Super Nova youth team to face Northern Ireland side in UEFA Youth League
Riga's Super Nova will play a Northern Irish club in the first round of the UEFA Youth League, with a potential meeting against Stockholm's Hammarby awaiting the winner.
Latvian football club Super Nova will send its youth squad to the first round of the UEFA Youth League, where their opponent will be a club from Northern Ireland. The team qualified for the tournament after winning last season's Academy Championship by an 11-point margin over closest rival Riga Football School.
Notably, Super Nova currently sits only eighth in this age group's standings this season, but the UEFA Youth League allows players up to 19 years old to compete, giving the club a wider pool to draw from. Players in the club's Virsliga squad list eligible for this age bracket include goalkeepers Toms Petrovics, Viesturs Pipcans and Kristaps Deivids Secis, defender Lenards Berzins, midfielder Alens Grikovs and forward Georgijs Bombans.
Should Super Nova advance past the Northern Irish opponent, the next round would pit them against Stockholm's Hammarby.
Other Baltic clubs in the draw
Other Baltic clubs also feature in the first round. Tallinn's Flora will face Faroese club HB Torshavn, with the winner advancing to face Chelsea's youth academy from London in round two. Meanwhile, Vilnius's Zalgiris will take on Iceland's Thor Akureyri, with that match's winner going on to play Dublin's St. Patrick's Athletic.
The first-round matches are scheduled to take place in mid-September.
