Cliftonville on a collision course with League of Ireland giants in Europe
If the north Belfast Reds negotiate a way past St Joseph's of Gibraltar in the first round, they'll face the current League of Ireland leaders next as they seek to follow in the footsteps of Larne and qualify for the group stages of continental competition.
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But Jim Magilton's European play-off winners will have it all to do to reach the third stage, based on Shamrock Rovers' 4-1 dismantling of Larne at Windsor Park in that group stage last season.
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The potential all-island clash would come hot on the heels of Linfield's titanic tussle with reigning League of Ireland champions Shelbourne in the first round of Champions League qualifying.
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The winners of that clash between David Healy's Blues and Damien Duff's north Dublin outfit would go on to face Qarabag of Azerbaijan, who broke Linfield's hearts in the Europa League in 2019 with a victory on away goals.
The losers will drop into the Conference League second round qualifiers, where Dungannon Swifts have been drawn to face Liechtenstein side FC Vaduz.
Rodney McAree's side earned their spot in continental competition - for the first time in 18 years - by defeating Cliftonville on penalties in the Irish Cup final back in May.
The Irish League's other European representatives Larne will take on FC Sheriff Tiraspol of Moldova or FC Prishtina of Kosovo should they defeat Latvian outfit FRK Auda in round one.
The ties for the second round of Conference League qualifying are scheduled for Thursday July 24 and Thursday July 31.
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