It's that time of year again when League of Ireland supporters dust off their passports in the hope of an extended run in European competitions.
Just weeks after Manchester City and West Ham United lifted the Champions League and Europa Conference League trophies respectively, both competitions are set to get up and running once again, with four SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division sides looking to progress.
For the third year running, Shamrock Rovers will aim to qualify for the Champions League group stage, while Derry City, St. Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk will represent the league in the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Here's everything you need to know about the teams standing in the way of the Irish sides.
LOI in Europe: Shamrock Rovers v Breidablik
Rovers host the Icelandic club in the first leg of the Champions League first qualifying round on Tuesday July 11th, with kick-off at Tallaght Stadium scheduled for 8pm.
Breidablik won their second-ever Icelandic title last season, but the nation's lowly Uefa ranking meant that they had to come through a preliminary tournament, which also included the champions of Andorra, Montenegro and San Marino.
Rovers should be confident of taking a result to the return leg on July 18th, but need to be wary of side that is dotted with Icelandic internationals.
Victory in the tie will send Stephen Bradley's men into a second qualifying round clash with Danish champions FC Copenhagen, while defeat will see them drop into the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
Derry City v HB Torshavn
The FAI Cup holders will be travelling to the Faroe Islands for the first leg of their Europa Conference League on Thursday July 13th, for a game which has a kick-off time of 7pm.
Havnar Boltfelag, to give the Faroese outfit their full title, finished fourth in their domestic league last season, ensuring qualification to European competition for the fifth successive campaign.
After links with English League One side Barnsley ended, Candystripes boss Ruaidhri Higgins will now focus on going one better that last season's exit at the first Conference League hurdle.
The second leg of the tie will take place at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium on July 20th, with the winner facing KuPS of Finland in the next round.
St. Patrick's Athletic v F91 Dudelange
St. Pat's have been in flying form on the domestic front of late, and may have ambitions to go one better than a Conference League qualifying campaign next season.
For now though, they'll have to make do with a trip to Luxembourg, for a first leg that takes place at 6.30pm Irish time on Wednesday July 12th.
Dudelange finished third in their domestic league, a year after being crowned champions for the 16th time in their history. They have recent history with Irish sides, having lost 4-0 on aggregate to Bohemians in the 2021/22 Conference League qualifiers
The return leg of this tie takes place at Richmond Park on July 20th, with the winner facing Northern Ireland's Glentoran or Malta's Gzira United in the next round.
Dundalk v Bruno's Magpies
The Lilywhites are back in Europe after a two-year absence and face a two-legged tie against Bruno's Magpies of Gibraltar.
Bruno's were formed in 2013 by some friends who drank in Bruno's Bar on the tiny territory, and this is their second consecutive crack at the Conference League qualifiers.
Last season, they went out to Crusaders, and Dundalk should be favourites to progress to a second qualifying round tie against either Iceland's KA Akureyri or Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads.
The first leg of this tie takes place in Gibraltar at 5pm Irish time on Thursday July 13th, with the return set for Oriel Park seven days later.
💻 We’re delighted to confirm that both legs of our upcoming UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round tie with FCB Magpies will be streamed live.https://t.co/22Ib8j35zQ pic.twitter.com/FU3WarGMfR
— Dundalk FC (@DundalkFC) July 6, 2023
