West Ham have been drawn to face FCSB of Romania, Belgian outfit Anderlecht and Danish side Silkeborg in Europa Conference League Group B; Hearts have been drawn alongside Italian outfit Fiorentina in Group A as well as Turkish team Istanbul Basaksehir and Latvian side RFS
Friday 26 August 2022 15:09, UK
West Ham have been drawn to face Anderlecht in the Europa Conference League group stages while Scottish Premiership club Hearts will take on Fiorentina of Serie A.
The group stage fixtures are due to begin on September 8 and West Ham will be hoping for another deep run in a European competition, having reached the Europa League semi-finals last season.
West Ham fans face a trip down memory lane after being paired with Anderlecht. The two sides met in the 1975-76 European Cup Winners' Cup final when the Belgian side won 4-2 in Brussels.
The Hammers, Europa League semi-finalists last season, have also been paired with Romania's Bucharest-based FCSB and Danish side Silkeborg in Group B.
FCSB were previously known as Steaua Bucharest, who were crowned European champions in 1986.
Drawing Silkeborg means a quick return to Denmark for West Ham, who won 3-0 at Viborg on Thursday to complete a 6-1 play-off aggregate win.
David Moyes welcomed West Ham's draw, saying: "I've just seen it and it's good. I'm looking forward to it. There are some good teams in it.
"We've had quite a difficult draw with our group but we're looking forward to it."
Hearts have been drawn alongside Italian outfit Fiorentina, who are the stand-out opponents of their first group stage in European competition since 2004.
The Tynecastle side, who lost to FC Zurich in their Europa League play-off on Thursday, will also be joined in Group A by Turkish team Istanbul Basaksehir and Latvian side RFS.
The matches against Serie A side Fiorentina are likely to be particularly eagerly awaited by supporters, with Hearts not having played Italian opposition since they met Bologna in the UEFA Cup 31 years ago.
Istanbul Basaksehir, who progressed to the group stage with a play-off victory over Antwerp, include former Arsenal midfielder Mesut Ozil and Aston Villa loanee Bertrand Traore in their ranks.
Fiorentina finished seventh in Serie A last season and beat Dutch side Twente 2-1 on aggregate to reach the group stage.
Riga-based RFS, who only qualified for the group stage following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win over Linfield in the play-off round, won the Latvian league title last year and are currently third with three games remaining of this year's campaign.
Shamrock Rovers have been paired with Gent, Molde and Djurgardens in Group F.
The group winners advance directly to the round of 16 with the group runners-up progressing to the knockout round play-offs, where they will face eight teams transferring from the Europa League having finished third in their groups.
The full fixture list for the group stage will be revealed after the draw, but UEFA has confirmed the matchday dates.
Matchday 1: September 8
Matchday 2: September 15
Matchday 3: October 6
Matchday 4: October 13
Matchday 5: October 27
Matchday 6: November 3
Knockout round play-offs: November 7
Round of 16: February 24
Quarter and semi-finals: March 17
The 2022/23 Europa Conference League final will take place at Prague's Eden Arena on June 7 2023.
Knockout round play-offs: February 16 & 23
Round of 16: March 9 & 16
Quarter-finals: April 13 & 20
Semi-finals: May 11 & 18
Final: June 7 (Prague)
