Shamrock Rovers are guaranteed European football this season after defeating Slovenia’s NK Celje in the third round of Europa League qualification.

The Hoops will play PAOK Thessaloniki over two legs to determine if they reach the group stage of the Europa League, UEFA‘s second tier club competition, or the third-tier Conference League.

With victory over NK Celje though, the Tallaght club are guaranteed a multi-million euro payout, and FAI Cup winners St Patrick’s Athletic will enjoy similar spoils if they win their Conference League qualifier against Türkiye’s Istanbul Başakşehir.

As League of Ireland Premier Division champions, Rovers were initially entered into the qualification rounds for the Champions League, Europe’s premier club competition, and were drawn against Vikingur Reykjavik.

Rovers beat the Icelandic club over two legs before losing to Czechia’s Sparta Prague in the second qualifying round last month. As a result, the club was entered into the Europa League qualifying rounds, and if they defeat PAOK over two matches, then they will enter the main draw for the Europa League. If not, they go straight into the Conference League.

There was no prize money on offer to teams defeated in either the first or second round of Champions League qualification, but Rovers will receive €175,000 for playing both NK Celje and PAOK (a total of €350,000).

St Pats’ have progressed through two rounds of Conference League qualifiers so far, against Liechtenstein’s FC Vaduz and Sabah FK Azerbaijan earlier this week. They play Istanbul Başakşehir in the final round of qualifiers.

For playing in three Conference League qualifying rounds, they are guaranteed prize money of €525,000 (or €175,000 per round), and if they lose to Istanbul Başakşehir they will receive an elimination bonus of €550,000.

Each of the 36 clubs that qualify for the Europa League will receive €4.31m between a down payment of €4.14m and a balance of €170,000. Teams will also be paid €450,000 per win and €150,000 per draw in the group stage.

Clubs that qualify instead for the Conference League can expect to receive €3.17m between a down payment of €3.05m and a balance of €120,00, with payments of €400,000 per win and €133,000 per draw. Further prize money is distributed to clubs that qualify for the knockout stages next year.

So, Shamrock Rovers’ European odyssey will be worth at least €3.52m if they reach the Conference League and a minimum of €4.49m if they enter the Europa League.

St Pats’, meanwhile, will earn at least €1.075m for their European campaign if they are knocked out later this month, and a minimum €3.7m if they reach the Conference League group stage.

Should either team progress into the knockout stages the prize money rises significantly.

Photo: Dylan Watts of Shamrock Rovers celebrates after scoring a penalty against Celje at Tallaght Stadium. (Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile)