Bangor City, Bala Town and Connah’s Quay Nomads have found out their Europa League qualifying round one opponents at the draw at UEFA headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland today.
Bangor City face Denmark’s Lyngby BK, Bala Town travel to FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein whilst Connah’s Quay Nomads will go against Finnish giants HJK Helsinki.
Bala Town and Connah’s Quay Nomads will play their home games first on 29 June with Bangor away on the same day. Bangor will then host Lyngby on the 6 July whilst Bala and Nomads will play on the continent.
The draw has continued a trend of Welsh clubs facing Scandinavian opposition in Europe, with Bangor and Nomads facing challenging encounters against top Nordic sides.
(Image: Stig Nygaard)
Bangor’s opposition Lyngby BK finished third in the Danish Super League last season in a campaign that saw them get results against regular Champions League competitors Copenhagen and Midtjylland.
Should Bangor City get past Lyngby, they will then come up against the victors of the tie between Slovakian side Slovan Bratislava and Armenian Premier League side FC Pyunik.
(Image: IK’s World Trip)
Connah’s Quay Nomads tasted success with a 1-0 win over Stabaek in the Europa League last season, but will face a hard test this time round against HJK Helsinki of Finland. HJK sit at the top of the Finnish Veikkausliiga and have lost just once in their past 10 games.
The winners of that tie will then play against the winners of the tie between Moldovan National Division side FC Dacia Chișinău and Macedonian First Football League side KF Shkëndija.
(Image: Christopher Voitus)
Bala Town FC meanwhile travel to FC Vaduz, where they will fancy their chances of getting to the Second qualifying stage for the first time ever.
Vaduz hail from Liechtenstein, but have a unique entry of qualification. which allows them to play in the Swiss football leagues. They were relegated from Switzerland’s top flight last season, but qualified for Europa via a Liechtenstein Cup final victory.
It will be Odds Ballklubb of Norway or Ballymena United of Northern Ireland who will await the Lakesiders if they get past the Liechtensteiner side.
(Featured Image: Connah’s Quay Nomads)
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