Derry City could face Irish League side Crusaders
Derry City could face Samuel Gelston’s Irish Whiskey Irish Cup winners Crusaders in the Europa Conference League next month.
The draw for the two-legged first qualifying round takes place this afternoon and Ruaidhrí Higgins’ side’s potential opponents are very similar to their 2022 opponents.
This year City could come up against Stephen Baxter’s Crusaders, or one from Levadia Tallinn of Estonia, North Macedonia’s KF Shkëndija, Faroe Islands’ HB Tórshavn or Latvian men Riga FC, who knocked the Candy Stripes out last season. The Brandywell men suffering a disappointing 4-0 aggregate loss to the Latvian side.
Incredibly City’s possible opponents from last year’s first qualifying round also featured the Crues, Riga and Tórshavn.
The 2023 Conference League draw, which takes place in Nyon, Switzerland, is scheduled to take place at 2pm today and will be shown live here.
First-leg matches will take place on Thursday, July 13 with the return leg the following week.