Dundalk FC . back in Europe 2023 . 👏👏👏

[seand]

Some wonderful person has created and is maintaining the 2023-24 UECL Wiki page, so I don't really need to track it here in quite so much detail. That said, I've updated the first round list above re seedings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023%E2%8 ... nce_League

edit: NB this does not seem to be updated to reflect Russia's ban from Euro competition. Also they've jumped the gun in assigning qualified teams, e.g. in Lithuania where 1 point seperates the 3 Euro qualifiers with 1 game to play. Whoever finishes second skips a round

[mike]

Interesting Sean, so we will def be seeded in 2 rounds, maybe even 3 but 2 for sure. R1 should be fairly comfortable, you would hope, R2 we will be unlucky to get likes of Vitesse again who were unseeded, then if we get to R3, its only 2 more to the group.

Will be difficult, but draw depending, its not impossible.

[Richie87]

I think Vitesse hadn't played in Europe in a few years so were a unseeded team. Djurgardens were 4th seeds in Shamrock Rovers group, but topped the group. They hadn't been involved in Europe in a few years either.

The Norwegian League season finished yesterday.

[seand]

God Bless Bert, doing a better job of this than I could ever hope. (And certainly a better job than the Wikipedia editor above)

https://kassiesa.net/uefa/qual2023.html

[oldfogey]

God Bless Bert, doing a better job of this than I could ever hope. (And certainly a better job than the Wikipedia editor above)

https://kassiesa.net/uefa/qual2023.html

Love this guys work. All interlinked so any data uploaded automatically flows through the various pages.

Interesting looking at the Swedish league which we all know is fairly strong. Champions BK Hacken have a coefficient of 4.75 which will leave them unseeded in QR1. Could well be in Rovers Geo group.

[mike]

God Bless Bert, doing a better job of this than I could ever hope. (And certainly a better job than the Wikipedia editor above)

https://kassiesa.net/uefa/qual2023.html

Sean, do you know why LOI is ranked 40 on this but 36 on other sites?

Good to see we are def 8.5, but as pointed out by a few before, it didn't do us any favours when Vitesse were pitched against us as the unseded side !

[Richie87]

40 is what the LOI was ranked previously. Shamrock Rovers getting into the group stages and Pats and Sligo getting to Rd 3 meant there was a jump to 36.

[seand]

Yeh so the country ranking lags a year behind, i.e. Rovers will see the benefit of their 2022 Euro run in 2023, but Ireland will only see it in 2024. This is basically because countries have to know their ranking before their domestic season starts so they know how many spots they have, etc.

Interesting side note on this.... last year Ireland were ranked 39 and were one of the countries who cup winners (Pats) were moved up to round 2 when the Russian clubs were removed. This season we're down to 40 and as a direct result Derry have missed out by one place on being moved straight into round 2. Derry might not be seeded in round 1 so it won't necessarily be straight-forward for them.

[mike]

Interesting as always Sean, and Richie before, thanks lads !

[seand]

Right, so let's have another look, particularly in terms of round 1 and 2, and potential 'local' opponents.

Round 1: last year 3.15 was enough for seeding, I think that may be a little higher this season. That means that Derry (3) and Pats (3) will probably not be seeded.
Round 2: last year 5.5 required for seeding, similar or slightly higher likely this year.
Round 3: last year 9 required for seeding, similar or slightly higher likely this year., so our 8.5 probably wouldn't be enough for seeding, but it's possible.

And a reminder that the first round is likely to be informally regionalised..... last time out we were grouped with possible opponents from Wales (Newtown), Finland, Malta, Lux and Macedonia(!). This year Sligo were grouped with Iceland/Wales/Gib/Lux and Slovakia. Derry with NI/Estonia/Latvia/Faroes/Poland.

