Shamrock Rovers draw AZ Alkmaar in UEFA Youth League First Round

Last year’s under-19 League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers will face Dutch side AZ Alkmaar in the UEFA Youth League First Round.

Aidan Price will take his team to the Netherlands for the first leg on 14 September, with the return leg in Dublin on 5 October – although the exact fixture details have yet to be confirmed by UEFA. 

The draw took place in Nyon on Wednesday afternoon. 

Should the Hoops progress they will play the winner of Omonoia v Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) in the second round.

St. Patrick’s Athletic played Crvena Zvezda in the competition last year, losing 4-2 on aggregate. The first leg of their round of 32 game finished 2-1 to Red Star in Richmond Park and the Croatian side won the second leg at home 2-0.

Rovers wrapped up the underage league title winning the final game of the season last November 2-1 against Sligo Rovers. 

The squad that day included a number of players are now part of Rovers’ first team squad (Aidomo Emakhu, Justin Ferizaj and Gideon Tetteh).

Stephen Bradley’s side play away to Gent in the Europa Conference League the night after the under-19 first leg against AZ and are away to Molde the day after the second leg.

A number of players from last year’s National League winning side have moved on from the club - Dylan Duffy (UCD), Killian Cahill (Brighton), Adam Wells (Wexford – on loan), Jamie Doyle (Bohemians), Jordan Tallon (Wexford) and John Ryan (UCD).

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— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) August 31, 2022