After Champions League and Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League will become the third UEFA competition for European clubs.
The UEFA Europa Conference League will be the third UEFA club competition, running alongside the Champions League and Europa League.
The third-tier competition will likely commence in 2021/22 and run for the four years of the 2021/24 cycle at least.
The Europa League and Europa Conference League fixtures will both take place on Thursdays. The new league will conduct kick-offs at 5.45pm and 8pm in UK time.
Format
There will be three rounds to qualify – First Qualifying Round, Second Qualifying Round, and Third Qualifying Round.
Then, the advancing teams will enter a Play-Off round, a two-legged affair on August 19 and August 26.
Following success in this round, teams will play in the Group Stage. The eight group winners here will automatically go through to the last 16.
Curiously, additional knockout round play-offs will then be played before the round of 16.
These will be between the eight group runners-up and the third-ranked teams of the Europa League groups.
In Hindsight of the Super League
A major contention fans and other clubs had with the Super League was its complete disregard for open competition.
With the twelve, and later (per the plan) fifteen, Founding Clubs never facing relegation, the rest of Europe only had five slots to compete for and get promoted on merit each year.
This meant smaller clubs would have been less likely to see the big stage than even in UEFA’s Champions League.
Super League may have been good for the big clubs and their fans (who protested against it), but not for small clubs and local football.
The UEFA Europa Conference League, meanwhile, could be an opportunity for smaller sides to compete on the European stage.
It may be a great introduction for each country in European who struggle to qualify for UEFA’s other competitions.
Small clubs’ fans may enjoy seeing their sides compete with other nations’ sides like they may never have before.