The players begin their pre-season training on Monday and any reluctance at the early return should be banished by the lunchtime news of our European opponents.
Motherwell's coefficient of 5.575 makes them fourth seeds behind Rosenborg (Nor), Famagusta (Cyp) and Helsingborgs (Swe) for this round of the competition. In a change of approach to that employed in the old Uefa Cup, this season's draw will not be done on a geographical basis and we might have to travel anywhere from Northern Ireland to Kazakhstan (which borders Siberia, Mongolia and China).
Nancy v Motherwell
The club could have a huge problem in planning for the away leg. For example, if we were to meet FC Irtysh from Pavlodar in Kazakhstan an aircraft would have to be hired for three days during the peak of the holiday season. Boston in the USA is closer! And it would be almost impossible for fans to travel independently. Failure to progress into the second round would mean a big financial loss and leave us struggling to find opponents in the run in to the start of the SPL season.
On the other hand, we could have a bus trip to Llanelli in Wales.
The draw will take place in Nyot in Switzerland at 1230 after the Champions League formalities are complete. The 2nd qualifying round will also be drawn on Monday.
The list of teams in the draw is as follows - Motherwell will be matched with any team from number 24 to 46.
UEFA Europa League first qualfiying round | ||
Position | Club | Coefficient |
1 | Rosenborg BK (NOR) *** | 28.76 |
2 | Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP) | 12.016 |
3 | Helsingborgs IF (SWE) | 9.938 |
4 | Motherwell FC (SCO) *** | 5.575 |
5 | Randers FC (DEN) *** | 4.89 |
6 | Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC (ISR) | 3.05 |
7 | FC Spartak Trnava (SVK) | 2.933 |
8 | KSP Polonia Warszawa (POL) | 2.583 |
9 | NK Slaven Koprivnica (CRO) | 2.466 |
10 | FC Lahti (FIN) | 1.958 |
11 | FK Vėtra (LTU) | 1.933 |
12 | Sligo Rovers FC (IRL) | 1.899 |
13 | FC Dinaburg (LVA) | 1.832 |
14 | NK Rudar Velenje (SVN) | 1.816 |
15 | NK Široki Brijeg (BIH) | 1.733 |
16 | FC Dinamo Minsk (BLR) | 1.733 |
17 | FC MTZ-RIPO Minsk (BLR) | 1.733 |
18 | Haladás FC (HUN) | 1.633 |
19 | FC Zimbru Chişinău (MDA) | 1.333 |
20 | Keflavík (ISL) | 1.333 |
21 | Fram Reykjavík (ISL) | 1.333 |
22 | FC Olimpi Rustavi (GEO) | 1.332 |
23 | FC Zestafoni (GEO) | 1.332 |
24 | FK Renova (MKD) | 1.033 |
25 | FC İnter Bakı (AZE) | 0.899 |
26 | Simurq PFC (AZE) | 0.899 |
27 | JK Trans Narva (EST) | 0.866 |
28 | JK Nõmme Kalju (EST) | 0.866 |
29 | KS Vllaznia (ALB) | 0.799 |
30 | KS Dinamo Tirana (ALB) | 0.799 |
31 | FC Irtysh Pavlodar (KAZ) | 0.649 |
32 | FC Okzhetpes Kokshetau (KAZ) | 0.649 |
33 | FC MIKA (ARM) | 0.599 |
34 | FC Banants (ARM) ** | 0.599 |
35 | Llanelli AFC (WAL) | 0.466 |
36 | The New Saints FC (WAL) | 0.466 |
37 | Linfield FC (NIR) | 0.433 |
38 | Lisburn Distillery FC (NIR) | 0.433 |
39 | B36 Tórshavn (FRO) ** | 0.433 |
40 | NSÍ Runavík (FRO) | 0.433 |
41 | CS Grevenmacher (LUX) | 0.266 |
42 | UN Käerjéng 97 (LUX) ** | 0.266 |
43 | Valletta FC (MLT) | 0.099 |
44 | Birkirkara FC (MLT) | 0.099 |
45 | FK Budućnost Podgorica (MNE) | 0.099 |
46 | FK Sutjeska (MNE) | 0.099 |
* cup winners
** losing cup finalists
*** Fair Play winners