Peamount United will take on Serbian champions ZFK Spartak Subotica in their Round 1 Qualifier in the 2021/22 UEFA Women's Champions League.
Selected in Group 9, the SSE Airtricity Women's National League champions have been pitted against a team with nine League titles in their history and reached the Round of 32 in last season's Champions League.
The reward for the winner of that tie, which will be played on August 18th, will be a meeting with either FC Twente or Tbilisi Nike in the Champions Path of the restructured competition format on August 21st.
In reaction to the Draw, Peamount United manager James O'Callaghan said: "We're really excited to be going into the UEFA Women's Champions League for a second year in a row. It's a tough draw with a team that has dominated their League for the last 10 years.
"It's going to be a big challenge for us. Last year, we felt that we held our own [against Glasgow City] and can take great confidence from that. We feel that we have unfinished business in this competition.
"We really want to do it for ourselves and for the League, to show how good Peamount are and how good the football is in Ireland. We want to put on a performance so that people give us more respect, but we know that it is going to be a big challenge."
Venue and kick-off times are still to be confirmed for both games.
CONFIRMED | #UWCL @peamountutd will take on Spartak Subotica ?? in their Round 1 Qualifier on August 18th
The winners then take on either Twente ?? or Tbilisi Nike ?? to reach the Final of Round 1, which will be played on August 21st pic.twitter.com/Yv2X3zUqkh
— Women's National League (@LoiWomen) July 2, 2021
New Structure
Round 1 is one of two rounds before the new 16-team group stage, which begins in October. It will be split into two paths: the champions path and the league path.
In both paths, Round 1 will consist of two stages, each of one-off matches: Semi-Finals (18 August) and Finals/third-place Play-Offs (21 August). The winners of each Final (11 in champions path, four in league path) will progress to Round 2.
Champions Path
Forty-three teams will enter at this stage: the champions of the associations ranked eighth and below.
They will be drawn into 11 mini-tournaments: 10 with four teams and one with three teams.
The winners of the 11 finals will progress to Round 2, into which three teams have direct entry. Seven group stage places will be on offer in Round 2.
League Path
Sixteen teams will enter at this stage: the runners-up from the associations ranked seventh to 16th and the third-placed teams from the associations ranked first to sixth.
They will be drawn into four mini-tournaments of four teams each. The winners of the four finals will progress to Round 2, into which six teams have direct entry. Five group stage places will be on offer in Round 2.
Key Dates
Round 1 (one-venue mini-tournaments)
Semi-finals: 18 August
Finals/third-place play-offs: 21 August
Round 2 Draw: 22 August
Round 2
First leg: 31 August/1 September
Second leg: 8/9 September
Group Stage Draw: 13 September
Group Stage
Matchday 1: 5/6 October
Matchday 2: 13/14 October
Matchday 3: 9/10 November
Matchday 4: 17/18 November
Matchday 5: 8/9 December
Matchday 6: 15/16 December
Quarter-Final & Semi-Final Draw: 20 December
Quarter-Finals
First leg: 22/23 March
Second leg: 30/31 March
Semi-Finals
First leg: 23/24 April
Second leg: 30 April/1 May
Final (Juventus Stadium, Turin)
Sunday 22 May
WNL Teams in UEFA Women's Champions League
2011/12
Group Stage: Rayo Vallencano 1-0 Peamount United
Group Stage: Peamount United 7-0 Krka
Group Stage: Parnu JK 1-5 Peamount United
Round of 32: Peamount United 0-2 Paris Saint-Germain
Round of 32: Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 Peamount United
2012/13
Group Stage: SFK 2000 4-0 Peamount United
Group Stage: Peamount United 5-0 ASA Tel Aviv University
Group Stage: Cardiff Met. Ladies 0-4 Peamount United
2013/14
Group Stage: MTK 3-2 Raheny United
Group Stage: Raheny United 1-2 Zhytlobud-1 Kharkiv
Group Stage: Crusaders Strikers 1-2 Raheny United
2014/15
Group Stage: Olimipa Cluj 1-2 Raheny United
Group Stage: Raheny United 2-0 NSA Sofia
Group Stage: Hibernians 1-2 Raheny United
Round of 32: Raheny United 0-4 Bristol Academy
Round of 32: Bristol Academy 2-1 Raheny United
2015/16
Group Stage: Gintra Universitetas 0-1 Wexford Youths
Group Stage: Wexford Youths 0-6 Medyk Konin
Group Stage: Cardiff Met. 1-5 Wexford Youths
2016/17
Group Stage: BIIK Kazygurt 3-1 Wexford Youths
Group Stage: Wexford Youths 1-2 Gintra Universitetas
Group Stage: ARF Criuleni 0-0 Wexford Youths
2017/18
Group Stage: Medyk Konin 0-0 Shelbourne
Group Stage: Shelbourne 0-0 PK-35 Vantaa
Group Stage: Linfield 1-3 Shelbourne
2018/19
Group Stage: Ajax 4-1 Wexford Youths
Group Stage: Wexford Youths 0-3 Por/KA
Group Stage: Linfield 2-3 Wexford Youths
2019/20
Group Stage: Wexford Youths 1-3 Vllaznia
Group Stage: Gintra Universitetas 1-2 Wexford Youths
Group Stage: Birkirkara 2-7 Wexford Youths
2020/21
First Qualifying Round: Glasgow City 0-0 Peamount United (AET - 6-5 pen)
