Birkirkara in UEFA competition for 15th consecutive time

by Ayrton Galea - 3rd May 2011

Birkirkara will be competing in the UEFA Competitions for the 15th consecutive time. Last Saturday they secured the third place in the domestic league. This means an automatic spot in the Europa League, as today it was officially confirmed that Tarxien Rainbows did not obtain the licence to take part in the UEFA competitions.

As things are, Birkirkara will enter this competition in Round One. However if they manage to win the U*BET FA Trophy, or they place second in the league and Valletta or Tarxien Rainbows win the U*BET FA Trophy, Birkirkara will enter the competition in Round Two. This is on the basis that, contrary to popular believe, preference is given to the FA Trophy Winner, followed by position in the league, and then the losing finalist of the FA Trophy.

The 2011-12 UEFA Europa League will be the third season of the competition since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup. As part of a trial that started in the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League, two extra officials - one on each goal line - will be used in all matches of the competition.

The draws for the Champions League and Europa League Qualifying Round 1 and Qualifying Round 2 will be drawn on the 20th June .

Birkirkara in the UEFA Competitions

Birkirkara took part for the first time in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1997 when they faced FC Spartak Trnava of Slovakia, with the latter managed to eliminate Birkirkara with an aggregate of 4-1.

In 1998-1999 Birkirkara managed to participate in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once again. In the 1999-2000 season they managed to take part in the UEFA Cup which was the same competition but with a new name.

In 2001 'The Stripes' wrote a new page in their history when they took part in the UEFA Champions League for the first time ever. They were drawn against KR Reykjavík of Iceland. KR Reykjavík did not find any difficulty to eliminate Birkirkara as they won with an aggregate of 6-1.

The most consecutive times that Birkirkara participated in the UEFA Cup is six, from 2001 till 2006. In these years there were two highlights. In 2001 'The Stripes' managed to eliminate FC Lokomotivi Tbilisi of Georgia with an aggregate of 1-1, as Birkirkara registered a 1-1 draw away, and the home leg ended in a goal-less draw. In the 1st round, they faced Dynamo Moscow and the foreigners advanced with an aggregate of 1-0. The second highlight in these six years was in 2004 when Birkirkara managed to pick up the first victory ever in the UEFA Cup when they beat KF Partizani with a score of 2-1. However this win was not enough as the foreigners registered a 4-2 win in their home leg and thus eliminated Birkirkara with an aggregate score of 5-4.

In 2006-2007 Birkirkara took part for the second time in the Champions League when they faced B36 Tórshavn of Faroe Islands. Although many thought that it was an easy draw, B36 registered a 3-0 win at the National Stadium in the first leg to dash Birkirkara's hoped. In the second leg Birkirkara registered a 2-2 draw.

In season 2007-2008 'The Stripes' participated in the Intertoto Cup for the first and only time in their history. In the competition Birkirkara met NK Maribor of Slovakia, and they were eliminated with a score of 5-1.

In 2008-2009, Birkirkara took part once again in the UEFA Cup when they were eliminated by the Croatian's giants Hajduk Split with an aggregate of 7-0 score, after they registered a 4-0 win at home, and a 3-0 win at the National Stadium.

In season 2009-2010 Birkirkara took part in the Europa League, which is the amalgamation of the UEFA Cup and the Intertoto Cup. Two satisfactory performances against Slaven Belupo were not enough for Birkirkara as the Slovakian's eliminated 'The Stripes' with an aggregate of 1-0.

In the 2010-2011 season Birkirkara participated in the Champions League for the third time They eliminated Santa Coloma with an aggregate of 7-3, registering two victories. The first one was a walkover victory, while in the second one 'The Stripes' won the match with a score of 4-3. In the second round Birkirkara met MSK Zilina, and the yellow-reds wrote a new page in the Maltese football history when they won the first match of the 1st round with a solitary goal. They were the first Maltese team ever to win a match at this stage. However in the second leg Birkirkara could do nothing to stop the Slovakian's and they lost the match with a score of 3-0. This meant that Birkirkara were eliminated with an aggregate score of 3-1.

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