Rhyl Face Skonto Riga in Champions League

European Cup
By Chris O'Brien
June 28 2004

One Welsh side have already had European dreams dashed by Latvian opposition, and now Rhyl will also be off to Latvia as they kick off their first ever Champions League campaign. John Hulse's side will face Skonto Riga in the first preliminary round of the European Cup.

Rhyl are off to Latvia following the draw for the first preliminary round of the European Cup. The North Welsh outfit kick off their first Champions League campaign with a tough two-legged task against Skonto Riga, and despite their quadruple success on the domestic front last season, John Hulse's side will start as underdogs for the clash.

Skonto dominate Latvian football and are certainly no strangers to European football. They have lifted the national league title for the last 13 seasons in a row, thus supplying the club with regular European football, and there manager Aleksandrs Starkovs stunned European football by leading the Latvian national side into the Euro 2004 finals where they put up some impressive performances and held Germany to a 0-0 draw in a result that ultimately cost Rudi Voller his job.

Skonto Riga are also not unfamiliar with the Welsh game. In their Champions League outing of 2002, Barry Town were hammered 5-0 out in Latvia and lost 1-0 at Jenner Park in the second-leg. Newtown supporters don't have fond memories of the experienced outfit either, taking a 7-1 aggregate thumping in the Uefa Cup clash of 1996.

Starkovs is in charge of a very talented squad, with seven of the players making up the Latvia squad for the European Championships held in Portugal. The first-leg abroad takes place on 14th July, with the home leg on the 21st July. Rhyl hope to play their game at Belle Vue, by which time they will be hoping they are still in the tie. Rhyl's crowds have flown recently following a successful 2003/2004 season, and the club will be hoping to see another packed house for the Champions League tie.

A lucrative tie against Turkish side Trabsonzpor could await Rhyl if they pull of a shock against Skonto. The second round matches would take place on 28th July and 4th August, with John Hulse's side to be at home first if they are to progress.

Welsh Premier fans may also have been interested to see who other the Northern Irish and Irish entrants got in the draw. Linfield face a very tough challenge against Finnish giants HJK Helsinki, whilst Shelbourne may fancy their chances against Israel's KR Reykjavík. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing good luck to these sides on their European adventures.

The full draw for the first preliminary round is as follows:
KR Reykjavík v Shelbourne FC
Skonto FC v Rhyl FC
FC Flora v NK Gorica
HJK Helsinki v Linfield FC
FK Pobeda v FC Pyunik
FC Sheriff v AS Jeunesse Esch
FC WIT Georgia v HB Tórshavn
Sliema Wanderers FC v FBK Kaunas
NK Široki Brijeg v PFC Neftchi
FC Gomel v KF Tirana