california_saintee Posted May 15, 2021 Report Share Posted May 15, 2021 So, with 5th place in the league secured, Saints will, at minimum, be entered into the second qualification round for the new Conference League competition. The draw's being made on June 16th, and the games will be played July 22nd & 29th. Aberdeen enter at the same stage. To get into the group stages, we'd have to win through that round, the 3rd qualifying round, and a playoff round, against increasing tough opposition. The other path to Europe, through the cup, has been well documented: The winners are entered directly into the play-off round for the Europa League, with the draw on August 2nd and games on August 19th & 26th. They'll be seeded in the top group of teams. Play-off winners advance to the group stages, and losers are parachuted into the Conference League group stages. The number of clubs in the EL group stages has been reduced to 32, with a larger share of the money pot for everyone. The difference is stakes is absolutely massive, and won't be repeated in future years. Scotland are ranked 14th in UEFA's coefficient table, and starting in 2022, the cup winners for #14 will only get into the last qualification round for the EL, will need a win to get into a play-off, and without any parachute. They won't be seeded in the EL play-off draw. The coefficient's probably going to drop Scotland down a few places in the next few years too, so it'll only get harder. So, not only is Saturday's game massive for normal reasons, the rewards are insane for a wee club like ours. It dwarfs the 2014 Final in everything except us popping our trophy cherry. We will get the play-off game. We'll be seeded in the draw. We won't have to play in Europe until after the regular season has started. Even in the conference league, we'll be playing big name teams. The financial rewards are transformative. And it's a once-in-a-lifetime fluke of UEFA scheduling. COYS! Tricky6, sixties saintee, blueheaven and 2 others 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted May 15, 2021 Report Share Posted May 15, 2021 1 hour ago, california_saintee said: So, with 5th place in the league secured, Saints will, at minimum, be entered into the second qualification round for the new Conference League competition. The draw's being made on June 16th, and the games will be played July 22nd & 29th. Aberdeen enter at the same stage. To get into the group stages, we'd have to win through that round, the 3rd qualifying round, and a playoff round, against increasing tough opposition. The other path to Europe, through the cup, has been well documented: The winners are entered directly into the play-off round for the Europa League, with the draw on August 2nd and games on August 19th & 26th. They'll be seeded in the top group of teams. Play-off winners advance to the group stages, and losers are parachuted into the Conference League group stages. The number of clubs in the EL group stages has been reduced to 32, with a larger share of the money pot for everyone. The difference is stakes is absolutely massive, and won't be repeated in future years. Scotland are ranked 14th in UEFA's coefficient table, and starting in 2022, the cup winners for #14 will only get into the last qualification round for the EL, will need a win to get into a play-off, and without any parachute. They won't be seeded in the EL play-off draw. The coefficient's probably going to drop Scotland down a few places in the next few years too, so it'll only get harder. So, not only is Saturday's game massive for normal reasons, the rewards are insane for a wee club like ours. It dwarfs the 2014 Final in everything except us popping our trophy cherry. We will get the play-off game. We'll be seeded in the draw. We won't have to play in Europe until after the regular season has started. Even in the conference league, we'll be playing big name teams. The financial rewards are transformative. And it's a once-in-a-lifetime fluke of UEFA scheduling. COYS! Thanks for that my head's nipping. Will leave it to you to update us the season unfolds. MySpazz and Melbourne Saint 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueheaven Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 Great post - really emphasises just how huge an opportunity Saints have on Saturday. In terms of the reward up for grabs, it's going to be undoubtedly the most important match in our history by quite some distance. This may well be the biggest opportunity we'll ever have to play in a European group stage. I'll be honest - I've already been feeling a bit sick with nerves. God knows what it must be like to be a player going into this sort of occasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat McGroin Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 Getting my PCR tests ordered MySpazz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melbourne Saint Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 Wonder what the win bonus is for the squad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.B.B:- Adz Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 3 minutes ago, Melbourne Saint said: Wonder what the win bonus is for the squad? Pretty high for first team squad, but that will be covered by the prize money. Upwards of £50,000 winning