pre-season tour to austria or switzerland on cards for dons
By Paul Third
Published: 19/05/2009
Aberdeen could be heading for Austria or Switzerland for their pre-season tour if they qualify for European competition.
The Dons must beat Hibernian at Pittodrie on Sunday and hope rivals Dundee United lose at home to Rangers if they are to claim a place in the Europa League.
If Aberdeen do earn a return to Uefa competition, they face a hectic summer of football if they are to qualify for the group stages.
Dons manager Jimmy Calderwood said: “At the moment we are looking at coming back on June 22 if we are in Europe and July 2 if we are not.
“Austria is a possibility at the moment for pre-season. We usually go to Holland, but there will be no competitive games for us, which we would need if we were tuning up for Europe.
“Teams from Austria and the Republic of Ireland will be in the middle of their domestic season, but with Switzerland close by we may get the chance to play a couple of games there, too.
“It will depend on whether we get into Europe and what the finances are, but I want the best-quality opposition available if we make it.
“If we get into Europe the players will be back in pre-season training in Aberdeen for a week to 10 days before heading off somewhere to prepare for the Europa League qualifiers.
“It’s not ideal, but, hopefully, it will be a pleasant problem for us to deal with after Sunday.â€
The Scottish Cup winners will join the competition at the play-off round next season on August 20.
However, if Rangers beat Falkirk in the cup final at Hampden on May 30, Hearts will take the play-off round place with the Bairns beginning their campaign in Europe at the second qualifying round stage on July 16.
Aberdeen or Dundee United will start their campaign on July 30 if Rangers win the cup, with the team qualifying via the place awarded to the SPL by Uefa due to fair play beginning on July 2.
Motherwell are the club on course to earn the reward, with either St Mirren or Hibernian ready to take their place depending on the final fair play ranking points at the end of the campaign.
EUROPA LEAGUE
IF RANGERS WIN SCOTTISH CUP
July 2 – First qualifying round. SPL fair play representative.
July 16 – Second qualifying round. Falkirk.
July 30 – Third qualifying r ound. Dundee United or Aberdeen
August 20 – Play-off round. Hearts.
IF FALKIRK WIN SCOTTISH CUP
July 2 – First qualifying round. SPL fair play representative.
July 16 - Second qualifying round. Dundee United or Aberdeen.
