CRYSTAL PALACE will be hoping they’ll be part of this year’s Conference League draw despite initially not being part of the competition.
Chelsea made history by becoming the first ever team to win all three European trophies after thrashing Real Betis 4-1 in last year’s Conference League final.
GettyCole Palmer inspired a Chelsea comeback in last year’s final[/caption]
And the Eagles will be hoping they can lead England to back-to-back titles in this competition.
But Palace thought their first taste of European football was going to be in the Europa League after beating Manchester City in last season’s FA Cup final.
However, Oliver Glasner’s men were demoted to the Conference League in July due to multi-club ownership rules.
Europe’s football governing body deemed them to have remained part of the same group as Lyon after the March 1 disengagement deadline – despite John Textor, majority owner of Eagle Football Holdings, selling his stake.
Palace subsequently submitted an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a bid to get reinstated, but they lost their appeal.
And as a result, the Eagles find themselves in European football’s third-tier competition, where the winners gain automatic qualification to the Europa League – the tournament they initially qualified for.
When is the Conference League draw?
The draw for the league phase of the 2025/26 Conference League will take place on Friday, August 29.
It is scheduled to get underway immediately after the Europa League conference which starts at 12pm BST.
Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo, Monaco is the chosen venue for the draw.
How to watch the Europa League draw for FREE and is there a live stream?
The 2025/26 Conference League draw will be broadcast LIVE on UEFA.com.
TNT Sports 1 will also air the draw on regular TV.
The broadcaster will provide a FREE live stream via the TNT Sports YouTube channel.
Alternatively, you can discover all the confirmed ties by following SunSport’s live blog of the draw.
What is the Conference League format?
The format of all three UEFA competitions was tweaked ahead of the 2024/25 season and will be maintained this year.
Following the qualification and play-off rounds, 36 teams will enter the tournament proper. First up is the league phase round. Each team will play six league fixtures between 2nd October and 18th December.
All six of our opponents will be from different UEFA associations, while no two teams will play each other more than once.
A draw on Friday, 29th August will determine who plays who in the league phase. The draw will feature the 24 winners of Conference League play-off round ties and the 12 losers from the Europa League play-off round.
Once the six matchdays have taken place, the final league table will determine who qualifies for the knockout stage – and at what round they will enter.
The top eight sides after six league games advance straight to the round of 16. Sides ranking 9th-24th will qualify for a two-legged play-off round.
The winners of those ties will join the top eight, in the Round of 16. Clubs finishing 25th-36th will be eliminated.
From the Round of 16 onwards, the competition mirrors other European tournaments, with two-legged home and away knockout ties – until the final, which is a one-off game at a neutral stadium.
Conference League teams and pots
Pot 1
Fiorentina
AZ Alkmaar
Shakhtar Donetsk
Slovan Bratislava
SK Rapid Wien
Legia Warsaw
Pot 2
Sparta Prague
Dynamo Kiev
CRYSTAL PALACE
Lech Poznan
Rayo Vallecano
Shamrock Rovers
Pot 3
Omonoia
Mainz
Strasbourg
Jagiellonia
Celhe
Rijeka
Pot 4
Zrinjski
Lincoln Red Imps
Kups Kuopio
AEK Athens
Aberdeen
Drita
Pot 5
Briedablik
Sigma Olomouc
Samsunspor
Rakow
AEK Larnaca
Shkendija
Pot 6
Hacken
Lausanne
U Craiova
Hamrun Spartans
Noah
Shelbourne
Conference League, league phase dates
Matchday 1: 2 October 2025
Matchday 2: 23 October 2025
Matchday 3: 6 November 2025
Matchday 4: 27 November 2025
Matchday 5: 11 December 2025
Matchday 6: 18 December 2025
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