The sixth UEFA Women's Cup gets under way on Tuesday with 43 clubs aiming to claim the trophy. While holders 1. FFC Frankfurt, former winners 1. FFC Turbine Potsdam and Umeå IK plus four other seeds enter in next month's second qualifying round, the other 36 contestants must negotiate the first hurdle - with only nine group winners to progress.
HJK return Among the teams competing this week are HJK Helsinki, semi-finalists in both the inaugural 2001/02 campaign and the season after. After three years without a Finnish title they are champions again and back in Europe. HJK visit F.Y.R. Macedonia to take on hosts ZFK Shkiponjat, Poland's KS AZS Wrocław - one of only three ever-present sides in the tournament - and Swiss representatives FFC Zuchwil 05 in Group A4. Should HJK prevail, they will earn a rematch against their 2002/03 nemesis, Frankfurt. Group A4 is played on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The other pools conclude a day later.
Niš run Azerbaijan's Gömrükçü Baku, themselves former quarter-finalists, are in the Bulgaria-based Group A9 with hosts FC NSA Sofia, 1. FFC Femina Budapest and Moldova's FC Narta Chisinau. Serbia's ZFK Mašinac-Classic Niš, who have reached the last 16 in all five previous editions, participate in Group A6 in Slovenia against home team ŽNK Pomuje, Estonia's Pärnu FC and KFC Rapide Wezemaal of Belgium.
French hopefuls The other sixth-time competitors, Klaksvíkar Ítrottarfelag, go from the Faroe Islands to Scotland where they will encounter Hibernian LFV, RCD Espanyol and FCF Juvisy, who hope to match compatriots Montpellier-Hérault SC's run to the semis in 2005/06. Espanyol are debutants, as are Group A7 rivals FK Slovan Duslo ŠaĬa of Slovenia and Russia's WFC Rossiyanka. Also taking their bows are Italy's ASD Fiammamonza, Moldovan outfit FC Narta Chisinau, Dundalk WFC from the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia's ŽNK Pomurje.
2006/07 UEFA Women's Cup drawFirst qualifying round