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In-depth look at Shamrock Rovers' potential Euro opponents and fixture details
Shamrock Rovers Europa Conference League campaign will begin late next month against the winners of the first qualifying round tie between St Joseph's of Gibraltar and NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville.
Wednesday's second qualifying round draw at UEFA HQ in Nyon has thrown up the possibility of a second all-Ireland European tie this summer, with Shelbourne due to face Linfield in the Champions League.
It's a favourable draw for the Hoops. St Joseph's lost their only European tie against Irish opposition when they were eliminated from the Conference League by Shelbourne last year.
And while Rovers have lost to a Northern Irish side before in continental competition - on away goals against Linfield in 1984/85 European Cup - they hammered Larne last year in the league phase of the Conference League, winning 4-1 in Belfast.
Rovers and Cliftonville last met in friendly action in June 2022, with the Dublin side winning 1-0 in Solitude. Aidomo Emakhu, now at Millwall, scored the only goal from the penalty spot.
Here's the lowdown on Rovers' two potential second round opponents.
The majority of the team that faced Shelbourne last summer are still at St Joseph's, so it shouldn't be too much trouble getting footage of the side from Gibraltar. And their manager from last year, Abraham Paz, is still in charge. His playing career saw him play mostly in his homeland of Spain, as well as a five-year spell in Israel. He has been in charge of St Joseph's since June 2022. As a player, he won the Spanish second division with Cadiz in 2005.
They have plenty of players who are familiar with the big-match occasion, including goalkeeper Bradley Banda, Liam Walker and Mitch Gibson, who all featured in Gibraltar's 7-0 World Cup qualifier defeat to Croatia on June 6.
Their manager, Jim Magilton, was assistant at Shamrock Rovers with Michael O'Neill when, in 2011, the Hoops qualified for the group stages of European competition (Europa League) for the first time.
While they finished seventh in last year's NIFL, they won the League Cup.
There are plenty of Cliftonville players that will be familiar to League of Ireland fans, including goalkeeper David Odumosu, who played for Drogheda United and St Patrick's Athletic before moving to Solitude.
Dubliner and former Ireland underage international was on the books at St Pat's before a spell in Scotland, while Rory Hale lined out for Galway United and Derry City. He represented both Northern Ireland (Under-19) and Ireland (Under-21) at international level.
Striker Joe Gormley, meanwhile, has often been linked with moves to the League of Ireland, with Shamrock Rovers boss Stephen Bradley admitting last year that he tried to sign the 35-year-old.
'I obviously signed Rhys Marshall, I tried to sign Joe Gormley back in the day, I tried to sign a few players,' said Bradley ahead of Rovers' Conference League clash with Larne.
This is just the eighth season that St Joseph's have competed in Europe. So far, they have managed to progress past their first round just twice - although, ominously for Cliftonville, one of those was against Larne in the Conference League in 2022.
Otherwise, they have lost out to AEL Limassol (0-10 on aggregate), B36 Torshavn twice (penalties and 1-2), Glasgow Rangers (0-10), Levadia (2-4), Slavia Prague (0-11) and Shelbourne (2-3).
Cliftonville first played in Europe in 1979, when they lost 8-0 on aggregate to Nantes. Since then they have progressed through at least one round in 2007 (Intertoto Cup), beating Dinaburg of Latvia, in 2010 against Cibalia of Croatia, in 2016 by beating Luxembourg side Differdange and in 2019 against Welsh outfit Barry Town (all in the Europa League).
If they progress past St Joseph's, this will be their first ever meeting with a League of Ireland side in Europe.
St Joseph's were pipped by Lincoln Red Imps on goal-difference for the league title. Having led the table at the end of the regular season, with a three-point advantage over their rivals, they were overtaken in the five-game Championship Group round. They went out of the Cup at the quarter-final stage.
It wasn't the best campaign for Cliftonville in the league, as they finished seventh in the NIFL Premiership, 30 points behind winners Linfield. They secured European qualification by beating Glentoran and Coleraine in the semi-finals and final respectively of the Conference League play-off.
Not only did Cliftonville beat Glentoran to a European spot, but they also claimed League Cup gold over the same team at Windsor Park in March. Their defence of the Irish Cup they won in 2024, however, ended in defeat in the final to Dungannon Swifts, who won on penalties.
The two-legged ties will take place on July 24 and 31 - and Shamrock Rovers have been drawn away from home in the first-leg. Match dates and kick-off times will be confirmed by June 23.