the match and not that much less for runners-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cagey Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 53 minutes ago, R.B.B:- Adz said: Pretty high for first team squad, but that will be covered by the prize money. Upwards of £50,000 winning the match and not that much less for runners-up. Are you sure. Not easy to find out with there being no sponsors. I think Saints get 300 grand for Betfred. Can't see any info on league & Scottish cup but last season's 5th got £1.68 million. Can't see the prize money being that great without sponsors. Will just have to win the cup to get the Euroemillions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat McGroin Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 1 hour ago, Cagey said: Are you sure. Not easy to find out with there being no sponsors. I think Saints get 300 grand for Betfred. Can't see any info on league & Scottish cup but last season's 5th got £1.68 million. Can't see the prize money being that great without sponsors. Will just have to win the cup to get the Euroemillions. The TV deal was improved this year. I read that 5th this year should be just north of £2m Cagey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
california_saintee Posted May 16, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Pat McGroin said: The TV deal was improved this year. I read that 5th this year should be just north of £2m £2.025m Is the estimate Melbourne Saint 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MySpazz Posted May 16, 2021 Report Share Posted May 16, 2021 2 hours ago, Pat McGroin said: The TV deal was improved this year. I read that 5th this year should be just north of £2m Win the cup and financially the reward will be decent but nothing on HAD we had fans in the grounds for these finals. What a year.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueheaven Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 15 hours ago, california_saintee said: £2.025m Is the estimate Surprised there's not more of a gulf in prize money between 5th and 2nd. The only really big jump comes between 2nd and 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat McGroin Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 1 hour ago, blueheaven said: Surprised there's not more of a gulf in prize money between 5th and 2nd. The only really big jump comes between 2nd and 1st. Celtic renegotiated the terms when Rangers went to league 2. It used to be 1st and 2nd got the lion share then there was a gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skivealive Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 Aren't we actually 11th just now? 11 Scotland 4.375 4.000 6.750 9.750 8.500 33.375 4 As we are due to lose a 4.375 season, as long as the 5 teams that get into europe do alright, we should (hopefully) hold on to that position. And as long as we are between 7th and 15th in the ranking, get 5 teams into Europe. Not sure if that is due to change for 22/23? california_saintee and blueheaven 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abernethy Saint Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 We also get a shedload of guaranteed points just for starting in higher rounds this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
california_saintee Posted May 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 9 hours ago, skivealive said: Aren't we actually 11th just now? 11 Scotland 4.375 4.000 6.750 9.750 8.500 33.375 4 As we are due to lose a 4.375 season, as long as the 5 teams that get into europe do alright, we should (hopefully) hold on to that position. And as long as we are between 7th and 15th in the ranking, get 5 teams into Europe. Not sure if that is due to change for 22/23? You're absolutely right. Next season, nations ranked #13 and #14 lose their automatic entrant into the EL playoff round, but Scotland will keep theirs, and we'll probably have the same the following year. While we're dreaming of what might be, another interesting nugget: Teams finishing third in their EL groups are dropped into a knockout round with the group runners-up in the Conference League, for a place in the last-16 of that competition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 Yawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 Just now, slf said: Yawn I agree . There’s a fuqing cup final tae contend. priorities dudes priorities . MySpazz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYellowBox Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 On 5/15/2021 at 9:02 PM, california_saintee said: So, with 5th place in the league secured, Saints will, at minimum, be entered into the second qualification round for the new Conference League competition. The draw's being made on June 16th, and the games will be played July 22nd & 29th. Aberdeen enter at the same stage. To get into the group stages, we'd have to win through that round, the 3rd qualifying round, and a playoff round, against increasing tough opposition. The other path to Europe, through the cup, has been well documented: The winners are entered directly into the play-off round for the Europa League, with the draw on August 2nd and games on August 19th & 26th. They'll be seeded in the top group of teams. Play-off winners advance to