The group text

The opening process in the draw for the UEFA Conference League first qualifying round has taken place at UEFA Headquarters in Nyon – with Cliftonville’s list of potential opponents now whittled down to just four teams.

The Reds are unseeded in the draw and have been listed as Team 5 in Group 5, where we will be paired with one of Vikingur (Iceland), Partizani (Albania), Floriana (Malta) or St Joseph’s (Gibraltar) when UEFA’s Head of Club Competitions Tobias Hedtstuck conducts the full draw alongside Senior Competitions Manager Tom Barlow this afternoon.

Though a total of 48 Clubs will be involved, a smaller number of balls will be drawn, with teams 1-4 facing those numbered 5-8 in correspondence with the numbers drawn. If, for example, 1 is matched with 6, then Team 1 will face Team 6 in each group.

Cliftonville’s Chief Operating Officer David Begley 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 Twitter, Facebook and Instagram platforms will ensure you’re kept fully up-to-speed no matter where you are.

First leg ties are currently pencilled in for July 10 with the return games taking place on July 17 and, while all arrangements remain subject to change owing to television, security and UEFA’s favoured single-fixture-per-city policy obligations, supporters are urged against making any travel arrangements whatsoever until both matches have been officially confirmed by the Club.

UEFA Conference League First Qualifying Round
Group 5
Seeded
1. Vikingur (Iceland)
2. Partizani (Albania)
3. Floriana (Malta)
4. St Joseph’s (Gibraltar)

Unseeded
5. Cliftonville
6. Malisheva (Kosovo)
7. Nomme Kalju (Estonia)
8. Haverfordwest County (Wales)