Cork City await UEFA Fair Play draw

Cork City take on Shelbourne in the eircom League tonight but they are up against Matt Holland's Charlton also in the draw for the Fair Play League.

The draw for the Fair Play League takes place in Germany tonight, with 11 European teams vying for two places in the UEFA Cup.

The teams are based on their disciplinary record last season.

The 10 other teams who will go into the ballot along with Charlton are: Esbjerg (Denmark), SK Brann (Norway), Freiburg (Germany), Cork City (Republic of Ireland), FC Lahti (Finland), Real Mallorca (Spain), KS Teuta (Albania), FC Mika (Armenia), Throttur Reykjavik (Iceland), plus a team from Ukraine yet to be decided as their league season runs until June 19.

As Pat Dolan hopes his team make the UEFA Cup, Ireland's Matt Holland is hoping to lead Charlton on a European adventure through draw.

The Republic of Ireland midfielder would welcome the prospect of European football coming to The Valley for the first time.

“It would be great for the fans here,” he said on the club’s official website, www.charlton-athletic.co.uk.

“We would have liked to have done it through the league, but if it does come about through the Fair Play draw, we’ll take it – especially after the season we had.

“We benefited from playing in the UEFA Cup when I was at Ipswich and it was a great experience playing against the top sides like Inter at the San Siro.”

The Addicks finished third in the discipline-based rankings for England, behind winners Arsenal and Chelsea.

However, with both of those clubs having already secured a place in the Champions League, Charlton were put forward as the Football Association’s representatives.

Last season Manchester City came through the Fair Play League system to get a crack at European football.

And should Charlton be successful, it would not leave much time for changes to pre-season plans as qualification would mean a two-legged UEFA Cup qualifying tie on July 15 and 29, meaning the club’s planned trip to China would most probably be shelved.

The draw will take place during the half-time interval at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final between Italy and Serbia and Montenegro in Bochum this evening, kick-off 7.45pm.