Content deleted Content added
No edit summary Tags: Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
m fixing wikilinks |
||
Line 20:
The '''UEFA Conference League''' (abbreviated as '''UECL''' or sometimes '''UEFA ECL'''), which will be renamed the '''UEFA Conference League''' (sometimes referred to as simply the '''Conference League'''<ref name="Dates">{{cite web |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuropaconferenceleague/news/0287-1964b9e98427-5f4f03309ec1-1000--2024-25-uefa-conference-league-matches-final-key-dates/ |title=2024/25 UEFA Conference League: Matches, final, key dates |publisher=UEFA |date=30 April 2024 |access-date=2 May 2024}}</ref>) for the 2024–25 season, is an annual [[association football|football]] competition organised by the [[UEFA|Union of European Football Associations]] (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the third tier of continental club football in Europe, behind the second-tier [[UEFA Europa League|Europa League]], and the first-tier [[UEFA Champions League|Champions League]].
First contested in the [[2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League|2021–22 season]], the competition serves as the bottom level of the [[UEFA Europa League|Europa League]], which was reduced from 48 to 32 teams in the group stage. The competition is primarily contested by teams from lower-ranked UEFA member associations.<ref name="BBCannouncement">{{cite news |date=2 December 2018 |title='Europa League 2': Uefa confirms new tournament from 2021 |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46421656 |url-status=live |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181208234948/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46421656 |archive-date=8 December 2018}}</ref> No teams qualify directly to the group stage, with 10 teams eliminated in the Europa League play-offs and the rest coming from the Europa Conference League qualifiers. The winners of the competition are awarded a position in the Europa League the following season, unless they qualify for the Champions League.<ref name=uefa021218>{{cite press release |url=https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/newsid=2585829.html |title=UEFA Executive Committee approves new club competition |website=UEFA.com |publisher=Union of European Football Associations |date=2 December 2018 |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513044147/https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/news/newsid%3D2585829.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[AS Roma|Roma]] were the inaugural winners of the competition, having beaten [[Feyenoord]] 1–0 in the [[2022 UEFA Europa Conference League final|2022 final]].
==History==
| |||