European tour

Last updated : 21 May 2007 By Les Roberts

As next year's UEFA Cup final is to be held at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Yep, Man City's ground...in Manchester!

And the draw for the first round proper, that's where we come into it, will be made on August 31st.

We're seeded, no really, and will go into the hat along with these teams:

Ajax or AZ Alkmaar

Palermo

Empoli

F.C. Paços de Ferreira

Aris Thessaloniki

Twente

Larisa

The good news is that we can't get drawn against any of those teams, as the European seeding system is heavily weighted in favour of countries such as England.

The bad news is that, as other teams drop into the competition from the Champions League prelims, our place in the seedings will probably go down as teams with more European experience get involved.

More bad news is that there are some tricky looking teams taking part in the earlier qualifying rounds.

Teams that would probably be described as 'crack European outfits' and are as potential a banana skin as the dreaded Dinamo Bucharest.

Teams like:

Hajduk Split

Not to mention these two European giants...

Carmarthen Town

Rhyl

I've still got to confirm it with him but if we do get either Carmarthen or Rhyl, it's all round to Evertaff's house after the game!

The above list is by no means definitive, for instance there are no Spanish teams in there yet, but that is because some countries' domestic league's are still to be concluded.

And that's before we even go into the teams qualifying via the Intertoto!

But, if you can be bothered looking into the whole seeding system and conveluted competition rules, then check this site out...

*yawn*