Explainer: European draw details for Shamrock Rovers and potentially St. Patrick’s Athletic

Friday potentially could be an historic occasion with two League of Ireland sides involved in the draws for European elite level action. Shamrock Rovers will certainly be in the hat in Monaco. Barring a miracle in their Europa League play-off second leg in Tallaght on Thursday (where they trail PAOK 4-0), they will be placed in the Conference League draw. 

The hope is that St. Patrick’s Athletic will join them in the draw too if they can back up their impressive home first leg Conference League play-off 0-0 draw in Dublin in the second leg in Istanbul on Wednesday evening.

UEFA has updated their competition this season with the Swiss model meaning the old group stage home and away pairings involving three opponents has been replaced with new league stage format. The third tier competition has also been rebranded as the Conference League as it loses its ‘Europa’ prefix.

With Friday’s draw in mind, extratime.com has the details for the Conference League and for the very optimistic Shamrock Rovers supporters we have included the Europa League details as well.

When and where will the draws take place?

The UEFA Europa League and UEFA Conference League draws will be live streamed on UEFA.com from midday and 1.30pm respectively (Irish time). They will take place in the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.

When will the fixture list be available?
The fixture list will be available from Saturday 31 August as UEFA review the draw results to ensure no calendar clashes with teams playing in the same cities.

What is the Swiss model I keep hearing about?

We aren’t talking about Ursula Andress, the model and actress who played Honey Ryder in the James Bond film Dr. No.

We are of course talking about the revised competition format with the group stages now gone, replaced by the Swiss Model which is essentially one large league in which teams do not play every other team as would be normal.

Instead in the Conference League, there will be 36 teams in the new League Stage with each team playing six matches against six different opponents – three home and three away. Those matches begin with matchday one on 3 October with the final league stage game taking place on 19 December.

Teams are seeded into six pots of six teams. Each club will be drawn against one opponent from each of the six pots. The six pots will be paired (pots 1 and 2, pots 3 and 4, and post 5 and 6). Each club will play one opponent at home and the other opponent away from each of the two paired pots.

In the Europa League, the league phase includes 36 teams too but each team will play eight matches against eight different teams – four home and four away – beginning at the end of September and concluding with two matches in January 2025.

Could Pat’s end up playing Shamrock Rovers?

No. Teams from the same country cannot be drawn against one another. 

What is the story with qualification for the knock out stages?

Of the 36 teams in the league stage, 24 teams will advance into the knockout stages in February 2025. Teams one to eight go into the round of 16, while ninth to 24^th will go into a series of two legged matches to earn the right to go to the last 16. Teams 25 to 36 will be eliminated.

Let’s dream big so should Pats or Rovers (or both!) make it all the way to the Conference League final, where will it be played?

The 2024/25 Conference League season concludes at Stadion Wrocław in Poland. The home of two-time Polish champions Śląsk Wrocław, the venue has a capacity of over 40,000 and is the third biggest stadium in the country.

What is the prize money for the Conference League that Shamrock Rovers are chasing and potentially St. Patrick’s Athletic are too?

For claiming a place in the league stage of the Conference League, it will bring Rovers’ earnings up to a minimum €3.87 million (plus additional five year and ten year rankings UEFA prize money that could add close to another €1 million for Shamrock Rovers).

Prize money for results in the league stage of the Conference League is €400k for a win and €133k for a draw. Progression out of this league stage with qualification for the knockout round of the Conference League earns €300k, with the round of 16 earning €1.75m.

Should the Hoops somehow knock out PAOK, their earnings for making the Europa League would be €4.835m (€4.31m for making the league stage plus €175k per qualifying round excluding the play-off round plus additional five and ten year ranking prize money). In the Europa League wins earn €450k with €150k per draw (and with eight matches compared with six in the Conference League). 

Prize money for Pat’s is based on last year’s FAI Cup winners getting a bye directly into the Conference League second qualifying round due to Ireland’s current UEFA rankings. The Saints have had a lucrative run earning a minimum €1.275m should they be eliminated at this play-off stage. Qualification will earn them a minimum of €3.695m (plus ranking add ons).