Filed under: Birmingham, Fulham, Stoke City, Tottenham, Europa League (UEFA), Football
Stoke City's first European adventure has seen them handed a gruelling Europa League group schedule with trips to the Ukraine, Turkey and Israel in the coming months.Tottenham, meanwhile, will provide Shamrock Rovers, the first Irish team to ever advance this far in Europe, a fairytale occasion while also facing Russia's Rubin Kazan and Paok FC from Greece.
Competition debutants Stoke have a tough group with Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas and Maccabi Tel Aviv their opponents.
Fulham, 2010 finalists, face FC Twente, Odense BK and Wisla Krakow.
Birmingham, who were relegated from the Premier League last season, will take on last season's runners-up Braga SK, along with Club Brugge, and NK Maribor.
Teams will place each home and away with the top two advancing into the knock-out stages.
Having already expressed his concerns about the demands of the tournament on his players, Stoke manager Tony Pulis is unlikely to be thrilled at the prospect of three tiring Thursday night away trips.
The visit to Istanbul to face Besiktas will be the shortest journey the Potters will make but the quality of the opposition will at least go some way towards tempering Pulis' frustration.
Tottenham appear to have the easiest draw of the four English clubs with Birmingham in particular facing a difficult test if they are to go through, especially after losing a host of key players following relegation last season.
There were no Scottish teams in Friday's draw after Rangers, Celtic and Hearts all lost their play-off ties.
Group A: Tottenham Hotspur, Rubin Kazan, Paok FC, Shamrock Rovers.
Group B: FC Copenhagen, Standard Liege, Hannover 96, Vorskla Portava.
Group C: PSV Eindhoven, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Rapid Bucharest, Legia Warsaw.
Group D: Sporting Club, Lazio, FC Zurich, FC Vaslui.
Group E: Dynamo Kiev, Besiktas, Stoke City, Maccabi Tel Aviv.
Group F: Paris St Germain, Atletico Bilbao, Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava.
Group G: AZ Alkmaar, FC Metalist, Austria Vienna, Malmo
Group H: SC Braga, Bruges, Birmingham City, Maribor.
Group I: Atletico Madrid, Udinese, Stade Rennais, FC Sion.
Group J: Schalke, Steaua Bucharest, Maccabi Haifa, Larnaca.
Group K: FC Twente, Fulham, Odense, Wisla Krakow.
Group L: Anderlecht, AEK Athens, Lokomotiv Moscow, Sturm Graz.
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