Hull City have a European adventure to look forward to. Or do they? Brad Rial looks at the experience of other Premier League teams who took on the daunting schedule of the Europa League and the old UEFA Cup.
With the draw for the third qualifying round of the Europa League taking place on Friday, the 2014-15 campaign all of a sudden seems very close to starting for Hull City.
The heartbreaking FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal only seems like yesterday and for some fans, the enormity of that marvellous run to Wembley is still to hit home. But when City's name is drawn out of the hat to face some side from Moldova, Azerbaijan or Estonia next week, it may just about start to sink in.
The glorious thing about City's upcoming European adventure is that no-one really knows what to expect. Sure, the likes of Tom Huddlestone, Jake Livermore and Allan McGregor, among others, have played in Champions League matches in front of packed out stadia, but for supporters of little old Hull City, such wonders are yet to be experienced.
The cynics out there will state that the Europa League is a poisoned chalice, a hiding to nothing, and a competition that Steve Bruce and his men could really do without.
"Why bother with the likes of Ferencvaros, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Sligo Rovers when we've got Arsenal, Liverpool and Man United visiting the KC every other week?" they cry.
But that's the beauty of the competition. That's what makes it all the more exciting, that feeling of heading into the unknown.
There have been a number of teams – of similar stature to City – over the years that have embraced the Europa League. Both Middlesbrough and Fulham have reached the final of the competition in the last decade.![fulhameuropa1]()
Fulham fans in Germany during their Europa League run
Fulham, like City will at the end of the month, started their adventure in the third qualifying round at the home of the European powerhouse that is FK Vetra (a Lithuanian side, as if you needed telling) in July 2009.
I'm sure none of the Cottagers fans that travelled that day would have envisaged the remarkable run that would follow, even if they did head home in buoyant mood following a comfortable 3-0 win. They went on to cruise through to the group stages with a win in the play-off against Amkar Perm of Russia.
The common view held amongst football fans in this country is that a team tends to struggle in the match immediately after a midweek European fixture. The 'hangover affect' is often cited as the reason a team loses just a few days after their exploits in Europe.
As far as Fulham were concerned, no such hangover existed. They played 17 Europa League games in total (almost half a season in itself) and they actually won more league games immediately after a European match than they lost (six wins, five defeats and five draws).![romaueropa]()
Fulham's Diomansy Kamara celebrates scoring against Roma in the Europa League
The Thursday-Sunday turnover is a notoriously difficult situation to manage, but Roy Hodgson's men showed no signs of fatigue when it came to the Premier League.
The fact that Fulham were handed a fairly kind group travel-wise probably helped their cause. They faced trips to Roma, Basel and Sofia – three places that won't exactly have proved jetlag inducing.
Compared to Spurs' group last year of Anzhi Makhachkala (Russia), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) and Tromso (Norway), Fulham's draw looks all the more favourable.
In the first half of the season, Fulham's Premier League performances certainly didn't seem to suffer as a direct result of their involvement in the Europa League. They only lost five league games before Christmas, though that figure more than doubled (to 12) after.
After finishing second in the group and qualifying for the knockout round, the Cottagers almost seemed to prioritise the Europa League during the second half of the season as they knew that they were never really in any danger of being relegated.
Sure, they picked up enough Premier League points to ensure a respectable finish of twelfth place was assured, but their European run was the main focus of their attention.
Towards the end of the season, Hodgson started resting players for Premier League matches, something that City used to their advantage when beating Fulham 2-0 in March in what proved to be Iain Dowie's only win as Tigers boss.
As much as City fans would love this to be case for them, it is unlikely that the Tigers will find themselves in a position where the Premier League becomes a distraction. That said, you could argue that that was the case towards the end of last season, as the FA Cup run took hold.
Fulham also managed a decent FA Cup run in 2009-10, even if they did only have to face Swindon Town, Accrington Stanley and Notts County before eventually being knocked out in a quarter-final replay by Spurs. This only serves as another case in point that the Europa League isn't as restrictive as it's made out to be.![europafinal]()
Fulham's Zoltan Gera as Atletico Madrid players celebrate winning the UEFA Europa League Final in 2010
The Europa League is much maligned by supporters, managers and players alike, but ask any Fulham fan what their most memorable season is and the 2009-10 will surely be the one that immediately springs to mind.
They knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg en route to the final and who's to say that City can't produce some moments like that of their own?
Comparisons can be drawn with the Middlesbrough side of 2005-06 here, too. They defeated Stuttgart, Roma, Basel and Steaua Bucharest on their way to the final, where they were ultimately well beaten, 4-0, by Sevilla.![boroeuropa]()
Middlesbrough's Massimo Maccarone scores against Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2006
But both Boro and Fulham fans will have nothing but fond memories of their Europa League runs. Fulham's famous comeback win against European giants Juve may never be repeated, and Boro themselves had some miraculous turnarounds on the road to the final.
