Revealed: Barry Town United’s potential Europa League qualifying opponents
Barry Town v Cliftonville in the Europa League Preliminary Round at Leckwith Stadium. Lewis Mitchell/YCPD.
Barry Town now know their possible Europa League opponents in next month’s Preliminary Round.
Cup semi-finals in the last few days in Andorra and Northern Ireland have finalised the top eight seeded sides in the matches to be played on 20 August.
Barry’s potential opponents include three clubs from the Faroe Islands: B36 Torshavn, NSI Runavik and HB Torshavn, two clubs from Andorra: FC Santa Coloma and Engordany, two from San Marino: S.P. La Fiorita and Tre Penne and one from Gibraltar: Lincoln Red Imps.
Unseeded clubs in the draw, along with the Linnets, include St Joseph’s from San Marino, Coleraine of Northern Ireland, Zeta and Iskra from Montenegro, Gjiliani and FC Prishtina of Kosovo and the winners of the cup finals in Northern Ireland which will be either Ballymena United or Glentoran.
In terms of UEFA rankings, Lincoln Red Imps are the top side in the round, followed by FC Santa Coloma and B36 Torshavn. These three clubs will also be seeded in the draw for the first qualifying round.
The New Saints have played a number of Barry’s possible opponents in recent years, recording aggregate wins over Lincoln Red Imps in 2018, Tre Penne in 2016 and B36 Torshavn in 2015.
The draw for the Preliminary Round will be made on Sunday 9 August, with the first qualifying round due to be drawn the following day on 10 August. The first qualifying round, which includes TNS and Bala, will be played on 27th August, a week after the preliminary round.
The Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) have announced that one-legged matches will be held behind closed doors to prevent clubs from maximising home advantage. Barry have already announced that, if drawn at home, their game will be played at Cardiff City Stadium.
Preliminary Round Seeded clubs:
| Seeded teams: Lincoln Red Imps CC: 5.250 FC Santa Coloma CC: 4.500 B36 Tórshavn CC: 3.750 La Fiorita CC: 3.000 Tre Penne CC: 2.250 NSÍ Runavík CC: 2.250 HB Tórshavn CC: 2.000 Engordany CC: 2.000 |
Unseeded clubs:
- St Joseph’s CC: 1.750
- Prishtina CC: 1.750
- Ballymena United or Glentoran CC: ≤1.250
- Zeta CC: 1.250
- Coleraine CC: 1.250
- Barry Town United CC: 1.000
- Iskra Danilovgrad CC: 0.875
- Gjilani CC: 0.800
(Featured image: Lewis Mitchell/YCPD)
