FOR only the third time since the inception of European club competitions, and for the first time since the 1970-71 campaign, Scotland will have six representatives on the continental stage next season.
It may have needed the award of a Uefa Fair Play place, of which Motherwell will be the beneficiaries, to make up the record-equalling complement of Scottish clubs, but it is no less welcome for that.
The revamping of the Uefa Cup, henceforth know
n as the Europa League, will bring a new dimension to European club football and is likely to see some of Scotland's participants exploring new ground.
Unlike the Uefa Cup, the draws for the qualifying rounds of the Europa League will not be divided into geographical regions.
Motherwell will be the first Scottish side in action as they enter the tournament in the first qualifying round on 2 and 9 July. The good news for the Fir Park men is that they will be seeded. The bad news is that they may face a journey which will test their travel company to the limit.
Among the many mysterious opponents Motherwell could be paired with are the Kazakhstan pair of Irtysh Pavlodar and Okzhetpes Kokshetau, Macedonian side Renova Dzepciste and Azerbaijani clubs Simurq Zaqatala and Inter Baku.
John Boyle and his fellow directors will hope for a less logistically challenging draw. That would be provided by Welsh clubs Llanelli and The New Saints, or Northern Ireland's representatives Linfield and Lisburn Distillery.
Trips to Malta, Luxembourg, Estonia and the Faroe Islands would also offer a more accessible trip for supporters and arguably better prospect of further progression.
Falkirk will make their entry to the Europa League in the second qualifying round on 16 and 23 July. The Scottish Cup runners-up will be seeded, as will Motherwell if they make it to that stage.
It means they will avoid teams of the calibre of Red Star Belgrade, Galatasaray and Aalborg. The list of non-seeds, however, is again densely populated by eastern European clubs such as Naftan Novopolotsk of Belarus, Dacia Chisinau of Moldova and the wonderfully named Garabag Agdam of Azerbaijan.
Lithuanian side Kaunas, conquerors of Rangers in the Champions League qualifiers last year, are also among the 40 possible foes in this round, along with Bangor City of Wales and San Marino's Juvenes.
Aberdeen join the fray in the third qualifying round on 30 July and 6 August and will be seeded. The 35-strong list of non-seeds, however, includes clubs such as 1987 Uefa Cup winners IFK Gothenburg from Sweden, Hajduk Split of Croatia and Hungarian outfit Honved.
Falkirk and Motherwell may be unseeded if they reach the third qualifying round, which could entail a pairing with Italian giants Roma, former European champions PSV Eindhoven, Hamburg of Germany or one of England's representatives in Fulham.
Hearts will be the last of Scotland's four Europa League teams to enter the tournament when they go into the fourth and final qualifying round, or play-off round as Uefa is calling it, on 20 and 27 August.
Csaba Laszlo's men will definitely be unseeded, as will any of the other three Scottish clubs who make it that far. Among the daunting list of seeded opponents they could face are Werder Bremen of Germany, Spanish sides Villarreal and Valencia, 2008 Uefa Cup winners Zenit St Petersburg, Lazio of Italy and the English pair of Everton and Aston Villa.
This round will also include the losing clubs from the third qualifying round of the Champions League, a status Celtic must attempt to avoid. The penalty for losing the SPL title for the first time in four years is entering the elite tournament in the new-look qualifying stages.
Celtic will join in the third qualifying round for non-champions on 28 or 29 July and 4 or 5 August. They will be seeded for this round and will face one of five possible opponents. They are Czech League runners-up Sparta Prague, Russian side Dinamo Moscow, surprise Turkish League runners-up Sivasspor, Steve McLaren's Twente Enschede or Dinamo Bucharest of Romania.
If Celtic can negotiate that hurdle, they will be among the unseeded sides in the fourth qualifying round for non-champions on 18 or 19 August and 25 or 26 August. Again, they will face one of five seeded sides in what is certain to be a daunting assignment.
England's fourth-placed club Arsenal and French side Lyon would definitely be among Celtic's potential opponents in that draw and would be joined by Uefa Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon of Portugal and Greek side Panathinaikos if that trio all win their third qualifying round tie.
If Celtic lose at that stage, they will have the consolation of parachuting directly into the group stage of the Europa League.
Rangers' reward for their SPL title triumph, meanwhile, is automatic entry to the lucrative group stage of the Champions League. Walter Smith's team will, at worst, be in the third pot of seeds for the draw.
If three of five clubs with a higher co-efficient than Rangers fail to make it through the qualifying rounds, then they would find themselves in the second pot.
Pot one will include all of the usual suspects, including Champions League holders Barcelona, the English trio of Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea, Italian giants AC Milan and Bayern Munich of Germany.
Pot two will definitely include Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Porto, while the wild cards in pot four include German champions Wolfsburg and Russian title holders Rubin Kazan.
The full article contains 938 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
