Swiss timing

Not long remains now until Cliftonville’s European fate is confirmed when the draw for the First Qualifying Round of the 2017/18 Europa League takes place in Nyon, Switzerland.

Proceedings are set to get underway at 11am tomorrow, when UEFA’s Head Of Club Competitions, Michael Heselschwerdt, will conduct the process to determine who the Reds will face in the competition’s opening phase.

Last night, Cliftonville’s list of potential opponents was whittled down to just five, each of which will tomorrow be assigned a random number to identify which of Hafnarfjordur (Iceland), Nordsjælland (Denmark), AIK (Sweden), Ventspils (Latvia) or Shakhtyor Soligorsk (Belarus) will be visiting Solitude next month.

Cliftonville Chairman Gerard Lawlor and Manager Barry Gray will be in attendance at the House of European Football and fans are advised that cliftonvillefc.net will provide instantaneous news of the draw, including a detailed guide to our opponents, while our increasingly popular Facebook, Twitter and Text Alert Services will ensure you’re kept fully up-to-speed no matter where you are!

First Leg ties are currently pencilled in for July 12 with the return games taking place on July 19 and, while all arrangements remain subject to change, supporters are urged against making any travel arrangements whatsoever until both fixtures have been officially confirmed by the Club.

Europa League First Qualifying Round
Pot 5
Seeded
Hafnarfjordur (Iceland)
Nordsjælland (Denmark)
AIK (Sweden)
Ventspils (Latvia)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (Belarus)
Unseeded
Cliftonville
Lahti (Finland)
Luftëtari (Albania)
Connah’s Quay Nomads (Wales)
Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)