From the second division to the Champions League…or not
They early rounds of the Champions League can be confusing. They’re played in the middle of the summer—before many clubs even start their money-grab tours of foreign lands—and they include teams from far-flung parts of the continent. Including some that have very similar names to other teams.
This proved to be a problem for UEFA, who listed Scottish club Hibernian FC in the latest round of Champions League qualifying. The problem? Hibernian were in the Scottish second division last season. And though they finished first to gain promotion to the Scottish Premiership, they did are not competing in the Champions League this season. But Maltese club Hibernians (note the “s”) are. So UEFA mixed up Hibernian for Hibernians. An understandable mistake and one that the Scottish club thoroughly enjoyed.
Thanks for including us this late in qualifying. Maybe just slot us into the group stages though? 😉
— Hibernian FC (@HibsOfficial) July 14, 2017
Anyway, Hibernian and Hibernians should be forced to play against each other with the loser having to change their name to, like, “Dangerpuss FC” or something. Get on it.