the group stages, and losers are parachuted into the Conference League group stages. The number of clubs in the EL group stages has been reduced to 32, with a larger share of the money pot for everyone. The difference is stakes is absolutely massive, and won't be repeated in future years. Scotland are ranked 14th in UEFA's coefficient table, and starting in 2022, the cup winners for #14 will only get into the last qualification round for the EL, will need a win to get into a play-off, and without any parachute. They won't be seeded in the EL play-off draw. The coefficient's probably going to drop Scotland down a few places in the next few years too, so it'll only get harder. So, not only is Saturday's game massive for normal reasons, the rewards are insane for a wee club like ours. It dwarfs the 2014 Final in everything except us popping our trophy cherry. We will get the play-off game. We'll be seeded in the draw. We won't have to play in Europe until after the regular season has started. Even in the conference league, we'll be playing big name teams. The financial rewards are transformative. And it's a once-in-a-lifetime fluke of UEFA scheduling. COYS! This isn't quote the case anymore. Slight change to the set up promotes where the Cypriot cup winners will play. Knock on effect is that the SC winners now need Chelsea to finish in top 6 in England AND win the champions league OR Villarreal to win the Europa League and finish in top 6 in Spain. If they don't the SC winners come into the Wuropa Leage a round earlier, so no guarantee of Conferemce leage group stages. Obviously a more difficult task and neither Chelsea or Villareal are favourites..... california_saintee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saintdunc Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 (edited) 18 minutes ago, TheYellowBox said: This isn't quote the case anymore. Slight change to the set up promotes where the Cypriot cup winners will play. Knock on effect is that the SC winners now need Chelsea to finish in top 6 in England AND win the champions league OR Villarreal to win the Europa League and finish in top 6 in Spain. If they don't the SC winners come into the Wuropa Leage a round earlier, so no guarantee of Conferemce leage group stages. Obviously a more difficult task and neither Chelsea or Villareal are favourites..... Villareal are joint 6th with Real Betis, and have a superior goal difference with one game to go in La Liga, so all is not yet lost! Sadly they are away to Real Madrid in the final game and they need points to become Champions! Edited May 17, 2021 by Saintdunc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
california_saintee Posted May 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 35 minutes ago, TheYellowBox said: This isn't quote the case anymore. Slight change to the set up promotes where the Cypriot cup winners will play. Knock on effect is that the SC winners now need Chelsea to finish in top 6 in England AND win the champions league OR Villarreal to win the Europa League and finish in top 6 in Spain. If they don't the SC winners come into the Wuropa Leage a round earlier, so no guarantee of Conferemce leage group stages. Obviously a more difficult task and neither Chelsea or Villareal are favourites..... Well, that's disappointing (or, at least, it will be if we win on Saturday). The main source I have for this is https://kassiesa.net/uefa/AccessList2021.html, which was just updated to reflect what you're saying :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 2 hours ago, slf said: I agree . There’s a fuqing cup final tae contend. priorities dudes priorities . Correct. I so hope all works out . need these European fuqers tae. get there act together.I want somewhere in the fatherland .nord Rhein Westphalia Düsseldorf area please ya kunts. Uber alles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 Just now, slf said: Correct. I so hope all works out . need these European fuqers tae. get there act together.I want somewhere in the fatherland .nord Rhein Westphalia Düsseldorf area please ya kunts. Uber alles. Ein volk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYellowBox Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 56 minutes ago, Saintdunc said: Villareal are joint 6th with Real Betis, and have a superior goal difference with one game to go in La Liga, so all is not yet lost! Sadly they are away to Real Madrid in the final game and they need points to become Champions! I think La Liga goes by games win before goal difference if on same points, so villareal will need to take something from real madrid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MySpazz Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 I don't care what happens, so long as we can all go on the piss for at least two or three away matches.....and preferably not Spartak Trnava or Minsk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slf Posted May 17, 2021 Report Share Posted May 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, MySpazz said: I don't care what happens, so long as we can all go on the piss for at least two or three away matches.....and preferably not Spartak Trnava or Minsk. I agree. Am in.will get ye a beer . MySpazz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.