unchanged.

UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said: “The new UEFA club competition makes UEFA’s club competitions more inclusive than ever before. There will be more matches for more clubs, with more associations represented in the group stages.”

Will it impact other competitions?

The introduction of the UEFA Europa Conference League will have no impact on the UEFA Champions League. However, the UEFA Europa League group stage will be reduced from 48 to 32 teams – eight groups of four.

The eight UEFA Europa League group winners progress automatically to the round of 16. There will also be additional knockout round play-offs prior to the UEFA Europa League round of 16; these will be between the eight UEFA Europa League group runners-up and the eight third-ranked teams of the UEFA Champions League groups.

The UEFA Europa League access list will also change accordingly, with the previous season’s UEFA Europa Conference League winners joined in the group stage by 11 teams who qualify directly via their domestic associations. Additionally, ten teams will come through UEFA Europa League qualifying and a further ten from UEFA Champions League qualifying.

Will fixtures be on Thursdays?

Yes. The Europa League and Europa Conference League fixtures will both take place on Thursdays, with kick-offs at 5.45pm and 8pm UK time

The competition is set to get under way in 2021/22 and run throughout the 2021/24 cycle at least.

So, tell us everything we need to know about Coleraine FC…

The Bannsiders will enter in the first qualifying round with the draw taking place on June 15.

The Stripes will face either FK Velez (Bosnia), Mons Calpe Sports Club (Gibraltar), Birkirkara (Malta) or FC Swift Hesper (Luxembourg).

Coleraine will be seeded for the first round with the ties taking place on July 8 and 15.

Meanwhile, the draw for the second qualifying round – which we will not be seeded for – will take place on June 16, with those games being played on July 22 and 29.

A full list of opponents can be found HERE

Where is the final?

We are allowed to dream, right?

The 21,690-capacity National Arena (Arena Kombëtare) in Tirana, Albania, will stage the first final on 25 May 2022, as announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 3 December 2020.