Jump to content

 

 

Rangers have been granted a UEFA license to participate in Europa League


Recommended Posts

Rangers granted UEFA license to play in Europa League​

 

Rangers have been granted a UEFA license to participate in next season's Europa League.

 

You can find the full document on the SFA's website here, which confirms the award, and the 'Platinum' award for Rangers' youth academy. Caley Thistle appear to have been KB'd, presumably for their ground capacity, but everyone seems to be in with no problems otherwise. Because that's the completely normal state of affairs.

 

Of course, this should come as no surprise to any sane person at all, but there had been plenty of 'rumours' from certain blogs that no license would be forthcoming for a wide variety of madey-up reasons. So you can probably expect some good auld Sevcoing appearing on your Twitter timeline very soon.

 

http://www.gotthebattlefeveron.com/2017/4/28/15479276/rangers-granted-uefa-license-to-play-in-europa-league​

 

​SFA website's article: See top pdf Club Licensing Current Update Last Updated Friday, 28 April 2017

 

http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football_document_libraries.cfm?page=2570

Link to post
Share on other sites

Its good and another step in the right direction. Now we just need to qualify for the Europa tournament.

 

Out of interest does anyone know where potential qualification opponents would come from? Is there seeding and would we be seeded? With the games only 6 or 7 weeks away UEFA have to have had a list in place.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Its good and another step in the right direction. Now we just need to qualify for the Europa tournament.

 

Out of interest does anyone know where potential qualification opponents would come from? Is there seeding and would we be seeded? With the games only 6 or 7 weeks away UEFA have to have had a list in place.

 

You'll find the latest information on Bert Kassie's excellent site https://kassiesa.home.xs4all.nl/bert/uefa/index.html

 

I have extracted current possible opponents and coefficients though many are still to be decided:

 

EL2-3=Hajduk Split 11.550 (eu/Q2) or (eu/Q1)

EL2-3=NK Osijek 5.550 (eu/Q1) or (eu/Q2)

Croatia

EL1-2=Shakhtior Saligorsk 7.475 (eu/Q1) or (eu/Q2)

EL2-3=Dinamo Minsk 10.975 (eu/Q1)

Belarus

CW=Östersunds FK 3.945 (eu/Q2)

EL2=AIK Stockholm 9.945 (eu/Q1)

EL3=IFK Norrköping 4.945 (eu/Q1)

Sweden

EL1=SK Brann Bergen 3.665 (eu/Q2)

EL2=Odd Grenland 5.665 (eu/Q1)

EL3=FK Haugesund 4.165 (eu/Q1)

Norway

EL1=Gabala FK 7.800 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Inter Baku 6.050 (eu/Q1)

Azerbaijan

EL1=Kairat Almaty 5.550 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Irtysh Pavlodar 3.550 (eu/Q1)

EL3=Ordabasy Shymkent 4.050 (eu/Q1)

Kazakhstan

CW=Valur Reykjavik 1.925 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Stjarnan FC 4.175 (eu/Q1)

EL3=KR Reykjavik 5.175 (eu/Q1)

Iceland

CW=Torpedo Kutaisi 1.775 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Chikhura Sachkhere 3.025 (eu/Q1)

EL3=Dinamo Batumi 1.525 (eu/Q1)

Georgia

CW=SJK Seinäjoki 2.780 (eu/Q1)

EL2=HJK Helsinki 10.530 (eu/Q1)

EL3=VPS Vaasa 2.030 (eu/Q1)

Finland

CW=Cork City 2.565 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Derry City 2.315 (eu/Q1)

EL3=Shamrock Rovers 3.065 (eu/Q1)

Ireland

EL1-2=FK Jelgava 2.975 (eu/Q1)

EL2-3=FK Ventspils 5.725 (eu/Q1)

Latvia

EL1=FK Trakai 1.575 (eu/Q1)

EL2=Suduva Marijampole 1.825 (eu/Q1)

EL3=Atlantas Klaipeda 1.825 (eu/Q1)

Lithuania

EL1-2=Coleraine 0.900 (eu/Q1)

N Ireland

EL1-2=Levadia Tallinn 4.050 (eu/Q1)

EL2-3=Kalju Nomme 4.800 (eu/Q1)

Estonia

EL1-3=Pyunik Yerevan 3.275

Armenia

CW=KI Klaksvik 0.700 (eu/Q1)

EL2=NSI Runavik 1.450 (eu/Q1)

EL3=B36 Torshavn 2.450 (eu/Q1)

Faroe Islands

EL1-2=Bala Town 1.525 (eu/Q1)

EL1-2=Connah's Quay 1.275 (eu/Q1)

Wales

 

but there are many others still to be decided.