POSSIBLE/PROBABLE FIRST ROUND OPPONENTS * marks high probability opponent in round 1
Iceland (only 2 qualifiers) will be KA* (1.45) and Vikingur* Reykjavik (3). Vikingur probably unseeded , KA def unseeded.
Faroes: Vikingur* (3), HB (5), B36 (6.5). Vikingur prob not seeded, the others will be seeded. (B36 could be seeded in second round.)
Finland: Honka* (2.5), Haka* (2.05) (cup winner KuPS (9.5) straight into rd2 where they'll be seeded) .
Belarus: Energetik-BGU* (1.975). BATE (15!!) have qualified thru cup or league. Cup winners skip to round 2. Cup down to semis: Bate and 3 lower Premier Div teams none of whom would be seeded in second round.. If BATE win the cup Dynamo Minsk (5.5) qualify and would be seeded in rd1, possibly not in rd2. Would we even be able to travel to Belarus??
Latvia: Riga (10), RFS (6.5) both will be seeded (cup winners Auda (2) straight into second round on their debut, would be a great rd2 draw!)
Estonia: Levadia (6) will be seeded, Paide (4) possibly seeded; cup is only at quarterfinals- cup winners possibly unseeded (4th place Nomme Kalju (4) would be seeded in rd1. Any of these would be good rd2 opponents, Levadia prob seeded in rd2.
Lithuania: Hegelmann* (2, never qualified before), Panevezys* (2.5). Cup winners Kauno (4.5) skip rd1, would be a good draw in rd2.

It's a bit less clear in these countries where leagues are ongoing, but anyway.....
Northern Ireland Larne* (3) 5 pts clear of Linfield (8.5), if they slip up they'd be likely opponents. Cup winners start in rd1- final is Ballymena* (1.7) v Crusaders (4.5), Crues would be seeded. The last place goes to the playoff winners, could be anyone from Crues, Coleraine (3.5), Cliftonville* (3), Glentoran*/Carrick*//Glenavon*. A good draw in rd1 or rd2.
Wales, (TNS in Champions League). Connahs Quay (5.5) second and will be seeded. Cup final is TNS v Bala (4).... Bala would be seeded in rd1. Last Welsh qualifier* comes from a playoff between Bala (if they don't win the cup). Penybont, Cardiff Met Uni and Newtown. Any of those 3 would be unseeded and a great draw.
Luxembourg early days..... 3 teams would be seeded, other unseeded
ÌMalta. Birkirkara* , Gzira*, Mosta or Marsaxlokk* qualified, all unseeded, all likely to host ar the national stadium in Ta'Qali
Gibraltar Europa (5) seeded, Magpies* (1.1)
Andorra almost certainly InterClub and Santa's Coloma... both would be seeded in rd1- a disappointment!
San Marino early days....Ludicrous10 team playoff underway. 2 teams would be seeded, other unseeded

[inflikted]

Right, so let's have another look, particularly in terms of round 1 and 2, and potential 'local' opponents.

Round 1: last year 3.15 was enough for seeding, I think that may be a little higher this season. That means that Derry (3) and Pats (3) will probably not be seeded.
Round 2: last year 5.5 required for seeding, similar or slightly higher likely this year.
Round 3: last year 9 required for seeding, similar or slightly higher likely this year., so our 8.5 probably wouldn't be enough for seeding, but it's possible.

And a reminder that the first round is likely to be informally regionalised..... last time out we were grouped with possible opponents from Wales (Newtown), Finland, Malta, Lux and Macedonia(!). This year Sligo were grouped with Iceland/Wales/Gib/Lux and Slovakia. Derry with NI/Estonia/Latvia/Faroes/Poland.

POSSIBLE/PROBABLE FIRST ROUND OPPONENTS * marks high probability opponent in round 1
Iceland (only 2 qualifiers) will be KA* (1.45) and Vikingur* Reykjavik (3). Vikingur probably unseeded , KA def unseeded.
Faroes: Vikingur* (3), HB (5), B36 (6.5). Vikingur prob not seeded, the others will be seeded. (B36 could be seeded in second round.)
Finland: Honka* (2.5), Haka* (2.05) (cup winner KuPS (9.5) straight into rd2 where they'll be seeded) .
Belarus: Energetik-BGU* (1.975). BATE (15!!) have qualified thru cup or league. Cup winners skip to round 2. Cup down to semis: Bate and 3 lower Premier Div teams none of whom would be seeded in second round.. If BATE win the cup Dynamo Minsk (5.5) qualify and would be seeded in rd1, possibly not in rd2. Would we even be able to travel to Belarus??
Latvia: Riga (10), RFS (6.5) both will be seeded (cup winners Auda (2) straight into second round on their debut, would be a great rd2 draw!)
Estonia: Levadia (6) will be seeded, Paide (4) possibly seeded; cup is only at quarterfinals- cup winners possibly unseeded (4th place Nomme Kalju (4) would be seeded in rd1. Any of these would be good rd2 opponents, Levadia prob seeded in rd2.
Lithuania: Hegelmann* (2, never qualified before), Panevezys* (2.5). Cup winners Kauno (4.5) skip rd1, would be a good draw in rd2.

