Madeiran or Dublin Trip for Bangor if they can finish off Honka
Bangor City had a one in five chance of facing Liverpool when the draw for the Third Qualifying Round of the Europa League was made in Nyon this afternoon, but their reward if they can beat Honka next Thursday is the winner of the tie between Portuguese outfit Club Sport Mar'timo, commonly known as just Maritimo or Irish side Sporting Fingal. The Irish team were left heartbroken last night when they lost 3-2 with the winner coming in the fifth minute of extra-time.
Maritimo sports club, founded in Funchal, Madeira, in 1910 are widely known throughout the Portuguese speaking world, in countries such as Brazil, Angola, and Cape Verde and indeed half of their current squad are Brazilian nationals.
The team has produced many notable names in recent years, including Pepe of Real Madrid, Danny of FC Zenit and Nuno Valente formerly of Everton. Maritimo have dominated Madeira's regional football scene since its establishment but hold just one national title, the Campeonato de Portugal, which was won in 1926.
Maritimo's most recent foray into European competition before this season came in 2008, when they lost 3'1 on aggregate to Spanish-giants Valencia. Nevertheless, they still maintain a proud and formidable home record against European opposition with victories over Rangers, Aarau and Leeds United.
Their home ground is the Estadio dos Barreiros which has hosted games since 1927, when it replaced the previous home Campo do Almirante Reis. The ground is currently being redeveloped into a new state-of-the-art stadium which will be operational by 2011. The Complexo Desportivo, which houses the club's training facilities, headquarters and an indoor multi-sport arena was opened in 2006 and is located in the Santo Antonio district of Funchal.
Sporting Fingal are based in the Fingal region of North County Dublin. The club competes in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are managed by Liam Buckley, while former Arsenal player, John Devine is the head coach. They play their home games at Morton Stadium in Santry.
Sporting was only founded in 2007 and was officially launched on 11 February 2008. The club was expected to play its first full season in 2008 in the newly founded A Championship, however instead they took the place of Kilkenny City in the League of Ireland First Division with Kilkenny dropping out of the League of Ireland. They had a successful 2008 season eventually finishing third in the League of Ireland First Division.
In December 2008, the club announced it was increasing its budget for the 2009 First Division season. Fingal had a massively successful 2009 season. They gained promotion to the Premier Division overcoming Bray Wanderers 4-2 over two legs in the promotion-relegation play-off. Fingal also ended the season as FAI Cup champions overcoming Sligo Rovers in the final, scoring two late goals to win 2-1. In doing so they qualified for the UEFA Europa League and made their debut this season.
