Newcastle have missed out on a UEFA Cup spot after they failed to be picked out of the hat at a draw in Switzerland this morning. Two places in the preliminary round were up for grabs with 11 teams from around Europe included in the draw based on who came top of the Fair Play League. In England, Newcastle finished third in the Premiership's Fair Play League behind Manchester United and Ipswich, who both qualifed for Europe automatically this season.
Newcastle and Scottish club Dunfermline were among those hopeful of being picked out of the hat. Other teams involved were IFK Norrkoping of Sweden, Swiss club Neuchatel Xamax FC, Tromso IL of Norway, Estonian side FC Valga, Myllykosken Pallo-47 from Finland, FK Teplice of the Czech Republic, Iceland's IBV Vestmannaeyjar and representatives from Slovakia and the Ukraine where the domestic seasons have yet to end.
In the end, Finnish team My-Pa 47 and the Slovakian representative, yet to be determined, who were picked out of the hat. They will both be involved in a two-legged tie in the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup on August 9 and 23 next season. An automatic spot had already been handed to Belarus, who were the overall winners of UEFA's Fair Play table. That place was awarded to Shakhtior Soligorsk.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