It's a bit less clear in these countries where leagues are ongoing, but anyway.....
Northern Ireland Larne* (3) 5 pts clear of Linfield (8.5), if they slip up they'd be likely opponents. Cup winners start in rd1- final is Ballymena* (1.7) v Crusaders (4.5), Crues would be seeded. The last place goes to the playoff winners, could be anyone from Crues, Coleraine (3.5), Cliftonville* (3), Glentoran*/Carrick*//Glenavon*. A good draw in rd1 or rd2.
Wales, (TNS in Champions League). Connahs Quay (5.5) second and will be seeded. Cup final is TNS v Bala (4).... Bala would be seeded in rd1. Anyone Welsh qualifier* would be unseeded and a great draw.
Luxembourg early days..... 3 teams would be seeded, other unseeded
Malta wide open ..... 3 teams would be seeded, other unseeded
Gibraltar 2 from Europa (5), St Josephs (4.5), Magpies*
Andorra early days....2 teams would be seeded others would be unseeded
San Marino early days..... 3 teams would be seeded, other unseeded

It's very tight in the race for 2nd in the Gibraltar Football League, but if St Joseph's beat Lincoln Red Imps in the Rock Cup semi-final tonight (currently 1-1) then it'll be Bruno's Magpies vs St Joseph's in the final and that would essentially be their shootout for the last ECL spot, unless they can both overtake Europa in the league. Bruno's Magpies are probably in pole position in terms of league run in because, although they are 2 points behind Europa, they don't have to play Lincoln Red Imps again this season while Europa and Saints do, in addition to the 3 teams playing each other in their final 3 games (Lincoln already have the title wrapped up). Whoever misses out will likely have to make some big changes to their squad though as the financial impact of missing Europe is huge there.

[seand]

Larne are almost over the line up North, if they're in the Champions League Linfield will very likely be in the Conference League instead, and seeded. Which reduces our chances of a trip up North.

June 20th for first round draw, 21st for second round draw. First round is July 13 and 20, second round July 27 and Aug 3.

Looking at the last couple of seasons draws, there may be some element of regionalisation in the second qualifying round. Certainly there were a couple of very Eastern minigroups. I know Pats ended up in Slovakia last year in rd2 buy that's a far cry from Cyprus or Armenia

[Louth4sam]

Larne are almost over the line up North, if they're in the Champions League Linfield will very likely be in the Conference League instead, and seeded. Which reduces our chances of a trip up North.

June 20th for first round draw, 21st for second round draw. First round is July 13 and 20, second round July 27 and Aug 3.

Looking at the last couple of seasons draws, there may be some element of regionalisation in the second qualifying round. Certainly there were a couple of very Eastern minigroups. I know Pats ended up in Slovakia last year in rd2 buy that's a far cry from Cyprus or Armenia

Really hoping for San Marino or Gilbralter to make a holiday out of it. Montenegro would be great to visit also.

[mike]

Gibraltar would be great, for some reason always wanted to see it, with their daft UK pubs, get a roast beef dinner in a local spot and a beer in 35c heat ! Then pop over to La Linea in Spain across the border.

I've been on two DFC away euro trips, unbeaten record, 3-3 v Grevenmacher in Lux City in 2010 and Tallinn 1-0 win in 2018, both brilliant trips, the latter was WC semi, just back in the pub for England v Croatia, what a night that was.

We probably wont make Europe in 2024, if you make it for 2023 go for it.

[Louth4sam]

We probably wont make Europe in 2024, if you make it for 2023 go for it.

I've been lucky to have been on a few trips each one brilliant in many different ways. If anybody is on the fence about going and hasn't been on a European trip. Do it. You won't regret it.