Reigning NIFL Women’s Premiership champions Glentoran Women will face Latvian opposition in the first qualifying round for this year’s UEFA Women’s Champions League.
They have been drawn against Riga FC Women in the semi-final of Mini Tournament 3 in qualifying round one.
And if the Glens defeat their opponents from the Latvian capital they will come up against either FC Pyunik Women from Armenia or Welsh side Wrexham Women, who will contest the other semi-final in MT3.
The semi-finals in MT3 are pencilled in for Wednesday 22 July, followed by the final and third-place play-off on Saturday 25 July.
The host venue for the mini tournament, kick-off times and ticketing arrangements will be confirmed by UEFA in due course.
If Glentoran Women manage to navigate their way through the first mini tournament they will face Danish side HB Hoge Women in the semi-final of Mini Tournament 7 in the second qualifying round in early August. Either Scottish champions Hearts or Lithuanian side FC Gintra, who are in the other half of the MT7 draw, will await them in the final if they progress.
The Glens entered today’s first round draw as a seeded club for the first time in their history, becoming the first women’s team from Northern Ireland to achieve seeded status in UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying.
Teams participating in round one of the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifiers will have three hurdles to navigate if they are to make it to the league phase of the competition this season: first and second qualifying rounds (both mini tournaments) plus a third qualifying round.