Both clubs now find themselves in the Championship, and fans of the two sides will undoubtedly cite their respective runs to European finals as the highlights of their stays in the Premier League.
Stoke and Swansea, two more clubs of a similar size to the Tigers, have also shown that the Europa League is more than manageable alongside a Premier League campaign.
It is a competition that is often viewed as the ugly sister of the Champions League, but the Europa League is a fantastic tournament in its own right. English clubs have shown that, if it is treated with respect and not disdain, it can reward you with success.
If Steve Bruce and Hull City embrace the Europa League then who knows, the final in Warsaw on May 27 may not be as distant as it appears right now.
Fulham fans in Germany during their Europa League run
Fulham, like City will at the end of the month, started their adventure in the third qualifying round at the home of the European powerhouse that is FK Vetra (a Lithuanian side, as if you needed telling) in July 2009.
I'm sure none of the Cottagers fans that travelled that day would have envisaged the remarkable run that would follow, even if they did head home in buoyant mood following a comfortable 3-0 win. They went on to cruise through to the group stages with a win in the play-off against Amkar Perm of Russia.
The common view held amongst football fans in this country is that a team tends to struggle in the match immediately after a midweek European fixture. The 'hangover affect' is often cited as the reason a team loses just a few days after their exploits in Europe.
As far as Fulham were concerned, no such hangover existed. They played 17 Europa League games in total (almost half a season in itself) and they actually won more league games immediately after a European match than they lost (six wins, five defeats and five draws).
Fulham's Diomansy Kamara celebrates scoring against Roma in the Europa League
The Thursday-Sunday turnover is a notoriously difficult situation to manage, but Roy Hodgson's men showed no signs of fatigue when it came to the Premier League.
The fact that Fulham were handed a fairly kind group travel-wise probably helped their cause. They faced trips to Roma, Basel and Sofia – three places that won't exactly have proved jetlag inducing.
Compared to Spurs' group last year of Anzhi Makhachkala (Russia), Sheriff Tiraspol (Moldova) and Tromso (Norway), Fulham's draw looks all the more favourable.
In the first half of the season, Fulham's Premier League performances certainly didn't seem to suffer as a direct result of their involvement in the Europa League. They only lost five league games before Christmas, though that figure more than doubled (to 12) after.
After finishing second in the group and qualifying for the knockout round, the Cottagers almost seemed to prioritise the Europa League during the second half of the season as they knew that they were never really in any danger of being relegated.
Sure, they picked up enough Premier League points to ensure a respectable finish of twelfth place was assured, but their European run was the main focus of their attention.
Towards the end of the season, Hodgson started resting players for Premier League matches, something that City used to their advantage when beating Fulham 2-0 in March in what proved to be Iain Dowie's only win as Tigers boss.
As much as City fans would love this to be case for them, it is unlikely that the Tigers will find themselves in a position where the Premier League becomes a distraction. That said, you could argue that that was the case towards the end of last season, as the FA Cup run took hold.
Fulham also managed a decent FA Cup run in 2009-10, even if they did only have to face Swindon Town, Accrington Stanley and Notts County before eventually being knocked out in a quarter-final replay by Spurs. This only serves as another case in point that the Europa League isn't as restrictive as it's made out to be.
Fulham's Zoltan Gera as Atletico Madrid players celebrate winning the UEFA Europa League Final in 2010
The Europa League is much maligned by supporters, managers and players alike, but ask any Fulham fan what their most memorable season is and the 2009-10 will surely be the one that immediately springs to mind.
They knocked out Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Wolfsburg and Hamburg en route to the final and who's to say that City can't produce some moments like that of their own?
Comparisons can be drawn with the Middlesbrough side of 2005-06 here, too. They defeated Stuttgart, Roma, Basel and Steaua Bucharest on their way to the final, where they were ultimately well beaten, 4-0, by Sevilla.
Middlesbrough's Massimo Maccarone scores against Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA Cup semi-final in 2006
But both Boro and Fulham fans will have nothing but fond memories of their Europa League runs. Fulham's famous comeback win against European giants Juve may never be repeated, and Boro themselves had some miraculous turnarounds on the road to the final.
Both clubs now find themselves in the Championship, and fans of the two sides will undoubtedly cite their respective runs to European finals as the highlights of their stays in the Premier League.
Stoke and Swansea, two more clubs of a similar size to the Tigers, have also shown that the Europa League is more than manageable alongside a Premier League campaign.
It is a competition that is often viewed as the ugly sister of the Champions League, but the Europa League is a fantastic tournament in its own right. English clubs have shown that, if it is treated with respect and not disdain, it can reward you with success.
If Steve Bruce and Hull City embrace the Europa League then who knows, the final in Warsaw on May 27 may not be as distant as it appears right now.