The qualifying group stage draw for the 2009 UEFA Women's Championships takes place in Lyon today, with England among the top seeds – meaning they avoid the likes of Germany, France, Norway and Sweden in their group.
Only the six group winners are guaranteed a place at the finals in Finland, with five more nations to later qualify through play-offs between the runners-up and four third-placed teams.
Group matched will commence in April 2007, to be completed in October 2008, followed by the play-offs. Finland qualify automatically for the finals as the hosts.
A reminder of the seedings:
Pot A. Germany, Sweden, Norway Denmark, England, France
Pot B. Russia, Italy Czech Republic, Iceland, Ukraine, Netherlands
Pot C. Spain, Scotland, Poland, Serbia, Switzerland, Hungary
Pot D. Belgium, Poland, Belarus, Republic of Ireland, Austria, Greece
Pot E. Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Israel, Slovakia, Romania, Wales
Meanwhile, congratulations to Chelsea defender Emma Delves, who has gained her UEFA B Licence coaching badge. Emma, who is in her third season with the Blues, was understandably delighted with her achievement.
"I'm thrilled to get the UEFA B, it was a lot of hard work and took a year to get but it was well worth it. I would just like to thank Chelsea FC and the Chelsea Community Programme with all the help they have given me.
"I got my level 1 and level 2 when I was at the Arsenal Academy and have hat a bit of a gap before getting my level 3 but I spoke to the Chelsea's Managing Director of the Community Programme last year about it and he said that Chelsea would give me all the backing that they could, so that made my mind up for me."
She added: "The UEFA A Licence is my next step but I will wait a while because at the moment I want to concentrate on my football and helping Chelsea finish as high as possible in the league."
