Four Irish Premiership clubs — Larne, Coleraine, Linfield, and Glentoran — are preparing to write new chapters of European history this summer, as each side enters the qualifying rounds of UEFA club competition.

Larne: champions with ambition

Fresh from claiming their third league title in four years, Larne open their UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign on 7 July with a first-leg trip to San Marino to face Tre Fiori, ahead of the return leg the following week.

Tre Fiori won the Campionato Sammarinese by a single point last season, though an overhaul of their squad — 11 departures and eight new arrivals — means Larne face a somewhat reshaped side. A useful reference point: in 2020, Linfield beat Tre Fiori 2-0 in Nyon during Champions League qualifying.

Larne made history two seasons ago when they became the only Irish League club to reach the league phase of a European competition, qualifying for the UEFA Conference League after defeating Lincoln Red Imps.