West Ham United are on course for a place in next season’s Europa League after England was granted an additional fair play place for coming second in Uefa’s rankings.
Uefa has announced that the Netherlands, England and Republic of Ireland will all get an extra place in the first qualifying round of the continent’s second-tier club competition after topping its fair play standings.
Liverpool currently top the Premier League’s fair play league but with the Reds currently in place and expected to qualify for Europe via their league position, West Ham are the likely beneficiaries.
“I would take it,” the West Ham manager, Sam Allardyce, said. “The difficulty lies in the short period of time we are left to get ready for the first game on 2 July. “I am not certain why the Premier League have decided to extend the season – the facts are we would have a four-week break between finishing and restarting.
“But even though it may affect your league form, you accept it and enjoy the moment of playing in Europe and the experience of travelling abroad. It’s a fantastic experience and a club like ours hasn’t achieved it that often in its entire history.”
West Ham have a current fair play score of 281.25 – calculated by taking into account red and yellow cards as well as other criteria such as respect towards opponents, officials and the behaviour of their own staff – while Everton are in third place with 278.25.
With West Ham currently in ninth place in the Premier League and Everton 11th, neither can qualify automatically for the Europa League, even though the seventh-placed team will do, should Aston Villa triumph in the FA Cup final against Arsenal.
Manchester City are fourth in the fair play league while Burnley are fifth and it is not inconceivable that the Clarets find themselves in next season’s Europa League, should West Ham and Everton endure disciplinary problems between now and the end of the season.
A Uefa statement read: “It is even possible for a team that has been relegated to the second highest division to qualify for the Uefa Europa League as a result of its exemplary conduct during the domestic championship.”
