How UEFA new rule might affect Newcastle United qualification for UEFA Conference League next season

Newcastle United wants to make it into the UEFA Conference League for next season.
Newcastle United hasn’t been told what will happen in Europe yet, as the 2023–24 Premier League season is over.

They came in seventh place in the English Premier League, which has been good enough for them to play in Europe eight times in the last nine years. But as things stand, England’s final spot in the European qualifying round has not yet been decided.

Manchester City and Manchester United will play in the FA Cup final on Saturday, which will decide the last European spot.

Who will get the last spot in the European qualifying round?

Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, and Aston Villa have all qualified for the Champions League next season. Tottenham Hotspur, on the other hand, has qualified for the Europa League.

As of now, Liverpool has already qualified for the Champions League after winning the Carabao Cup in February. This means that the Conference League spot they won goes to the next best-ranked team.

As things stand, that’s Chelsea. However, things could change because the FA Cup winners get a spot in the Europa League.

The Europa League spot will go to sixth place if Manchester City wins both the league and the FA Cup. The Conference League spot will go to seventh place if they win both.

That means Chelsea would go to the Europa League and Newcastle would go to the Conference League.

But Manchester United will be able to play in the Europa League if they win the FA Cup. They did not finish in the European spots. Chelsea will be able to play in the Conference League, while Newcastle will not be able to play in any European competitions.

Playoffs for the Conference League
Next season, England will play in the Conference League with either Newcastle or Chelsea. There is no longer a play-off round for Premier League teams in the Conference League. Instead, they go straight to the group stages of the Champions League and Europa League.

The draw for the play-off round will happen on August 5. The first leg will be on August 22 and the second leg will be on August 29. Teams that win their play-off games will move on to the competition’s group stage.

The Premier League team that makes it to the Conference League will enter the play-offs through the “main path,” which means they won’t have to play league winners from other UEFA countries.

Chelsea’s UEFA coefficient score would probably be the highest of any team in the league. Newcastle, on the other hand, would still be a “seeded” team in the play-off round with a score of about 20.860.

Sides that are seeded are drawn against sides that aren’t seeded and have lower ratings.

This is how the Conference League will work next year
Like the Champions League and Europa League, the Conference League has changed how it works for the 2024–25 season.

Teams will play six games against teams ranked from “pot 1” to “pot 6” in a single group table with 36 teams. Chelsea would likely be put in pot one, and Newcastle would probably be put in pot two.

Clubs will play six different teams this season instead of three different teams at home and away like they did last year.

In the 36-team table, the top eight teams will move on to the round of 16, and the teams placed ninth through 24th will play in an extra two-legged play-off round.

Teams that lost in the Europa League group stage will not be able to join the league like third-placed teams have in the past. The same goes for teams from the Europa League that play in the Champions League.

What do teams get when they win the Conference League?
The prize money in the Conference League is not nearly as high as that in the Europa League and especially the Champions League.

Clubs have made around £2.5 million in the past by making it to the group stage. West Ham United won the Conference League in 2022–23, which brought in a total of £13 million for the club.

On the other hand, Newcastle won £18.37 million just for coming in last place in their Champions League group in 2023–24. The winners of the Conference League automatically qualify for the Europa League group stage the following season, as long as they haven’t already done well enough in their home league to qualify for either the Champions League or the Europa League.

How have the English teams done in the Conference League?
When the first draws were made, English teams were always seen as one of the favorites to win the game. No matter which team comes in, it would be the same for Chelsea or Newcastle.

But teams like Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City, and Aston Villa have learned that being one of the favorites does not mean you will win the game.

Spurs finished third in their Europa League group in its first season, while Leicester City made it to the semi-finals after being eliminated from the Europa League group stage.

In 2022–23, West Ham dominated to win the tournament. They won 12 of their 13 games and tied one. In the final, they beat Fiorentina.