 

We will have no coefficient from our own efforts since we have not been in Europe for the past 5 seasons. Therefore we will only have our country coefficient which is the 5-year total of 20% of the points, currently 3.785; almost all earned by Celtic it has to be said. For example this season Scotland are actually 19th with 4.375, 20% of that total i.e 0.875 is added to each Scottish Club's coefficient:

 

Scotland 4 teams

9 3 6 0 3 3 4 17.5 Average of 4 teams 4.375

43 Celtic CL 3 1 2 0 3 3 4 10.5

93 Aberdeen EL 3 1 2 0 0 0 0 3.5

105 Hearts FC EL 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 2.5

140 Hibernian EL 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1.0

 

As you can see from the list above a coefficient of 3.785 is right on the borderline. This season the last seeded team in Q1 was NK Domzale Slo with 3.625 ; so if that pattern is repeated we would be seeded; which would be a huge advantage. There are some horrible possibilities in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, for example if we are not seeded. It's unlikely we would be seeded in Q2 (this season Lokomotiva Zagreb Cro with 5.775 were the last.)

 

Incidentally as things stand based on the applicable 2016 standings Scotland are 25th so in theory all our teams go into the ELQ1. (This season 25th was enough for Q2 but the changes to the CL have bumped everything else down one place.) However, it is also possible that other things can happen which bump everyone up a place. This season The Champions League title holder spot was not used since Real Madrid already qualified for the group stage via their domestic league. This implied that the Europa League title holder Sevilla gained access to the Champions League group stage, leaving an empty spot in ELQ3. In order to fill the gap the cup winner of the 18th country on the ranking list (Cyprus) had direct access to the 3rd qualifying round, and the cup winners of the 26th and 27th countries on the ranking list (Norway and Serbia) had direct access to the 2nd qualifying round of the Europa League. If that happens this season then Scotland, being 25th are next in line.

 

As far as I can figure things out for next season the only doubt about the same thing happening would be that Athletico Madrid win the CL and do not finish in the top 4 in Spain, which is fairly unlikely. So therefore the CL title holder spot would not be used and everyone else gets bumped up, which means that if Celtic win the Cup whoever finishes second in Scotland gets to play in ELQ2 (because the losing finalists get no seniority). If I'm right that's still something to play for (an extra 2 weeks holiday for starters). If Aberdeen win the Cup, then they would automatically be next in line for an ELQ2 spot.

 

Also Scotland are currently 23rd so in 2018/19, the CW would automatically enter the ELQ2.

 

Apologies for any inaccuracies in the above.

 

I'm off to bed; need some sleep for the 'morrow.

Edited by BrahimHemdani
Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks BH, good post. The Croatian teams are the ones we want to avoid - but after that we should be beating any one else.

 

No worries. I wanted to look at my travel plans anyway!

 

Remember that there are a whole host of countries whose entrants are not yet decided and there will be one team each from the likes of the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland and Romania in Q2. This is not to mention the higher ranked nations such as Germany Italy, France, Russia Ukraine and Spain whose teams will enter in Q3.

 

It will be exceptionally difficult to make any progress at the first time of asking and it will take 5 seasons of progressive improvement to re-establish our coefficient.

 

However, Scotland would need to get back up to 15th - 17th for CW or N3 to start in ELQ3. The last time Scotland was in that position was in 2010. We were 10th in 2008!

 

For that reason might be easier to qualify for the group stages of the CL through the Champions route as Celtic did this season if we were to win the League.

Edited by BrahimHemdani
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.


×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.